Rugged handheld gains Linux port

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Apr. 04, 2005

An extremely rugged military-grade PDA will soon gain a Linux port, thanks to a company specializing in vertical market software for the railroad industry. 10East has contracted SDG Systems to port Linux to TDS's "Recon" PDA, which meets MIL-STD-810F standards for drops, vibration, and temperature extremes.

(Click for larger view of TDS Recon PDA)

Mike Wilson, 10East VP of operations, describes 10East as a "big Linux house," noting that the company has used Linux internally since 1997. "We've been using Linux handhelds for four years, and we have about 3,000 Sharp Zauruses in the field -- 5500s, 5600s, 6000's."

Wilson notes that 10East has been looking for a more rugged PDA for some time, however. "In the railroad industry, guys like things to be made out of cast iron. When you pick up one of these Recons, you know it's tough."

According to 10East, the Recon was designed for "all-day operation in extreme outdoor and industrial environments." In addition to meeting MIL-STD-810F military standards for drops, vibration, and temperature extremes, it has an IP67 rating, signifying that it is impervious to water and dust, and the TDS website has a fish tank cam (Java or ActiveX required) showing one operating underwater.

The Recon, which normally runs Windows CE, is based on an Intel XScale PXA255 processor, clocked at 400MHz. It has 64MB of SDRAM, and 128MB of nonvolatile Flash storage. I/O interfaces include a high-speed (1.1) USB port, a 9-pin serial port, and two CompactFlash expansion slots. The CF slots can be covered with optional headcaps (as shown on top of the device in the photo at the right) that protect the cards and slots from dust and water. The Recon weighs 17 ounces, and has widely spaced buttons and a bright reflective color TFT LCD screen.

One limitation of the Recon, for open source projects, is that it uses a proprietary boot method. "It can't be used with an open source bootloader," according to HighTower.

10East has also worked with SDG Systems to port Linux to the HP/Compaq iPAQ 4705, a project currently in the final stages of completion, according to Hightower and Wilson.

Availability

10East's operations software for railroads, RailDOCs, is currently available on a number of hardware platforms that support the Familiar Linux distribution. The Recon port is expected in about 18 weeks. The RailDOCS applications are written in Python.

10East is an ASP (application service provider) focused on Fortune 500 rail companies. It offers a line of Internet-hosted applications for rail companies, including process management, outsourcing, and other process transformation applications.

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