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Computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel are used in embedded systems such as consumer electronics (eg. set-top boxes, smart TVs and personal video recorders (PVRs)), in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), networking equipment (such as routers, switches, wireless access points (WAPs) or wireless routers), machine control, industrial automation, navigation equipment, spacecraft flight ...
Memory management (also dynamic memory management, dynamic storage allocation, or dynamic memory allocation) is a form of resource management applied to computer memory.The essential requirement of memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and free it for reuse when no longer needed.
Embedded software is computer software, written to control machines or devices that are not typically thought of as computers, commonly known as embedded systems. It is typically specialized for the particular hardware that it runs on and has time and memory constraints. [1] This term is sometimes used interchangeably with firmware. [2]
Ascher Opler used the term firmware in a 1967 Datamation article, as an intermediary term between hardware and software. Opler projected that fourth-generation computer systems would have a writable control store (a small specialized high-speed memory) into which microcode firmware would be loaded.
Although most modern supercomputers use the Linux operating system, [6] each manufacturer has made its own specific changes to the Linux distribution they use, and no industry standard exists, partly because the differences in hardware architectures require changes to optimize the operating system to each hardware design. [1] [7]
A device driver is a computer program encapsulating, monitoring and controlling a hardware device (via its Hardware/Software Interface (HSI)) on behalf of the OS. It provides the operating system with an API, procedures and information about how to control and communicate with a certain piece of hardware.
All the computer's memory, usually with the exception of a small portion reserved for the operating system, is available to a single application. MS-DOS is an example of a system that allocates memory in this way. An embedded system running a single application might also use this technique.
If a program fails, it may cause memory used by one or more other programs to be affected or overwritten. Malicious programs or viruses may purposefully alter another program's memory, or may affect the operation of the operating system itself. With cooperative memory management, it takes only one misbehaved program to crash the system.