Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 
Embedded Linux Made Easy

Microcross Adds USB and PCI Support to GX-Linux™ for the AMD Au1550

ATLANTA, GA  --  November 29, 2005 -- Microcross, Inc. and Cogent Computer Systems, Inc. complete their unified embedded Linux strategy for the CSB655, Ultra-small Single Board Computer (uSBC), adding complete support for USB Host and PCI interface to the Au1550 GX-Linux Platform.  The Au1550 is designed for low-power, low-cost, high performance products for industrial automation, telematics, medical applications, etc.

The GX-Linux™ Professional Platform comprises the following components:

• Visual X-Tools™ IDE
• GNU X-Tools™ MIPS Linux with Visual GDB and GDB Server
• Linux v2.6.12 kernel and BSP with MMU support
• Small Footprint uClibc shared and static C library for embedded development
• ROM, USB (pendrive) or remote NFS Filesystem
• BusyBox v1.0 utilities
• Linux Drivers
• Serial I/O
• TCP/Ethernet
• USB Host
• PCI in big endian format

"The GX-Linux™ CSB655 development kit is unique in that this board support package offers dual Ethernet, dual PCI, USB host, and core common features of other Cogent boards. We have customers going to market with end products in less than three months while using our GX-Linux BSP, development tools, and Cogent OEM boards. Compare that to the average embedded applications project taking 12-15 months! Open-source solutions have arguably taken the leadership position in the embedded industry today because of their great value, openness, and growing support from commercial companies," said  James Calvin, President at Microcross.

"The complete GX-Linux™ development kit provides a rapid application development solution for engineers to jump start their project without incurring the typical high-costs and product restrictions associated with commercial RTOS and network solutions. With years of trial experience in many commercial systems, embedded Linux along with Cogent OEM boards are worth serious consideration in your next embedded design solution," said Michael Kelly, Vice President at Cogent Computer Systems, Inc.. 

Microcross has CSB655/955 boards in stock, and the complete kit is ready to order and ship on the same day.  Standard GX-Linux™ development kits start at $1,500. Professional GX-Linux™ Board Support Packages (BSPs) with the Visual X-Tools IDE and toolsuite are priced at $3,500.

About Cogent

Cogent Computer Systems, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of embedded OEM and development boards since 1992.  Cogent produces single board computers that can be used for both OEM use and software development. The Cogent Single Board Computers (SBCs) are based upon today's leading technology and most popular integrated CPU's such as ARM, PowerPC, MIPS and ColdFire. Cogent SBCs are small in size and price, fully featured and easy to use. With over 12 years of experience, Cogent solutions are "Always Complete" and provide a cost effective platform for integration into custom systems as well as for rapid software development. For more information, please browse www.cogcomp.com .

About Microcross

Microcross is the leading international distributor of open-source embedded development tools based on GNU technology.  Microcross is making embedded systems easier to program by providing full-featured, open-source development tools that are validated and documented, so customers can affordably accelerate their development. Microcross enables customers to confidently develop and run software in embedded systems faster, more reliably and at a lower cost. Microcross' professional embedded tools solution tightly integrates a rich set of leading real-time operating systems and its own brand of embedded Linux to meet the needs of customers producing embedded devices and smart technology. For more information, please browse www.microcross.com.

Information provided by Microcross, Inc. and Cogent Computer Systems, Inc.
Contact: Audra Jean at Microcross, Inc.
(478) 953-1907 tel
sales@microcross.com

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2005 sales of $5.8 billion (USD). www.freescale.com.

Freescale Technology Forum

The Freescale Technology Forum (FTF) is fast becoming the embedded semiconductor industry's premier developer conference. A global program, FTF events feature visionary keynote speakers, in-depth technical training, and interactive demonstrations from Freescale and leading hardware, software and tools providers. Attendees can explore the V1 core at the Orlando forum in a session titled "Overview of the Industry's First 8- to 32-bit Compatible Architectures." For detailed information about FTF events around the world, please go to www.freescale.com/ftf.