News & Analysis
ESC helps drive Android beyond cellphone
Rick Merritt
3/29/2010 12:01 AM EDT
Mentor Graphics, which has developed a set of Android software development tools, will host two talks on Android for embedded systems, including one that will describe how Android or Linux can co-exist with a real-time operating system. A third talk will be hosted by Bill Gatliff, an independent consultant.
Use of embedded Linux has been on the rise for several years. However, the open source software is fragmented by a wide variety of distributions for different target systems.
Android has attracted attention as a broadly supported variant of Linux that could unify the field. In addition, Google has helped spawn an applications store for the environment aimed to compete with the popular service Apple offers for the iPhone.
The broad interest in Android for embedded systems became clear in early 2009 when a group in Japan formed to promote Android for systems including set-top boxes and Voice over IP systems. Since that time, MIPS ported and enhanced Android for its processor architecture to ride the wave of interest in the software.
ARM and others have also rolled out specific programs to support Android on embedded systems. More recently, reports emerged that Intel and Sony are working with Google on Android-based software called Google TVs for Web-connected televisions.
Meanwhile, Android's presence in the core smartphone space continues to expand. Barclays Capital recently reported it expects three big vendors--Samsung, LG Electronics and Motorola--will roll out a total of about 50 new Android handsets in 2010. Google has already launched its own Android phone, the Nexus One.
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Carleton
4/2/2010 12:47 PM EDT
As far as I read on the Google Android developer site, Android runs on top of Linux. So, how do you replace Linux with Android? I'm a bit confused.
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Rick Merritt
4/2/2010 1:12 PM EDT
I invite any savvy developers to weigh in on the fine points of how Android differs from standard Linux. I understand it also varies from standard Java.
According to Wikipedia:
Android uses a version of Linux as its kernel (albeit tweaked by Google to fit Android needs and separated from the main Linux kernel tree),[94] but it is not a conventional Linux distribution; it does not have a native X Window System, nor does it support the full set of standard GNU libraries like its system libraries (GNU C Library). This makes it difficult to reuse existing Linux applications or libraries on Android.[95]
Google no longer maintains the Android code they previously contributed to the Linux kernel, effectively branching kernel code in their own tree, separating their code from Linux. The code which is no longer maintained was deleted in January 2010 from the Linux codebase.[4][5][96]
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kman12
4/2/2010 2:25 PM EDT
I believe Android is based on the Linux kernel 2.6.x. On top of that kernel, it has some core OS services (libraries) and its Dalvik virtual machine (similar to JavaVM) and application frameworks. So at its core, Android is Linux, but it is one of many variants of Linux distributions as the article points out.
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Rick Merritt
4/5/2010 12:48 PM EDT
Thx kman.
To all: What are the hot Android topics for embedded developers these days?
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betajet
4/5/2010 9:17 PM EDT
Here is my understanding: Android uses the Linux kernel as its low-level operating system, providing a machine-independent model for application development. However, what is exposed to the user and developer is a Java-based system so that you cannot use an Android-based device as a general-purpose computer. In contrast, a GNU/Linux distribution provides compilers and object code libraries so that you can do anything you want with your computer, including rewriting the kernel and any open-source applications.
Android is very similar to an iPhone (and I imagine iPad as well) which has a version of Mac OS X hidden inside, but you do not have full access to that layer when writing applications. It is exactly like when I got started in computer technology running FOCAL on a PDP-8 or BASIC on an HP 2100. The FOCAL or BASIC interpreter controlled very strictly what I could do, but did protect me from crashing the computer. However, when I got my hands on a PDP-11 that I could program in assembly language, the feeling of absolute freedom created a life-long thrill.
Android and iPhone OS are OK if you want a stable consumer device with limited capabilities and strict corporate control over what you can use it for (ditto for Kindle). But if what you are seeking is freedom to make the device do whatever you want it to do, they are not what you want.
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