Using Linux in ARM-based industrial embedded systems — A survey

Linux has managed to become the number one of operating systems in the embedded world. Many manufacturers have decided to use this versatile open source operating system or consider doing this in future. For a decision, it is especially important to know about the capabilities of the system. This paper gives an overview of using Linux in industry and answers important questions to help decision makers. In automation technology, the real time behaviour and low jitter is particularly important. The development of the PREEMPT_RT patch for Linux has taken this into account. Meanwhile, Linux can be called a real time system which is verified by measurement of critical characteristics in this paper. Furthermore an overview of important industrial software modules is given and an outlook is presented into future architectural aspects of ARM processors.