Introduction

In this chapter, we'll take a "high-level" look at the steps necessary to build a complete Neutrino-based embedded system, with pointers to the appropriate chapters for the lower-level details.

First we'll see what a Neutrino system needs to do in order to run. Then we'll look at the components and how they operate. Finally, we'll do an overview of the steps you may need to follow when customizing certain portions.

From the software perspective, the following steps occur when the system starts up:

1. Processor begins executing at the reset vector. The Initial Program Loader (IPL) locates the OS image and transfers control to the startup program in the image.
2. Startup program configures the system and transfers control to the Neutrino microkernel and process manager (procnto).
3. The procnto module loads additional drivers and application programs.

After we look at the software aspects in some more detail, we'll consider the impact that the hardware has on this startup process.