Technopedia Center
PMB University Brochure
Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education
teknopedia

Flag Counter
  2. World Encyclopedia
  3. Linux on embedded systems - Wikipedia
Linux on embedded systems - Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Linux operating system is prevalent in embedded systems. As of 2024, developer surveys and industry reports find that Embedded Linux is used in 44%-46% of embedded systems.[1][2][3] Due to its versatility, its large community of developers, as well as its adaptability to devices with size and power constraints, Linux is a popular choice for devices used in edge computing[4] and autonomous systems.[citation needed]

History

Main article: Linux kernel version history
additional source for this section [5]

Early days

Prior to becoming the de-facto standard for microprocessor-based devices,[6] a Linux distribution was created for the Linux Router Project, with the intent of transforming PCs to routers.

Introduction of μClinux

Starting in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, the introduction of μClinux enabled ports to a large variety of microprocessors, especially those without a memory management unit (NOMMU).[7] Linux is also used as an alternative to using a proprietary operating system and its associated toolchain.[8]

Introduction of BusyBox

The introduction of BusyBox in 1999 enabled packaging of critical tools in an embedded system, with a minimal footprint.

The ARM-Linux synergy

ARM processors are prevalent in many embedded devices, due to their low costs, low power consumption, and low heat generation. The open source nature, the flexibility, and the stability of Linux contributes to its widespread adoption to ARM devices.[9]

Development toolchains

The development of the GNU cross-compiler facilitated the adoption of Linux embedded to many processors.

Android

In 2008, Android 1.0 was released, based on the Linux kernel. Android, a Linux-kernel-based operating system acquired and extended by Google and introduced in 2008, has become a highly competitive platform for smartphones and tablets. In time, Android would become the most successful Linux embedded distribution.[5]

Real-time support

Linux embedded Real Time Evolution

Not every embedded Linux distribution is required to or meets real-time requirements.[10][11] This is particularly relevant for safety critical applications and systems.[12]

The original Linux kernel was not suitable for real-time tasks due to its non-deterministic behavior[13]

Early attempts to provide real-time support, such as RTAI were based on a real-time kernel alongside the standard kernel.

In 2005, the PREEMPT_RT project was initiated to provide a patch to the Linux kernel.[14][15]

In 2024, the PREEMPT_RT patch was fully merged into the Linux kernel for supported architectures.

IoT

The open source nature and security features of Linux have contributed to its prevalence in devices on the edge and IoT systems.[16] Correspondingly, the demand for the real-time capabilities described in the previous subsection, is driven by the proliferation of IoT devices.

Containerization

The emerging technologies of the fourth industrial revolution have driven further enhancements to the Linux kernel, notably the adoption of containerization.[17]

Devices coverage

Due to its freely available source code and ease of customization, Linux has been shipped in many consumer devices. Starlink and SpaceX use embedded Linux on their constellations and rockets.[18] The Embeddable Linux Kernel is a lightweight and customizable Linux distribution appropriate for low resource hardware.[19] Like the synergy with the ARM architecture as mentioned in #The ARM-Linux Synergy, Linux embedded has evolved with hardware technologies like system on a chip and Single-board computer, networking standards, and memory devices.[20] (example: Raspberry Pi)

Linux embedded ecosystems

With the availability of consumer embedded devices, communities of users and developers were formed around these devices: replacement or enhancements of the Linux distribution shipped on the device have often been made possible thanks to availability of the source code and to the communities surrounding the devices.

Build systems

Alongside the evolution of the Linux kernel, build systems evolved to support the building of an optimized operating system for an embedded device.

Before the emergence of these build systems, developers manually built toolchains and compiled each component of the embedded distribution (kernel, libraries, applications).[21]

Currently, there are several solutions, some full build systems, others are supporting tools.

Development tools

Variants

Summary table of variants (2025)

Category of Variant Examples
Networking Devices OpenWRT, firmware variant DD-WRT
IoT Devices Ubuntu Core, Balena OS, Raspberry Pi OS
Automotive Automotive Grade Linux
Safety Critical Applications Windriver Linux (commercial product), Enabling Linux in Safety Applications (ELISA),
High reliability Industrial Applications Torizon, Xenomai

See also

References

  1. ^ "Embedded Systems Statistics By Market Size And Technologies". Electro IQ. 24 February 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  2. ^ "The Eclipse Foundation Unveils 2024 IoT & Embedded Developer Survey Results". Eclipse Foundation. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Wind River Continues Long-Standing #1 Ranking in Edge Operating System Platforms". businesswire. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  4. ^ "2023 State of the Edge Report". LFEdge.
  5. ^ a b "Embedded Linux Timeline". 2net.
  6. ^ Kingman, Henry (July 2013). The History of Embedded Linux & Best Practices for Getting Started. Linux Foundation. p. 2.
  7. ^ Opdenacker, Michael. "Introduction to uClinux" (PDF). bootlin.com.
  8. ^ "Migrating VxWorks applications to Linux" (PDF). Monta Vista Software. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  9. ^ Vuong, Kent. "Linux on ARM: The Future of Operating Systems in a Connected World". LinkedIn.
  10. ^ Erciyes, K. (2019). "Real-Time Operating Systems". Distributed Real-Time Systems. Computer Communications and Networks. pp. 65–88. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-22570-4_4. ISBN 978-3-030-22569-8.
  11. ^ "What does it mean to say "linux kernel is preemptive"?". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  12. ^ Oshana, Robert (2006). "Real-Time Operating Systems for DSP". DSP Software Development Techniques for Embedded and Real-Time Systems. pp. 261–320. doi:10.1016/B978-075067759-2/50010-7. ISBN 978-0-7506-7759-2.
  13. ^ Reghenzani, Federico (2019). "The real-time linux kernel: A survey on Preempt_RT". ACM Computing Surveys. 52: 1-36. doi:10.1145/3297714. hdl:11311/1076057.
  14. ^ "Real-Time Linux Wiki". Archive Kernel.org.
  15. ^ "PREEMPT_RT patch versions". Linux Foundation.
  16. ^ Cintay, Emre. "The Impact of Linux on Emerging Technologies: IoT, AI, and Beyond". Medium. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  17. ^ "Guide to Building Embedded Linux Systems with Containers". Pantacor.
  18. ^ Tim Bird July 2022 (June 2023) Status of Embedded Linux
  19. ^ "ELKS: The Embeddable Linux Kernel System". GitHub.com/elks. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  20. ^ Yaghmour, Karim (2008). Building Embedded Linux Systems (2nd ed.). O'Reilly.
  21. ^ Yaghmour, Karim (2003). Building Embedded Linux Systems. O'Reilly.

Further reading

Sunting pranala
url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url
Pusat Layanan

UNIVERSITAS TEKNOKRAT INDONESIA | ASEAN's Best Private University
Jl. ZA. Pagar Alam No.9 -11, Labuhan Ratu, Kec. Kedaton, Kota Bandar Lampung, Lampung 35132
Phone: (0721) 702022
Email: pmb@teknokrat.ac.id