- Boot Protocol
A network protocol which can be used to inquire a server about information for the intended system configuration (like IP address, host name, netmask, name server, routing, name of a boot image, address of NFS server, etc.
CFI
- Common Flash Interface
CFI is a standard for flash chips that allows to create device independend drivers for such chips.
CPM
- Communications Processor Module
The magic communications co-processor in Motorola PowerQUICC devices. It contains SCCs and SMCs, and performs SDMA and IDMA.
CPU
- Central Processor Unit
Depending on the context, this may refer to the processor core itself, or the physical processor device (including peripherals like memory controller, Ethernet controller, UARTs, LCD controller, ..., packaging etc.) as a single unit. The latter is today often called "system on chip" ("SoC").
CramFs
- Compressed ROM File System
Cramfs is designed to be a simple, small, and compressed file system for ROM based embedded systems. CramFs is read-only, limited to 256MB file systems (with 16MB files), and doesn't support 16/32 bits uid/gid, hard links and timestamps.
CVS
- Concurrent Versions System
CVS is a version control system; it can be used to record the history of files, so that it is for instance possible to retrieve specific versions of a source tree.
DHCP
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
A network protocol which can be used to inquire a server about information for the intended system configuration (like IP address, host name, netmask, name server, routing, name of a boot image, address of NFS server, etc.). Sucessor of BOOTP
DMA
- Direct Memory Access
A form a data transfer directly between memory and a peripheral or between memory and memory, without normal program intervention.
EABI
- Embedded Application Binary Interface
The convention for register usage and C linkage commonly used on embedded Power Architecture® machines, derived from the ABI.
ELDK
- Embedded Linux Development Kit
A package which contains everything you need to get startet with an Embedded Linux project on your hardware:
cross development tools (like compiler, assembler, linker etc.) that are running on a Host system while generating code for a Target system
•
native tools and libraries that can be use to build a system running on the target; they can also be exported on a NFS server and used as root filesystem for the target
•
source code and binary images for PPCBoot and Linux •
Our SELF package as example configuration for an embedded system. •
FEC
- Fast Ethernet Controller
The 100 Mbps (100Base) Ethernet controller, present on 'T' devices such as the 860T and 855T.
FTP
- File Transfer Protocol
A protocol that can be used to transfer files over a network.
GPL
/ LGPL - GNU General Public License/Lesser General Public License The full license text can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
The licenses under which the Linux kernel and much of the utility and library code necessary to build a complete system may be copied, distributed and modified. Each portion of the software is copyright by its respected copyright holder, and you must comply with the terms of the license in order to legally copy (and hence use) it. One significant requirement is that you freely redistribute any modifications you make; if you can't cope with this, embedded Linux isn't for you.
Host
The computer system which is used for software development. For instance it is used to run the tools of the ELDK to build software packages.
IDMA
- Independent DMA
A general purpose DMA engine with relatively limited throughput provided by the microcoded CPM, for use with external peripherals or memory-to-memory transfers.
JFFS
- Journalling Flash File System
JFFS (developed by Axis Communicartion AB, Sweden) is a log-based filesystem on top of the MTD layer; it promises to keep your filesystem and data in a consistent state even in cases of sudden power-down or system crashes. That's why it is especially useful for embedded devices where a regular shutdown procedure cannot always be guaranteed.
JFFS2
- Second version of the Journalling Flash File System
Like JFFS this is a journalling flash filesystem that is based on the MTD layer; it fixes some design problems of JFFS and adds transparent compression.
JTAG
- Joint Test Action Group
A standard (see "IEEE Standard 1149.1") that defines how to control the pins of JTAG compliant devices. Here: An on-chip debug interface supported by a special hardware port on some processors. It allows to take full control over the CPU with minimal external hardware, in many cases eliminationg the need for expensive tools like In-Circuit-Emulators.
MII
- Media Independent Interface
The IEEE Ethernet standard control interface used to communicate between the Ethernet controller (MAC) and the external PHY.
MMU
- Memory Management Unit
CPU component which maps kernel- and user-space virtual addresses to physical addresses, and is an integral part of Linux kernel operation.
MTD
- Memory Technology Devices
The MTD functions in Linux support memory devices like flash or Disk-On-Chip in a device-independend way so that the higher software layers (like filesystem code) need no knowledge about the actual hardware properties.
PC
CardPC Cards are self-contained extension cards especially for laptops and other types of portable computers. In just about the size of a credit card they provide functions like LAN cards (including wireless LAN), modems, ISDN cards, or hard disk drives - often "solid-state" disks based on flash chips.
The PC Card technology has been has been developed and standardized by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), see http://www.pcmcia.org/pccard.htm .
PCMCIA
- Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
PCMCIA is an abbreviation that can stand for several things: the association which defines the standard, the specification itself, or the devices. The official term for the devices is PC-Card.
PHY
- Physical Interface
The physical layer transceiver which implements the IEEE Ethernet standard interface between the ethernet wires (twisted pair, 50 ohm coax, etc.) and the ethernet controller (MAC). PHYs are often external
transceivers but may be integrated in the MAC chip or in the CPU. The PHY is controlled more or less transparently to software via the MII.
RTOS
- Real-Time Operating System
SCC
- Serial Communications Controller
The high performance module(s) within the CPM which implement the lowest layer of various serial protocols, such as Asynchronous serial (UART), 10 Mbps Ethernet, HDLC etc.