2006 Reports

Embedded uClinux, the Altera DE2, and the SHIM Compiler

Hsu, Wei-Chung; Edwards, Stephen A.; Lariviere, David

SHIM is a concurrent deterministic language focused on embedded system. Although SHIM has undergone substantial evolution, it currently does not have a code generator for a true embedded environment. In this project, we built an embedded environment that we intend to use as a target for the SHIM compiler. We add the uClinux operating system between hardware devices and software programs. Our long-term goal is to have the SHIM compiler generate both user-space and kernel/module programs for this environment. This project is a first step: we manually explored what sort of code we ultimately want the SHIM compiler to produce. In this report, we provide instructions on how to build and install uClinux into an Altera DE2 board and example programs, including a user-space program, a kernel module, and a simple device driver for the buttons on the DE2 board that includes an interrupt handler.