ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk Netherlands
Date: 16 March, 2007
ESA/ESTEC Demo: RedBoot port to SPARC LEON2
Data Sheet Handout
Hardware Platform: Pender GR-XC3S 1500 Development Board
- FPGA based
development board for SPARC LEON2 equivalent @40Mhz
- 10/100Mbps Ethernet, 115Kbps serial (2 ports)
Flash, JTAG, USB, Video, PS/2
- PROM : 8MB, SDRAM : 64MB, SRAM : added via
Mezzanine
- H/W Floating Point : No
Host Development Platform
- 1.0Ghz or better
Intel PC running RedHat 9.0 or SUSE Linux
- GNU gcc suite software development tools
What is RedBoot?
- RedBoot =
"Red Hat Embedded Bootstrap and Debug"
- Standalone, open source bootstrap/loader/gdb stub
for embedded systems
- Based on the eCos hardware abstraction layer (HAL)
- Configurable and portable to other boards
(platforms), variants, and embedded architectures
- RAM, ROMRAM, and ROM configurations; bootable from
flash or network boot Bootp, DHCP, TFTP protocols
- Provides download, execution, and debug of
application programs
- GNU gdb CLI (ddd, Insight graphical) debugger
capability over serial or Ethernet interfaces from remote host
- Basic flash file system (FIS) commands,
flash-based configuration and control (fconfig)
- Boot scripting to run commands after power-up
(with timeout and CTRL-C abort option)
- Offers custom user commands that are extensible
Why use Open Source?
- Economically
advantageous, source distributions are free
- Open source is not anti-commercial, it is anti
lock-in to proprietary tool code
- Robustness and reliability through contributions
by experts in OSS community
" Open source
promotes software reliability and quality by supporting independent peer
review and rapid evolution of source code. "
Advantages of using RedBoot
- Advantageous
pricing: Free under eCos License 2.0 (GPL + exception license)
- GPL+exception allows linking to non-GPL software,
GPL = General Public License
- Unlimited number of nodes covered by single
distribution
- Enhancements available under short notice through
a SME contract
- Free of incremental costs per workstation of other
commercial products
- Technical support through user community of
developers on-line
- Royalty free yet supported separately by RedHat
Linux for Embedded Linux
eCos License 2.0 assures
that per free software definition ESA/ESTEC may
- Execute program
- Study,
modify, and adapt program (access to source assumed)
-
Redistribute copies of program
- Improve and
release program (access to source assumed)
- Copyleft :
work can be copied, modified or used if and only if author of subsequent
work agrees to grant same rights
- GNU
GPL copyleft
grants right to next recipient (ESA) to copy, use or modify
What Else is STS
working on?
- Currently unimplemented RedBoot commands and features
-
RedBoot enhancements, custom embedded debug/analysis features
Web Addresses for Reference
www.softwaretospec.com
: Software to
Spec home page
http://sources.redhat.com/redboot/
: RedBoot home page
www.gnu.org
: GNU home page
www.fsf.org
: Free Software Foundation
www.gaisler.com
: Gaisler
Research
www.xilinx.com
: Xilinx
Corporation
Commands Enabled for Demonstration
RedBoot common commands
Command
|
Implemented |
Pass/Fail
|
alias
-- Manipulate command line aliases |
no
|
n/a
|
baudrate
-- Set the baud rate for the system serial console
|
no
|
n/a
|
cache
-- Control hardware caches
|
yes |
tbd
|
channel
-- Select the system console channel
|
yes
|
tbd
|
cksum
-- Compute POSIX checksums
|
yes
|
pass
|
disks
-- List available disk partitions.
|
no
|
n/a
|
dump
-- Display memory.
|
yes
|
pass
|
help
-- Display help on available commands
|
yes
|
pass
|
iopeek
-- Read I/O location
|
no
|
n/a
|
iopoke
-- Write I/O location
|
no
|
n/a
|
gunzip
-- Uncompress GZIP compressed data
|
no
|
n/a
|
ip_address
-- Set IP addresses
|
yes
|
pass
|
load
-- Download programs or data to the RedBoot platform
|
yes
|
pass
|
mcmp
-- Compare two segments of memory
|
yes
|
pass
|
mcopy
-- Copy memory
|
yes
|
pass
|
mfill
-- Fill RAM with a specified pattern
|
yes
|
pass
|
ping
-- Verify network connectivity
|
yes
|
slow
|
reset
-- Reset the device
|
no |
n/a
|
version
-- Display RedBoot version information
|
yes
|
pass
|
go
-- Execute a program |
yes
|
pass
|
exec
-- Execute a Linux kernel
|
no
|
n/a
|
break ctrl/c
|
no
|
n/a
|
CLI arrow key repeat
|
no
|
n/a
|
RedBoot Flash
Image System (FIS) commands
Command
|
Implemented
|
Pass/Fail
|
fis
init -- Initialize Flash Image System (FIS)
|
no
|
n/a
|
fis
list -- List Flash Image System directory
|
no |
n/a
|
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
|
no
|
n/a |
GDB commands
Who is Software to Spec?
- Engineers in
real-time embedded systems development
- Registered with ESA as SME
- Contributors to ESA EMITS business program for
SME's
Contact Information:
Software to Spec
Leiden, Netherlands
Presenter: Les G. Miklosy
lmiklosy@softwaretospec.com
31 71 532 1086 Netherlands