Atmel and TimeSys announce free Linux board support package for AT91SAM9 microcontrollers

Atmel Corporation and TimeSys have announced a free Linux Board Support Package (BSP) for Atmel’s ARM9-based AT91SAM9 Microcontrollers. Supporting the entire range of SAM9 products, this BSP includes Atmel’s Linux kernel and drivers, BusyBox utilities for basic commands and features, and a Linux host/cross toolchain capable of re-building the Linux kernel and the basic packages included in the BSP. Together with a full documentation set and support services, this offering provides a ready-to-use package to validate Linux with Atmel microcontrollers.

This enhanced offering is a result of Atmel’s continuing participation as a Premier Partner in the TimeSys LinuxLink Onboard Program and builds upon the successful working relationship between the two companies. It covers Atmel’s market-leading ARM926EJ-S™-based AT91SAM9260, SAM9261 and SAM9263 microcontrollers, together with any new products in this family that are launched while the agreement is in place between the two organizations.

Commented Alfredo Vadillo, Atmel’s Managing Director for 32-bit Microcontrollers, “The on-going success of our ARM-based microcontrollers depends on the quality of the infrastructure that we build around it. The Linux community is an essential part of this infrastructure, and the extended agreement with TimeSys enables us to provide our joint customers with a faster method to deploy Linux on our processors.”

Adds Atul Bansal, TimeSys CEO, “We are pleased to have worked closely with Atmel to develop this offering. At TimeSys, our goal is to simplify and accelerate the work embedded developers undertake to create a custom Linux platform. This offering will do just that.”

The introductory-level Atmel/TimeSys Linux Board Support Package for AT91SAM Microcontrollers is available now as a free offering that can be downloaded from www.timesys.com/atmel. Additional tools and support are available from TimeSys to enhance this free offering. They include a standard TimeSys LinuxLink subscription, providing support throughout the entire development cycle, and full access to repository, command line and graphic-based development tools, all with frequent updates at a nominal cost per year. A Professional LinuxLink subscription, including the TimeSys TimeStorm graphical toolkit and on-line builder is also available on a yearly subscription basis.

Atmel