MontaVista Software is a company that develops

embedded Linux Operating systems based on the Linux kernel are used in embedded systems such as consumer electronics (eg. set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information applianc ...

system software System software is software designed to provide a platform for other software. Examples of system software include operating systems (OS) like macOS, Linux, Android and Microsoft Windows, computational science software, game engines, search engin ...

, development tools, and related software. Its products are made for other corporations developing

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded ...

s such as automotive

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

s equipment,

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s, and other electronic devices and infrastructure. MontaVista is based in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

and was founded in 1999 by James "Jim" Ready (formerly at

Mentor Graphics Siemens EDA is a US-based electronic design automation (EDA) multinational corporation for electrical engineering and electronics, headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Founded in 1981 as Mentor Graphics, the company was acquired by Siemens i ...

and creator of Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX)) and others. On November 10, 2009

Cavium Networks Cavium was a fabless semiconductor company based in San Jose, California, specializing in ARM-based and MIPS-based network, video and security processors and SoCs. The company was co-founded in 2000 by Syed B. Ali and M. Raghib Hussain, who ...

announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase MontaVista for $50 million. After Cavium got acquired by Marvell, Montavista operated as an independent entity.

Products

Linux

May 12, 2009, MontaVista announced MontaVista Linux 6 (MVL6) comprising Market Specific Distributions, MontaVista Integration Platform, Software Development Kit, MontaVista Zone Content Server, and support and services. There are several differences between MVL6 and prior MontaVista Linux products. The main ones are: * Market Specific Distributions (MSD)Linux operating systems (

kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learn ...

+ userland) optimized for each specific semiconductor vendor's hardware. * MontaVista Integration Platformbased on

BitBake BitBake is a make (software), make-like build tool with the special focus of Linux distributions, distributions and packages for embedded Linux cross compilation, although it is not limited to that. It is inspired by Portage (software), Portage, ...

, analogous to '' make'', which analyzes a set of directives and then builds a task dependency tree to satisfy a user command. BitBake then executes the defined tasks to completion. * MontaVista Zone Content Serveraccessed from behind a

proxy server In computer networking, a proxy server is a server application that acts as an intermediary between a client requesting a resource and the server providing that resource. Instead of connecting directly to a server that can fulfill a reques ...

, or local

web mirror Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

for offline operations, to fetch software and updates. Rather than depending on a mix of public

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...

Concurrent Versions System Concurrent Versions System (CVS, also known as the Concurrent Versioning System) is a revision control system originally developed by Dick Grune in July 1986. CVS operates as a front end to RCS, an earlier system which operates on single file ...

(CVS),

Git Git () is a distributed version control system: tracking changes in any set of files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Its goals include speed, data in ...

, and Subversion servers across the Internet, there is one source for each original source

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

and

patch Patch or Patches may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'' * Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy * "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962 * "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song) ...

. ''MontaVista Linux'' (formerly named ''Hard Hat Linux'') is a Linux distribution that has been enhanced to become a full

real-time operating system A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. An RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix, which m ...

. The work on real-time performance has since continued to a point where MontaVista claims to support

hard real-time Real-time computing (RTC) is the computer science term for hardware and software systems subject to a "real-time constraint", for example from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within specified time constrai ...

tasks on embedded Linux as of MontaVista Linux 4.0, with response times as fast as other real-time operating systems. MontaVista sells ''subscriptions'', which consist of software, documentation, and

technical support Technical support (abbreviated as tech support) is a call centre type customer service provided by companies to advise and assist registered users with issues concerning their technical products. Traditionally done on the phone, technical suppor ...

. The software includes a Linux kernel and

toolchain In software, a toolchain is a set of programming tools that is used to perform a complex software development task or to create a software product, which is typically another computer program or a set of related programs. In general, the tools for ...

aimed at a specific hardware configuration, collectively called a Linux Support Package (LSP), and other integrated tools including the Eclipse-based DevRocket

integrated development environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools ...

(IDE). The distribution is available in three editions, each aimed at different

market segments In marketing, market segmentation is the process of dividing a broad consumer or business market, normally consisting of existing and potential customers, into sub-groups of consumers (known as ''segments'') based on some type of shared charact ...

: ''Professional Edition'', ''Carrier Grade Edition'', and ''Mobilinux''. The MontaVista Linux toolkit includes specific code libraries to easily migrate from

Wind River Systems Wind River Systems, also known as Wind River (trademarked as Wndrvr), 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, ...

VxWorks VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, determi ...

and the pSOS operating systems.

OpenCGX

Project OpenCGX is an open and free to use embedded

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

distribution from MontaVista Software LLC. OpenCGX is based on MontaVista’s eleventh generation

Carrier Grade Linux Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) is a set of specifications which detail standards of availability, scalability, manageability, and service response characteristics which must be met in order for Linux kernel-based operating system to be considered "c ...

. Engineers can quickly jumpstart their

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

and

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was intr ...

development with a full embedded Linux distribution that is easily customizable. OpenCGX in its introduction is based on

Yocto A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The pre ...

2.4 with Linux Kernel 4.14 (or latest LTS kernel) and

GNU GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...

7.2 toolchain.

Carrier Grade Express (CGX)

MontaVista Linu
Carrier Grade eXpress (CGX)
is MontaVista's main operating system product that delivers Carrier Grade reliability, security, and serviceability in a highly configurable, flexible package with consistent high quality. CGX features address a large embedded device segment including networking and communications, instrumentation and control, aerospace and defense, SOHO devices, medical electronics and the "Internet of Things (IoT)" market besides general embedded devices. CGX is a Carrier Grade distribution, validated for CGL spec version 5.0.

MVShield

MVShield
is MontaVista's professional maintenance and support program available for Carrier-Grade Linux products and other distributions such as CentOS or

. One of MontaVista’s most popular support program has bee
MVShield for CentOS
that is best suited for customers who utilize CentOS in markets like network and wireless infrastructure, medical, and military-aerospace
MVShield for Yocto
is MontaVista’s professional services offering to support customer’s open-source Yocto baselines to allow access to industry-leading support and maintenance services without any migration effort to commercial Linux baselines.

Carrier Grade Edition

MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) is a commercial-grade Linux development platform for developers working with reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) managed hardware ( Hardware Platform Interface (HPI),

Intelligent Platform Management Interface The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a set of computer interface specifications for an autonomous computer subsystem that provides management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host system's CPU, firmware ( BIOS o ...

(IPMI)) or custom hardware, who need long-term support and high availability.

is governed by the Linux Foundation CGL working group.

DevRocket

''MontaVista DevRocket'' is a set of Eclipse plug-ins for facilitating application and system development with MontaVista Linux. DevRocket

(IDE) runs on Linux, Solaris and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

. It uses the Eclipse

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

Development Toolkit (CDT). Starting with DevRocket 5.0, users can add MontaVista's plug-ins into an existing Eclipse installation, or install Eclipse with the plugins already loaded. DevRocket is available in two varieties: a Platform Developer Kit (PDK) and Application Developer Kit (ADK). The Platform Developer Kit includes the ability to communicate with a target (RSE, SSH), create and manage file systems, debugging (kgdb), and performance tuning (

memory leak In computer science, a memory leak is a type of resource leak that occurs when a computer program incorrectly manages memory allocations in a way that memory which is no longer needed is not released. A memory leak may also happen when an object ...

, memory use, system profiling). The application developer kit includes a virtual target for developing applications earlier in the development cycle, one-click edit/compile/debug, and performance tuning.

Services

Custom Hardware Enablement

MontaVista supports the

, MIPS, and PowerPC architectures wit
Board Support Packages (BSPs)
and associated kernel, driver, and user land adaptions on SoC or third party reference hardware boards. However, most companies develop and then ship their products based on custom hardware created for their specific requirements. MontaVista can adapt MontaVista Linux products to fit customers' software and hardware environment.

RTOS/Legacy Migration

MontaVista's RTOS/Legacy Migration services
helps developing teams move from legacy products using a home grown or commercial real-time operating system (RTOS) to Embedded Linux.

System Certification

MontaVista Linux is being used in applications within IT and telecom that need to be certified according to Common Criteria, up to

EAL4+ The Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL1 through EAL7) of an IT product or system is a numerical grade assigned following the completion of a Common Criteria security evaluation, an international standard in effect since 1999. The increasing assurance ...

level. Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (EAL4+) is commonly used to secure connectivity in critical environments, such as fire and police departments, or aviation and industry control systems. With the help of EAL4+ these critical environments can, for example, ensure secure and safe phone calls, control communication in-flight and for the assembly line, and achieve secure internet access.

Training

MontaVista customer education
provides education and training in developing intelligent device applications using MontaVista Linux. With the skills gained, development teams are able to reduce application development cycles while minimizing development risk.

Legacy products

Several legacy products are available from MontaVista under long-term support agreements.

Mobilinux

MontaVista Mobilinux is for wireless handsets and other mobile devices such as

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS) devices, portable medical devices, and wireless

POS terminal The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

s. Mobilinux's key features include dynamic

power management Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers, computer CPUs, computer GPUs and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power st ...

, real-time performance, fast booting, and small

memory footprint Memory footprint refers to the amount of main memory that a program uses or references while running. The word footprint generally refers to the extent of physical dimensions that an object occupies, giving a sense of its size. In computing, the ...

Professional Edition

MontaVista Professional Edition (Pro) is for general embedded Linux developers who want all the benefits of an open source development platform (open source, Linux, easily accessible software, etc.) and added MontaVista benefits including higher quality (fewer bugs), integration with open source tools for a given hardware architecture, and support. Pro is for intelligent device markets, including networking and communications, instrumentation and control,

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

and defense, small office/home office (SOHO) devices, and

medical devices A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

. Future development of MontaVista Pro has been folded into MontaVista Linux, effectively ending this as a separate edition starting version 5.0.24.

Open source contributions

MontaVista has a history of being a major contributor to the Linux kernel and the open source community. From the start, Jim Ready said he wanted to make it "100% pure Linux" under the GPL. The core changes to make MontaVista Linux into a real-time operating system were made by Nigel Gamble and later updated by

Robert Love Robert M. Love (born c. 1981) is an American author, speaker, Google engineer, and open source software developer. Love is best known for his contributions to the Linux kernel, with notable work including the preemptive kernel, process sche ...

. Robert Love submitted the changes to the Linux kernel in 2001. The Linux 2.6 stable kernel series is the first to include similar features, such as priority-based preemption. As of 2008, MontaVista had contributed 1.2% of the Linux kernel, making it the 9th-largest corporate contributor to the Linux kernel, according to a survey by the Linux Foundation. MontaVista has also spun off independent open source projects based on several of its features, including dynamic

, high resolution

POSIX The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system- and user-level application programming inter ...

timers, the pramfs file system, and the ''openais'' implementation of the

Service Availability Forum The Service Availability Forum (SAF or SA Forum) is a consortium that develops, publishes, educates on and promotes open specifications for carrier-grade and mission-critical systems. Formed in 2001, it promotes development and deployment of com ...

's (SA Forum) Application Interface Specification.

Distribution

Other versions of MontaVista Linux are used in devices made by a number of partners, including

Sony Bravia Bravia (stylized as BRAVIA) is a brand of Sony Visual Products Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, and used for its television products. Its backronym is "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture". All Sony high-defi ...

TVs,

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

routers, and others, especially in Japan. A version of MontaVista Linux OS is used in

Dell Latitude The Dell Latitude series is a line of laptop computers manufactured and sold by American company Dell. It is a business-oriented line, aimed at corporate enterprises, healthcare, government, and education markets; unlike the Inspiron series, ...

E4200 and E4300 notebooks to provide the

Latitude ON Latitude ON is an instant-on computer system made by Dell. It is a combination of software and hardware developed by Dell and used in some of their Dell Latitude, Latitude laptops. The system is based on a dedicated ARM processor (Texas Instrument ...

feature.

Cisco NX-OS NX-OS is a network operating system for the Nexus-series Ethernet switches and MDS-series Fibre Channel storage area network switches made by Cisco Systems. It evolved from the Cisco operating system SAN-OS, originally developed for its MDS swi ...

is based on HardHat Linux.

Mobile phones

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

became the first company to use Linux on a mobile phone when it released the

Motorola A760 The Motorola A760 is a Linux-based camera equipped mobile telephone ('cell phone') developed at Motorola's laboratory in China and released in the Chinese market on February 16, 2003. The particular Linux distribution used was MontaVista Li ...

to the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

market on February 16, 2003. Motorola chose to use MontaVista Linux in the Motorola A760 and future Linux-based phones, despite the fact that Motorola was a founding member of the competing Symbian OS. Since then, Motorola has increased focus on its Linux platform and publicly stated that the future platform for all its mid- and high-tier mobile phones will be Linux with

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, and other phone manufacturers NEC and

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

have developed a common platform based on MontaVista Linux.

References

External links

*
{{Linux-distro Linux companies Embedded Linux Software companies based in California Companies based in Santa Clara, California Software companies established in 1999 Embedded Linux distributions Software companies of the United States 1999 establishments in California 1999 establishments in the United States Companies established in 1999