Technical Features of Intel Meego Development Platform

As an open operating system platform for Internet computing, MeeGo is jointly supported by Nokia and Intel and managed by the Linux Foundation. It targets netbooks, tablets, handheld devices, and on-board information systems, providing users with a rich set of high-quality mobile interconnection experiences.

　　Features of Meego Platform

　　

▲Meego System

Liang zhaozhu, general manager of Intel Asia Pacific R & D Co., Ltd. and general manager of Intel's China software and service department, said Intel will optimize MeeGo on the Atom platform, it also supports other manufacturers and developers to optimize MeeGo for other hardware or software platforms. If Meego is prone to user problems caused by inconsistent interfaces similar to Android devices, Liang MB said that Meego should need different interfaces on different mobile smart devices.

For developers, MeeGo supports the widest range of devices with different hardware architectures. You only need to write one program to allow applications to run on different device platforms, this helps device developers effectively save development costs and reduce market risks. While intel is working closely with its industrial partners to drive the next generation of smart phones, netbooks, tablets, on-board information systems, and other hardware innovations based on Intel's architecture, based on important initiatives and practical actions to accelerate software and application innovation.

Zhan RNI, vice president of Intel and General Manager of the software and service department, said: The MeeGO platform is a core development platform based on different application change modules and the key APIs are the same, in addition, this will help developers to conduct innovation and development on the Intel Platform, and further reduce costs, for different device development costs, and is based on the Intel Platform.

Zhan renni said that such a software release platform is a revolutionary tool for developers and is very different from the original proportional distribution. Furthermore, the difference is that people can embed a series of applications in the store of partners, so that people can create a community, which includes many exciting applications, for the development of telephones, netbooks, and televisions, we can combine them to confirm and put them in different store environments, it is also implemented in the entire ecological environment.

Next, let's take a look at the Meego framework and take a look at the Meego platform from an overall perspective:

　　

▲Figure: Meego framework

The MeeGo platform is carefully designed with multiple necessary components to provide the best user experience. MeeGo is divided into three layers:

1. MeeGo operating system base layer, including Linux kernel and its core services, and hardware adaptation modules supporting multiple platforms for MeeGo. The core services include configuration database GConf, system library, message bus, and platform information.

2. MeeGo intermediate layer, including network services (Bluetooth, voice, instant messaging, telephone, and connection management), Internet services (WebKit, network service library, and geographic information ), virtual Image Service (3D [OpenGL], 2D [Cairo], interface display [Pango, Qt], X Window System, etc) media Service (media framework [GStreamer], video, codecs [GStremer plugin], audio, UPnp), data management (Packaging Management, etc ), equipment Services (device health, resource management, sensing, backup and restoration), personalized services (PIM, device synchronization, etc ). In these services, there is a MeeGo API layer for programmer development.

3. The MeeGo user experience layer provides basic user experience for multiple platforms, including the UI framework and programs. MeeGo provides support for handheld phones, netbooks, and other platforms.

The basis of the MeeGo operating system, which serves as a bridge between applications and actual data processing, requires the manufacturers of each hardware platform to provide three extensions:

1. kernel drivers, like Windows, are provided by manufacturers of various devices, such as USB and Bluetooth.

2. Architecture extension package, used to support software with certain hardware architecture characteristics, such as solidified code on ROM.

3. Kernel configuration file. This file is not only initially provided by MeeGo, but also needs to be used by hardware manufacturers. This file describes the configurations and options of each device, such as the processor type, network Support and kernel debugging options.

X Window System, also known as X11 or X for short, provides a graphic framework and its interfaces. hardware vendors need to provide two types of extensions:

1. Core System Framework extensions, which are used to provide specific architecture features such as control, display, and acceleration.

2. X configuration file: this file is used to provide the configuration and running parameters for the X Window System initialization. If the hardware has a device-related configuration used by the X Window System, you need to write it to the file, such as the displayed resolution.

　　Meego development tools

Meego provides developers with a complete set of tools, so that developers can easily and quickly create a variety of new applications. Meego integrates the development technology of the Qt platform and uses Qt * and Web runtime as application development. Qt is based on native c ++, and Web runtime is based on Web applications (HTML, JS, CSS ). Qt and Web runtime bring about cross-platform development, so that applications can be implemented across multiple platforms. Web development tool plug-ins are standard Web development tools, including Aptana * and Dreamweaver *.

▲Nokia'sQt4.7 App Framework

Meego development tools are divided into open-source and non-open-source tools. The open-source tools include: Meego * Image Creator, which can be used to create custom system images in various formats. GNU * tool (gcc, gdb ,·······). PowerTOP * (IA only) is a platform-level power analysis and optimization tool. Non-open-source tools include Intel C/C ++ compilation tools, Intel JTAG, and application debugging tools, intel integrated performance primitive (Intel IPP) and Vtune Performance Analyzer.

　　Meego Working Mode

The working mode of Meego is divided into several major modules, including upstream open-source projects, Meego open-source projects, in the middle, there are compiling environments, Meego core, netbook reference frameworks, IVI reference frameworks, and MID reference frameworks, which are gradually pushed to operating system vendors, operating system vendors design business solutions based on different solutions, and finally develop different devices.

Meego focuses more on graphics processing. One of the intermediate layers is the visualization service, including 3D graphics. It implements 3D graphics rendering based on OpenGL */OpenGL ES and supports hardware acceleration, hardware acceleration features customized for different platforms. The 2D graphic layer provides advanced 2D painting functions that support hardware acceleration. The International Rendering component supports international layout and text rendering. X.org provides an implementation for X Windows system, including architecture-specific drivers, patches, and configuration as needed.

　　Services in the MeeGo OS Middle Layer

1. Network Service: manages the connection between sound and data. In business form, it manages the transmission of cellular phones and IP phones and data. Specific connection technologies include WiFi, 3G, WiMax, and Bluetooth. You can start from the following four aspects:

1. Connection Management (ConnMan)

2. Call API (oFono)

3. IP, VOIP, IM, Pres

4, Bluetooth (bluez)

2. Internet services: displays Web content, provides support for Web runtime libraries, exchanges data with the Web, and provides location services, which can be studied in the following four aspects:

1. Layout Engine (WebKit)

2. Web Runtime Library (WebKit)

3. Web Service (libSocialWeb)

4, Location (GeoClue)

3. Virtual Reality service: Provides 2D and 3D graphics and image services, including the ability to depict international texts and use hardware for image acceleration, which can be studied in the following four aspects:

1. 3D (OpenGL)

2, 2D (Cairo QPainter)

3. i18 display (Pango, QtText)

4, X Window System

4. Media Service: provides audio/video playback. It focuses on the acquisition, shunting, decoding, encoding, and positioning of audio and video data. It can be studied in the following five aspects:

1. Media framework (GStreamer)

2. Camera (GStreamer plug-in)

3. codecs (GStreamer plug-in)

4. Audio (PulseAudio)

5, UPnp (GUpnp)

5. Data Management: The data management subsystem releases and manages metadata files, such as metadata of media files, device context, and installation packages. It can be studied from the following three aspects:

1. Content Framework (Tracker)

2. Context framework (ContextKit)

3. PackageKit)

6. device management: the device management subsystem provides a series of services to manage the device status, including all the statuses that secure the device, device data exchange, data sensing, data synchronization, data backup, and restoration.

7. Personalized service: Manages user data on devices, including personal information management (calendar, contacts, tasks, etc.) and web service user account management.

　　Support from other hardware vendors

1. Start Loader: The loader is to provide necessary hardware initialization and preparation for the operating system. It provides Code related to the motherboard/processor, the boot loader is the binder for ROM code and kernel.

2. Image Device formatting tool: provides details on how to write images to devices. This tool is used to create a device object that runs in an appropriate format.

3. Support for cats: Provide support for phone plug-ins for specific cell phones.

4. Hardware-related media codecs.

MeeGo Security Mechanism Architecture

MeeGo provides a scalable Security Mechanism architecture that provides Role-Based Access Control, which is widely used by many systems, this method uses a scalable and updatable policy that is implemented by key components of the software stack.

MeeGo's security mechanism is not part of MeeGo 1.0.

MeeGo API

MeeGo API provides APIs for application development. The current version includes Qt4.6.2. Other features are under development. For more details, see Meego API page.

　　Qt

Qt provides an artistic graphical interface development function for programmers. Qt is fully object-oriented and easy to expand and truly allows component-based programming. The components include QtGui, QtCore, qt1_, QtMultimedia, QtNetwork, QtOpenGL, QtScript, QtSql, QtSvg, QtWebKit, QtXml, and Qt3Supp.