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Mastering Embedded Linux Development

Mastering Embedded Linux Development

By : Frank Vasquez, Mr. Chris Simmonds
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Mastering Embedded Linux Development

Mastering Embedded Linux Development

By: Frank Vasquez, Mr. Chris Simmonds

Overview of this book

Mastering Embedded Linux Development' is designed to be both a learning resource and a reference for your embedded Linux projects. The book starts by breaking down the fundamental elements that underpin all embedded Linux projects: the toolchain, the bootloader, the kernel, and the root filesystem. First, you will download and install a pre-built toolchain. After that, you will cross-compile each of the remaining three elements from scratch and learn to automate the process using Buildroot and the Yocto Project. The book progresses with coverage of over-the-air software updates and rapid prototyping with add-on boards. Two new chapters tackle modern development practices including Python packaging and deploying containerized applications. These are followed by a chapter on writing multithreaded code and another on techniques to manage memory in an efficient way. The final chapters demonstrate how to debug your code, whether it resides in user space or in the Linux kernel itself. In addition to GDB, the book also covers the different tracers and profilers that are available for Linux so that you can quickly pinpoint any performance bottlenecks in your system. By the end of this book, you will be able to create efficient and secure embedded devices with Linux that will delight your users.
Table of Contents (28 chapters)
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1
Part 1: Elements of Embedded Linux
7
Part 2: Building Embedded Linux Images
11
Part 3: System Architecture and Design Decisions
18
Part 4: Developing Applications
23
Part 5: Debugging and Optimizing Performance

Types of update mechanism

In this section, I will describe three approaches to applying software updates: symmetric, or A/B, image update; asymmetric image update, also known as recovery mode update; and finally, atomic file update.

Symmetric image update

In this scheme, there are two copies of the operating system, each comprising the Linux kernel, root filesystem, and system applications. They are labeled as A and B in the following diagram:

Figure 10.2 – Symmetric image update

Figure 10.2 – Symmetric image update

Symmetric image updates work as follows:

  1. The bootloader has a flag that indicates which image it should load. Initially, the flag is set to A, so the bootloader loads OS image A.
  2. To install an update, the updater application, which is part of the operating system, overwrites OS image B.
  3. When complete, the updater changes the boot flag to B and reboots.
  4. Now the bootloader will load the new operating system.
  5. When a further update is installed, the...

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