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While looking at some low level system design documents, I came across this article from IBM by Lewin Edwards. His case is that the x86 architecture is not the most flexible and financially feasible path to developing embedded solution. The argument is that x86 boards, even single board computers, are designed to be used as black boxes where the developer is supposed to make it work for his or her design through available components and external modules. This is to say that designing an x86 embedded system from scratch is not often done. On the other hand, the PowerPC embedded systems offer plenty of flexibility with a broad range of processors featuring a vast array of built in features (JTAG, memory controllers, peripheral controllers, etc). This article gives an overview of getting Linux to run on a Kuro Box, essentially a $150 PowerPC embedded system. For those less interested in the actual process, there are plenty of interesting resource links in the first section.

Part 1: Robots and networked appliances on a shoestring

Part 2: Anatomy of the Linux boot process

Part 3: Kuro Box Linux up close

 
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