OSADL welcomes its new members

By: Carsten Emde

Intel, SERCOS International & SYSGO join OSADL - meet them at our Open Source conference at the Hannover Fair 2009

Already Linux version 0.01 (released on September 17, 1991) was based on Intel's x86 processor architecture. Today, x86 processors are still among the firsts to be supported when new features or subsystems are integrated into the Linux kernel. In turn, Intel is providing generous support to the Linux (and Open Source) community. One cornerstone of this support is Intel's membership in the Linux Foundation that employs, among others, Linux creator Linus Torvalds. The Open Source Automation Development Lab OSADL was, in some ways, modeled after the Linux Foundation - but with special respect to the requirements of the automation industry, machine builders and embedded systems in general. - With the advent of new generations of Intel processors that combine high computing performance with low power consumption on small chips, many OSADL members (and, of course, other automation companies as well) will be using Intel processors in future generations of their products. In consequence, Intel has decided to enlarge its support for Open Source and Linux by joining OSADL. The new Intel processors are similarly well suitable for all kind of embedded systems - including intelligent mobile Internet devices that are predicted - according to the IDC - to reach 15 billion devices by the year 2015. "Even one billion of anything is an astounding number", said Doug Davis, executive vice president of Intel's Embedded and Communications Group, "but when you start to think about 15 billion intelligent devices connected to each other, you realize that our industry is on the threshold of something new." It is evident that these large production quantities will ensure general availability, competitive pricing and continuous evolution of the new processors. Welcome Intel at OSADL! Together, we will make future embedded systems better than ever.

Recently, SERCOS International, the user organization behind the SERCOS III real-time Ethernet standard, announced the release of an Open Source Linux driver for SERCOS III controllers. Thus, future releases of the mainline Linux kernel may allow a Linux master to establish communication channels to SERCOS III devices without requiring additional software. „Since its founding in 1990, SERCOS International is enabling open, vendor-independent and generally available technology“, explains Peter Lutz, managing director of SERCOS International, „SERCOS III is a very powerful and universal real-time Ethernet solution that is used in a broad range of applications and industries. As Linux becomes widely accepted as platform for automation and machine industry, we decided to create a master library for SERCOS III that fully complies with the Open Source software license requirements.“ It was then only normal that SERCOS International applied for membership in the Open Source Automation Development Lab. OSADL certainly is glad and proud to welcome SERCOS International as a new member and to help providing support for SERCOS III in the world of Open Source software.

In addition to its proprietary microkernel-based virtualization RTOS platform PikeOS, SYSGO offers the embedded Linux distribution ELinOS. It includes support for all CPU architectures on which Linux is available such as ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SH4, x86 and XScale. Board support packages are available for a wide variety of vendors including OSADL members Eltec, Kontron and Phytec. SYSGO supports the PREEMPT_RT patches to transform mainline Linux into a real-time operating system. These and many other OSADL activities are related directly or indirectly to SYSGO's ELinOS development efforts; as a consequence, SYSGO recently decided to join OSADL. Together we will improve mainline Linux and, thus, ELinOS even more to make them even better suitable for industrial and embedded applications. OSADL is extending a warm welcome to the SYSGO people, and we are looking forward to a successful collaboration.

As you probably know, OSADL is organizing the conference „Open Source meets Industry“ at the occasion of the Hannover Fair 2009. The conference is scheduled on Wednesday, April 22, in the Pavilion of the Robotation Academy. The support of the Robotation Academy and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) is gratefully acknowledged. OSADL's new members - Intel, SERCOS International and SYSGO - will use this opportunity to present their products and to explain why their membership is good for all of us. If you wish to attend the conference and meet representatives of our new members, you are certainly welcome. Please use this Internet registration form. At the end of the conference, at about 5 pm, a press conference will take place where our new members will be glad to answer questions of invited journalists.