Linaro release 12.08 includes Linux Kernel 3.6-rc2 and is the very first release with Android Jelly Bean (4.1.1-R4).
The Android platform team has managed to port Android Jelly Bean to all their main development platforms: Versatile Express, Versatile Express RTSM, Samsung Origen, TI PandaBoard, ST Ericsson Snowball, as well as Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. They’ve also added TINY_ANDROID, a minimal Android build that can be used for kernel development, toolchain work and other development where users only need a console. It’s possible to get the source code, build it and access the shell within 10 minutes. U-boot-Linaro has been updated and is now based on the latest upstream release v2012.07.
Next month, we might be able to see a preliminary port of Android on 64-bit platform (ARMv8).
Here are the highlights of the release:
- Android
- Automated Methanol (http://gitorious.org/methanol) browser benchmarking in Linaro Android.
- Automated over 100 Jelly Bean AOSP tests.
- Integrated the Ethernet Connection Manager into Linaro Jelly Bean builds.
- Running Linaro Jelly Bean on Versatile Express, Versatile Express RTSM, Samsung Origen, TI PandaBoard, ST Ericsson Snowball and Galaxy Nexus.
- Released the Linaro Toolchain for Android, based on Linaro GCC 4.7-2012.08.
- Updated Linaro Android to R4.1.1-R4.
- Lowered native benchmark variance to 2% and JAVA benchmark variance to 5% for AndeBench, Antutu, CaffeineMark, Geekbench2, GLBenchmark, Linpack, Nbench, Quadrant and Vellamo.
- Created a TINY_ANDROID baseline.
- Developer Platform
- Linux Linaro is now tested and validated with CI, for all the supported flavours from the Landing Teams.
- USB Host enablement testing is now available at LAVA, to help on USB support validation.
- All packaged linux linaro kernels are cross compile tested and boot tested via LAVA before uploading them to Launchpad.
- U-boot-Linaro is now based on the latest upstream release v2012.07.
- Infrastructure
- Filesystem images are provided for Android builds to facilitate testing and streamlined deployment.
- Graphics and Multimedia
- GLMark2: display benchmark results log in the Android GUI.
- GLMark2: users can save and load benchmark lists from the Android GUI.
- Power Management
- Add the concept of max_power and current_power to the scheduler to tie in DVFS.
- Toolchain
- Fix partial-partial PRE since EEMBC bitmnp01 regressed significantly at -O3. Patch upstreamed and backported to Linaro GCC 4.7-2012.08
- Validation
- Ubuntu FastModel’s now executing big.LITTLE test suite in the lab.
- OpenEmbedded images are bootable in LAVA.
- WiFi antennas were added to the Snowball boards in the Validation lab to enable WiFi testing.
Visit https://wiki.linaro.org/Cycles/1208/Release for a list of known issues and further release details about the LEB, Android, Kernel, Graphics, Landing Team, Platform, Power management and Toolchain (GCC / Qemu) components.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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That TINY_ANDROID thing sounds really cool, it may be foundation of Packaged Android, i.e. Android which uses standard Linux packaging system to manage all its components (including system, not just application software). That way, upgrades will be possible and easy, I wish CyanogenMod adopted this approach (or alternative Android distro appeared).