Course Summary - A technical training course introducing the Linux Operating System and Embedded Linux Distributions. The course focuses on the development and creation of Linux applications in an Embedded Linux context. The first part of the course focuses on acquiring an understanding of the Linux Operating System, highlighting areas of concern for Linux application development. The latter part covers the embedded Linux distributions including the use of the Board Support Package (BSP) and the Software Development Kit (SDK).

Who Should Attend - The course is designed for real-time engineers who are building Embedded Linux solutions. It is also targeted at experienced developers requiring a refresher course on Embedded Linux. This course will clearly demonstrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the Linux Operating System when used in Embedded Systems.

Course Objectives

• To provide a basic understanding of the Linux OS

• To gain an understanding of the complexities of the Embedded Linux Distribution and its processor dependencies

• To give you the confidence to apply these new concepts to your next Embedded Linux project

Course Schedule Day 1

Introduction to Embedded Linux

Terms

A Brief History of Linux

Linux Versioning

GNU and the GPL

Embedded Linux Directory Structure

            The Linux Shell

Command Shells

Shell Commands

Shell Scripts

            Debugging Embedded Linux

The Linux Trace Tool (LTT)

Graphical IDEs

Scheduling of Processes

Course Schedule Day 2

Processes and Threads

Introduction to Processes

The “clone”, “fork”, and “exec” System Calls

Other System Calls

POSIX, Threads and the NPTL

The Linux Memory Model

Paging

Allocating Memory from User Space

Allocating Memory from Kernel Space

Linux Scheduling

General Scheduling

Enhanced Scheduling Real-Time Scheduling

Course Schedule Day 3

Linux Signals

            Inter-Process Communications

Semaphores

Message Queues

Shared Memory

Networked IPC

Course Schedule Day 4

            Linux Timers

What are “jiffies”

Time of Day

The System Timer

Timer Interrupts

Busy Looping

            The Linux I/O System

Modules

The fops Struct

Open, Close, Read and Write

Key Driver Types

The Select Facility

Interrupts

Course Schedule Day 5

Linux File Systems

The Root File System

Native Linux File Systems

Other File Systems

            Configuring Embedded Linux

Important Configuration Files

Using oldconfig

Using menuconfig

Using xconfig

Saving Configurations

            Building the Kernel

Booting Embedded Linux

The Init Process

Using PROM Monitors

Using NFS

Using a RAM-disk

Lecturer – Mike McCullough is Director of Professional Services for Embedded Planet. Mike has a BS in Computer Engineering and an MS in Systems Engineering from Boston University. A 20-year electronics veteran, he has held various positions at Wind River Systems, Lockheed Sanders, Stratus Computer and Apollo Computer. Embedded Planet is a provider of embedded systems hardware, Eclipse-based software development tools, training and consulting services for the embedded systems market.

Decision (Run/Cancel) Date for this Course is Monday, October 23, 2006

Course Fee Schedule:

On-line Registration and Payment

On-line registration for this course is closed. If you would like to register for this course,, you may do so by calling 781-245-5405 or you may register at the Holiday Inn Select, 15 Middlesex Canal Park Road, Woburn, MA on Wednesday, November 1 between 5:45PM – 6:00PM

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Maintained by R M Stelting

Updated Thursday August 16, 2007