Axis is a range of Linux based dedicated video controllers, with high levels of security and multiple I/O connectivity options.
Axis systems come with a minimum of 256MB of system memory. The current Axis system uses a VIA Eden 1Ghz x86 processor and has onboard 2D/3D graphics. Provided in the Axis hardware are 2 Compact Flash slots and two 44 way connectors for other IDE Devices.
The use of a hard drive in an Axis system could mean that the overall system reliability may be reduced by the fact that a hard drive has fragile moving parts, and can be prone to damage by physical shock.
In order to eliminate the reliability issues associated with a hard drive, Heber recommends the use of Compact Flash, or solid state flash storage. While Compact Flash cards have no moving parts, very large sized Compact Flash cards can be expensive. For most Axis applications, a single 256MB Compact Flash card should be sufficient; the price of these sized cards has significantly reduced over the last few years, and is now greatly under the cost of a mechanical hard drive, while still giving enough storage space for an operating system and game.
The Axis system provides hardware that contains 10 asynchronous serial ports, 2 external SPI ports, an I2C port, parallel I/O, sound I/O, video I/O, a Smart Card security interface, and a co-processor that will operate when the power has failed. All of this is accessed via a group of drivers for easy developer access.
A suitable operating system needs to be supplied with the system that is very cheap or license / royalty free. It must be very robust have a good reputation in the intended market; it must be easy to add new hardware and develop custom drivers for both Heber and for Heber's customers. There should be a readily available pool of developers able to work with this operating system.
The GNU/Linux operating system fits these requirements very well. It is possible to fit Linux on even very small Compact Flash cards. It is even possible with a little effort to mount the root file system in read only mode to prevent long recovery start up times on the next boot. Drivers for the Linux kernel are easy to write and there are many books available on the subject. The GNU support applications that have been built up and now surround Linux are very robust and well understood, the Linux kernel itself is well understood. The source code for both the support applications and the Linux kernel is available for inspection and modification by any interested party. The open nature of Linux creates a wealth of knowledge among the Linux community. Linux developers are often very passionate about getting things to work, and you will often find very good examples or even exactly what you are looking for may have already been done by another developer.
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An encryption / decryption API is available on the Linux kernel. This API supports software crypto algorithms. Work is under way to support the hardware crypto-processors as well. Linux is very flexible and there are many pre-written drivers in source form and pre-compiled form available.
Many other commercial operating systems require a license or a royalty to be paid to the owner to enable the use of their operating system in your product. This fee will vary depending on many factors. This fee is often charged on a per unit basis and will inevitably increase the price of the end product.
Not all operating systems make the use of encryption hardware easy to use in their operating systems. This can make the job of adding a hardware encryption / decryption sub-system very hard and means that a custom driver must be developed to enable this extra hardware.
Many operating system manufacturers do not provide the source code to the developer for inspection or the ability to add new features.
For these reasons, and many others, Heber uses the Linux 2.6 Series Kernel.
If you require any help or support with Linux on Axis, please email our team of Technical Support engineers at: support@heber.co.uk