Linux Kernel Ported To The Synopsys ARC700

The Linux kernel has been ported to a new family of processors commonly found in TV set-top boxes, digital media players, and other devices.

Patches were posted this morning to the kernel mailing list for supporting the Synopsys ARC700 processors. The Synopsys ARC750D and ARC770D processors are 32-bit RISC cores embedded in SoCs and in turn found in many consumer electronic devices from TV set-top boxes to media players. The ARC700 series supports MMU with optional DSP and FPU capabilities.

The initial Linux kernel patches are enough to build the kernel and bring up a busybox shell on the console. For building for the Synopsys ARC processors is a GCC 4.4 derived compiler with uClibc. The developers are also working on a buildroot-based distribution for the platform.

This Synopsys ARC700 Linux kernel support will be potentially merged into the Linux 3.8 kernel.