The first hardware reference design
By the second half this year, developers around the world will be examining the source code for the forthcoming Symbian^3 platform release. Some of these developers will be moved to experimentally modify parts of that code - to improve it, add features, refine the support for their own plug-ins and new applications, etc. How will these developers know if their changes are good or bad?
A big part of the answer lies in the Zoom 2 reference hardware from Texas Instruments (TI):
As announced earlier today, the Symbian Foundation has selected the Zoom 2 - or to give its full name, the Zoom OMAP34x-II MDP (Mobile Development Platform) - as the first hardware reference execution environment for the Symbian Platform.
Here’s how things will work:
» Every two weeks, the Symbian Foundation will make available the latest version of the Symbian^3 PDK (Product Development Kit);
» This kit will contain a large number of binaries, built from the appropriate versions of the source code from all the components that will make up the platform release;
» Scripts and tools will be provided to combine these binaries along with binaries from TI to produce a software “image”, which people can flash into the Zoom 2 device;
» The Zoom 2 should then boot up and run the Symbian Platform code.
That’s the vanilla version. Where things get interesting is when developers make their own versions of some of the components, and substitute the corresponding binaries into the overall image.
The commitment of the Symbian Foundation is that, every two weeks, the platform test code will be run on the Zoom 2 (that’s what’s meant when we say that it’s a reference execution environment). We’ll publish the test results: which tests can’t be run (for any reasons), which tests run but produce wrong results, and which tests pass. Developers can then run the same test suite on their version of the image - and compare the outcomes.
Developers who want to submit their changes to the relevant package owners will in most cases be expected to provide evidence that they have tested their changes on the reference execution environment.
By the way, the Zoom 2 should also be of considerable interest to developers who have no intention of modifying the Symbian Platform code. These developers will be able to copy their own applications onto the device and see how they work. In this way, they’ll become familiar with Symbian^3 even before any device manufacturer releases a product based on that software.
source
A big part of the answer lies in the Zoom 2 reference hardware from Texas Instruments (TI):
As announced earlier today, the Symbian Foundation has selected the Zoom 2 - or to give its full name, the Zoom OMAP34x-II MDP (Mobile Development Platform) - as the first hardware reference execution environment for the Symbian Platform.
Here’s how things will work:
» Every two weeks, the Symbian Foundation will make available the latest version of the Symbian^3 PDK (Product Development Kit);
» This kit will contain a large number of binaries, built from the appropriate versions of the source code from all the components that will make up the platform release;
» Scripts and tools will be provided to combine these binaries along with binaries from TI to produce a software “image”, which people can flash into the Zoom 2 device;
» The Zoom 2 should then boot up and run the Symbian Platform code.
That’s the vanilla version. Where things get interesting is when developers make their own versions of some of the components, and substitute the corresponding binaries into the overall image.
The commitment of the Symbian Foundation is that, every two weeks, the platform test code will be run on the Zoom 2 (that’s what’s meant when we say that it’s a reference execution environment). We’ll publish the test results: which tests can’t be run (for any reasons), which tests run but produce wrong results, and which tests pass. Developers can then run the same test suite on their version of the image - and compare the outcomes.
Developers who want to submit their changes to the relevant package owners will in most cases be expected to provide evidence that they have tested their changes on the reference execution environment.
By the way, the Zoom 2 should also be of considerable interest to developers who have no intention of modifying the Symbian Platform code. These developers will be able to copy their own applications onto the device and see how they work. In this way, they’ll become familiar with Symbian^3 even before any device manufacturer releases a product based on that software.
source
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