Linaro

Last updated
Linaro
FoundedJune 3, 2010;13 years ago (2010-06-03)
TypeEngineering organization
990027324
Registration no.07180318
Focus Open-source software for the ARM architecture
Location
Members
13
Key people
Li Gong, Grant Likely, Rob Booth, Tim Benton
Website linaro.org

Linaro is an engineering organization that works on free and open-source software such as the Linux kernel, the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), QEMU, power management, graphics and multimedia interfaces for the ARM family of instruction sets and implementations thereof as well as for the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA). The company provides a collaborative engineering forum for companies to share engineering resources and funding to solve common problems on ARM software. In addition to Linaro's collaborative engineering forum, Linaro also works with companies on a one-to-one basis through its Services division.

Contents

Linaro works on software that is close to the silicon such as kernel, multimedia, power management, graphics and security. The company aims to provide stable, tested tools and code for multiple software distributions to use to reduce low-level fragmentation of embedded Linux software. [1] It also provides engineering and investment in upstream open source projects and support to silicon companies in upstreaming code to be used with their systems-on-a-chip (SoC). Since the 3.10 Linux kernel release, Linaro has consistently been listed in the top ten contributors to the Linux kernel. [2]

Every year, Linaro hosts Linaro Connect - an engineering conference, where leading hardware and software companies in the ARM ecosystem come together to collaborate, hack and develop technical road maps and strategy.

History

The founding of Linaro was announced at Computex in June 2010 by ARM, Freescale Semiconductor, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments in a joint press conference. [3] Linaro was formed to provide ”new resources and industry alignment for open source software developers using Linux on the world’s most sophisticated semiconductor System-on-Chips (SoCs).” [4] Since its formation, Linaro has continued to deliver tools, security and Linux kernel quality to the ARM ecosystem as a whole. In addition, the company has created groups tasked with addressing fragmentation in the following market segments: Consumer Devices, Datacenter & Cloud, Edge & Fog Computing and Windows on Arm.

In 2012, Linaro formed the Linaro Datacenter & Cloud Group (formerly known as the Linaro Enterprise Group) to drive adoption of ARM in the server market. [5] In February 2013, Linaro launched the Linaro Networking Group. This group went on to start the OpenDataPlane initiative which “defined a set of APIs to be used across the full range of processor architectures and networking offloads available”. [6] In 2018, project governance of the OpenDataPlane project was moved to the Openfastpath Foundation. [7]

In February 2014, Linaro formed the Linaro Security Working group to “create open source Android and Linux reference designs for Trusted execution environment (TEE) technology.” [8] Shortly after its formation, the Security Working Group took over project governance of (Open Portable Trusted Execution Environment), initially a proprietary TEE project developed by ST-Ericsson. [9] In May 2014, Linaro launched the Linaro Digital Home Group, focused on ARM-based media gateways and STBs (Set Top Boxes). [10] A few months later in July 2014, the Linaro Consumer Group (formerly known as the Linaro Mobile Group) was formed to consolidate and optimize open source software for mobile platforms on ARM.

In 2015, Linaro launched 96Boards, a specification created with the aim of delivering compatible low cost, small footprint 32-bit and 64-bit Cortex-A boards. In 2016, Linaro launched the Linaro IoT and Embedded Group, with the aim of developing “end-to-end open source reference software for IoT devices and applications.” [11]

In 2018, Linaro restructured the engineering groups to align with the technological landscape. As a result, the Linaro Networking Group and the Linaro Digital Home Group were both disbanded and the Linaro Edge & Fog Computing Group created. In 2019, Li Gong was appointed Linaro CEO. [12]

In 2021, Linaro launched Oniro OS project based on OpenAtom Foundation OpenHarmony, which is an open-source HarmonyOS operating system, with other founding members Serco, Array, Huawei and others in cooperation with Eclipse Foundation. [13]

In 2022, Linaro launched the Windows on Arm Group together with Arm, Microsoft and Qualcomm. [14]

In 2023, Linaro acquired Arm Forge [15] - a suite of debug and performance analysis tools which can be used across multiple compute architectures for server and HPC applications. Arm Forge is now known as Linaro Forge. In 2023, Linaro also disbanded the Linaro IoT & Embedded Group, [16] declaring mission accomplished for having achieved maturity of open source projects supporting Arm-based MCUs in the IoT space.

Engineering Activities

Core Technologies

Linaro's Core Engineering Team is focused on co-maintaining the ARM ecosystem. The team works directly with upstream projects supporting core technologies including Linux kernel core features, power management, security, toolchain support (both GCC and LLVM), testing and CI and Virtualization. It makes regular public releases along with a number of reference builds of kernels and userspace for various Linux distributions (including Android and Ubuntu) on member SoCs.

The Core Engineering team also maintains the automated testing system called LAVA (Linaro Automated Validation Architecture) which Linaro developed. [17] LAVA is for automated testing of the open source components that are used in the major Linux-based software platforms. A lab running LAVA and a wide variety of ARM hardware is run for the use of Linaro and member company engineers.

Segment specific engineering

The remaining work done by Linaro is split into groups focusing on particular markets where ARM processors are used. These include:

Linaro Consumer Group

The Linaro Consumer Group focuses on development for mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The primary aim of the group is to improve the AOSP ecosystem through collaborative activities that benefit members across all Android use cases.

Linaro Datacenter & Cloud Group

The Linaro Datacenter & Cloud Group focuses on Linux development for ARM servers. [18] The team's mission is to bring competing companies together to work on common solutions to problems and enable OEM's, commercial Linux providers and System on Chip (SOC) vendors to collaborate in a neutral environment on the development of the core software needed by the rapidly emerging market for low-power hyperscale servers.

Linaro Edge & Fog Computing Group

The Linaro Edge & Fog Computing Group is working to accelerate the adoption of ARM technologies in Edge & Fog Computing ecosystems.

Linaro Windows on Arm Group

In February 2022 Linaro formed the Windows on Arm Group together with Arm, CIX Technology, Microsoft and Qualcomm. The group is aiming to build an ecosystem for Windows on Arm that supports native development. [19]

96Boards

96Boards is an open platform specification that provides a platform for the delivery of compatible low-cost, small footprint 32-bit and 64-bit Cortex-A boards.

A fixed set of minimum interfaces are required by the specifications, for example the Consumer Edition (CE) specification requires standard USB, micro-SD, HDMI, power, and low- and high-speed peripheral connectors. Vendors may add customized hardware and feature sets provided the form factor and minimum set of interfaces are supported. Since the original Consumer Edition (CE) release there have been specifications for Enterprise (EE), IoT (IE) and SoM developed.

On April 27, 2017, a board adhering to the 96Board Consumer Edition Open Standard became a development platform for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). [20]

Specifications and implementations

There are four published 96Boards specifications for low-cost ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A development boards: [21]

  • The Consumer Edition (CE) targets the mobile, embedded and digital home segments.
  • The Enterprise Edition (EE) targets the networking and server segments.
  • The Internet of Things Edition (IE) is designed to support development in the IoT space.
  • The SoM Edition (SoM) is focused on Wireless and Compute solutions.

License

All code developed within Linaro working groups is open source and therefore available under standard Open Source Initiative (OSI) license terms.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.

The GNU C Library, commonly known as glibc, is the GNU Project's implementation of the C standard library. It is a wrapper around the system calls of the Linux kernel for application use. Despite its name, it now also directly supports C++. It was started in the 1980s by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernhard Rosenkränzer</span> German free software programmer

Bernhard Rosenkränzer is the founder and main developer of Ark Linux and a contributor to various other free software projects such as KDE and OpenOffice.org. To many in the Linux community he is known as "Bero", a concatenation of the first two letters of his given and surnames.

Wind River Systems, also known as Wind River, is an Alameda, California–based company, subsidiary of Aptiv PLC. The company develops embedded system and cloud software consisting of real-time operating systems software, industry-specific software, simulation technology, development tools and middleware.

Computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel are used in embedded systems such as consumer electronics, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), networking equipment, machine control, industrial automation, navigation equipment, spacecraft flight software, and medical instruments in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux-powered device</span>

Linux-based devices or Linux devices are computer appliances that are powered by the Linux kernel and possibly parts of the GNU operating system. Device manufacturers' reasons to use Linux may be various: low cost, security, stability, scalability or customizability. Many original equipment manufacturers use free and open source software to brand their products. Community maintained Linux devices are also available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free and open-source graphics device driver</span> Software that controls computer-graphics hardware

A free and open-source graphics device driver is a software stack which controls computer-graphics hardware and supports graphics-rendering application programming interfaces (APIs) and is released under a free and open-source software license. Graphics device drivers are written for specific hardware to work within a specific operating system kernel and to support a range of APIs used by applications to access the graphics hardware. They may also control output to the display if the display driver is part of the graphics hardware. Most free and open-source graphics device drivers are developed by the Mesa project. The driver is made up of a compiler, a rendering API, and software which manages access to the graphics hardware.

The Consumer Electronics Linux Forum was a non-profit organization to advance the Linux operating system as an open-source software platform for consumer electronics (CE) devices. It had a primarily technical focus, working on specifications, implementations, conferences and testing to help Linux developers improve Linux for use in CE products. It existed from 2003 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kernel-based Virtual Machine</span> Virtualization module in the Linux kernel

Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a free and open-source virtualization module in the Linux kernel that allows the kernel to function as a hypervisor. It was merged into the mainline Linux kernel in version 2.6.20, which was released on February 5, 2007. KVM requires a processor with hardware virtualization extensions, such as Intel VT or AMD-V. KVM has also been ported to other operating systems such as FreeBSD and illumos in the form of loadable kernel modules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesi</span>

Genesi is an international group of technology and consulting companies in the United States, Mexico and Germany. It is most widely known for designing and manufacturing ARM architecture and Power ISA-based computing devices. The Genesi Group consists of Genesi USA Inc., Genesi Americas LLC, Genesi Europe UG, Red Efika, bPlan GmbH and the affiliated non-profit organization Power2People.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux kernel</span> Free Unix-like operating system kernel

The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU operating system, which was written to be a free (libre) replacement for Unix.

Movial is a privately held software engineering company focused on Internet enabled devices in consumer electronics and telecommunications industries. The company’s services include device concept and user interface (UI) design, third-party application, service and platform integration, and consulting.

Rockchip is a Chinese fabless semiconductor company based in Fuzhou, Fujian province. Rockchip has been providing SoC products for tablets & PCs, streaming media TV boxes, AI audio & vision, IoT hardware since founded in 2001. It has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Hong Kong. It designs system on a chip (SoC) products, using the ARM architecture licensed from ARM Holdings for the majority of its projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mali (processor)</span> Series of graphics processing units produced by ARM Holdings

The Mali and Immortalis series of graphics processing units (GPUs) and multimedia processors are semiconductor intellectual property cores produced by Arm Holdings for licensing in various ASIC designs by Arm partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allwinner Technology</span> Fabless semiconductor company

Allwinner Technology Co., Ltd is a fabless semiconductor company that designs mixed-signal systems on a chip (SoC). The company is headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. It has a sales and technical support office in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and logistics operations in Hong Kong.

In computing, a devicetree is a data structure describing the hardware components of a particular computer so that the operating system's kernel can use and manage those components, including the CPU or CPUs, the memory, the buses and the integrated peripherals.

The OpenDataPlane (ODP) is an open-source project which defines application programming interfaces (APIs) for portable high performance networking data plane applications. ODP API design enables various implementation strategies without exposing the application to implementation details. This allows the same application (source code or binary) to run efficiently on various hardware platforms with different levels of HW acceleration. For example, the same application source code may be re-compiled to run on a standard server system or a specialized networking System on a Chip (SoC) device.

Microsoft, a technology company historically known for its opposition to the open source software paradigm, turned to embrace the approach in the 2010s. From the 1970s through 2000s under CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Microsoft viewed the community creation and sharing of communal code, later to be known as free and open source software, as a threat to its business, and both executives spoke negatively against it. In the 2010s, as the industry turned towards cloud, embedded, and mobile computing—technologies powered by open source advances—CEO Satya Nadella led Microsoft towards open source adoption although Microsoft's traditional Windows business continued to grow throughout this period generating revenues of 26.8 billion in the third quarter of 2018, while Microsoft's Azure cloud revenues nearly doubled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenHarmony</span> Family of open-source operating systems based on OpenHarmony

OpenAtom OpenHarmony, or abbreviated as OpenHarmony (OHOS), is a family of open-source distributed operating systems based on HarmonyOS derived from LiteOS, donated the L0-L2 branch source code by Huawei to the OpenAtom Foundation. Similar to HarmonyOS, the open-source distributed operating system is designed with a layered architecture, which consists of four layers from the bottom to the top, i.e., the kernel layer, system service layer, framework layer, and application layer. It is also an extensive collection of free software, which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems via Kernel Abstraction Layer subsystems.

References

  1. "Linaro seeks to simplify Arm Linux landscape". Lwn.net. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  2. "Statistics from the 5.2 kernel — and before [LWN.net]". lwn.net. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  3. McGlaun, Shane (2010-06-03). "IBM, Freescale, Samsung Form Linaro to Aid in Developing Arm-compatible Software". Dailytech.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  4. "ARM, Samsung, IBM, Freescale, TI and more join to form Linaro, speed rollout of Linux-based devices". Engadget. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  5. Ankerholz, Amber. "Linaro Enterprise Group Formed » Linux Magazine". Linux Magazine. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  6. "About" . Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  7. "About" . Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  8. "Linaro tackles Android and Linux security". LinuxGizmos.com. 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  9. "Open Portable Trusted Execution Environment". OP-TEE. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  10. "Linaro forms digital media group". LinuxGizmos.com. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  11. "Linaro beams LITE at Internet of Things devices". LinuxGizmos.com. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  12. linaro (2019-01-03). "Linaro announces appointment of new CEO Li Gong". Linaro. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  13. "The Eclipse Foundation Launches Vendor-Neutral Operating System for Next- Generation Device Interoperability". IoT Business News. IoT Business News. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  14. "Microsoft gives Windows a shot in the Arm". 11 February 2022.
  15. "Linaro to Acquire Arm Forge Software Tools Business". Linaro. 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  16. "Linaro IoT and Embedded Group (LITE) announces "Mission Accomplished". Linaro. 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  17. Linaro Limited (2011-05-27). "Linaro completes first year with demonstrations of Linaro Evaluation Builds for Android and Ubuntu and introduction of new partner program". Linaro.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  18. "Industry Leaders Collaborate to Accelerate the Software Ecosystem for Arm Servers". edacafe.com. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  19. "Companies look to advance Windows on Arm". newelectronics.co.uk. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  20. "Huawei develops ARM-Android open source platform for Linaro". 2017-04-27.
  21. "Specifications". 96Boards. Retrieved 2019-08-06.