"
Red Hat has once again
proven why they continue to be an important and influential leader in the
Linux community."
-- Richard Vernon, Editor in Chief,
Linux Journal
RedBoot is a standardized embedded debug and bootstrap
solution that provides
firmware for running and debugging eCos, GNUPro applications, and
embedded Linux systems on a wide range of embedded platforms including ARM, MIPS, MN10300,
PowerPC,
Hitachi SHx, v850, and x86.
Because
RedBoot is based on the eCos HAL, it can take advantage of the configuration
capability and proven portability of eCos to a wide range of supported architectures and platforms. It is also completely open source.
RedBoot supports
downloading and
debugging of GNUPro and eCos applications, flash and network booting of the
Linux kernel, and downloading and updating of flash images
remotely via serial or
Ethernet connections, thereby providing field
upgradeability.
RedBoot is
modular and has a
well-defined architecture for adding new functionality. It also provides the
convenience of command line and scripting interfaces.
RedBoot enhances the use of
Red Hat GNUPro development tools by providing a
target side
hook known as a "stub" that enables gdb, the GNU
debugger, to communicate with applications built with gcc or g++ running on the target board. With RedBoot, this debugging capability is available across the wide range of supported platforms.
NOTE: The sources for RedBoot are included as part of the eCos open source project found at http://sources.redhat.com/ecos.