Mentor Graphics has announced the availability of the Mentor Embedded Linux software for the AMD Embedded G-Series SoC (previously codenamed: “Steppe Eagle”), CPU (previously codenamed: “Crowned Eagle”) and 2nd Generation R-Series APU (previously codenamed: “Bald Eagle”) devices. Developers who began evaluation, prototyping, and development by downloading the previously announced and freely available Mentor Embedded Lite and Sourcery CodeBench Lite products can now easily migrate to these new commercially-supported versions. Developers can make use of the Mentor Embedded Linux (MEL) and the Sourcery CodeBench integrated development environment (IDE) products to create dynamic applications targeting markets such as digital gaming, point-of-sale (POS), and electronic signage/displays.

“With this announcement, AMD Embedded customers now have even more choices available for their Linux development, from the no-cost Mentor Embedded Linux Lite to the robust commercially-supported Mentor Embedded Linux,” stated Kamal Khouri, director of product management and marketing, AMD Embedded Solutions. “This additional software, along with the service capability of Mentor, will be of great value to our customers who require a scalable global supplier to meet the needs of their embedded system design challenges.”

Embedded Linux Platform and Development Tools AMD Embedded customers can take advantage of the commercial version of the MEL product on the AMD Embedded G-Series and R-Series platforms by quickly building, from source, a customised Linux-based platform based on technology from the Yocto Project. Using the Mentor Embedded Sourcery CodeBench and Sourcery Analyser technology, embedded C/C+ developers can gain valuable insights into system behavior and timing through a visual debugging framework that identifies functional, timing, and performance bottlenecks.

For embedded graphics and user interface (UI) development, the commercial MEL platform includes the integrated, accelerated Qt 5 and graphics framework and accelerated GStreamer media stack (OpenMax). This feature is an open source solution based on the Qt Project, used by over 450,000 developers worldwide. In addition to the Qt library modules, developers can make use of system-level trace and analysis visualisation to easily optimise UI performance metrics, such as frame rate, to deliver highly responsive graphics-intensive applications.

Additional features and capabilities in the MEL Platform for AMD G-Series and R-Series devices include:

•       Multimedia stack (GStreamer)

•       Advanced debugging and profiling (Oprofile, Perf, KGDB)

•       Eclipse-based IDE

•       JTAG probe debug support

•       Customisation services and technical support are available for AMD customers

“As part of our ongoing technology partnership with AMD, we’re excited to add a commercial embedded Linux development platform that goes beyond the free software and tools already available,” stated Kamran Shah, director of marketing, Mentor Graphics embedded systems division. “The combination of AMD Embedded R-Series and G-Series hardware and Linux software from Mentor will help our mutual customers create exciting new products including those with demanding and dynamic user interfaces.”