Embedded Linux

The embedded landscape around the world is gradually changing with the arrival of open source operating systems such as Linux. Most embedded operating systems today have been fragmented and populated by proprietary kernels. The arrival of Linux provides the potential of an open multivendor platform with an increase in the levels of software and hardware support. The growth in the use of Linux in embedded systems over the past few years has been astonishing. The success of Linux in the server or desktop arena over the last few years has received the most attention, where the most ardent supporters of Linux are attempting to loosen the stranglehold of established operating systems such as Windows. However, in the embedded landscape, by contrast, Linux is already moving toward world domination.

The phenomenal growth in the use of embedded Linux has been driven by its many compelling benefits that are not offered by traditional proprietary embedded operating systems. Developers appreciate having access to the source code at no cost and there are no royalty fees for incorporating Linux into their products. In addition, there is a growing base of software, both open source and licensed products, available under Linux that is helping to reduce engineers’ development efforts.

Digital Content Identification

In a typical DRM system, digital content today needs to be both persistent and unique. In other words, when the ownership of the content changes, the content identifier needs to remain the same. Existing uses of standard numbering schemes in DRM include ISBN, ISSN, ISAN and DOI.

Other than uniquely identifying a content, the content identifier can be used to locate related resources or derivations of the content. This could be useful for example when the user is interested to locate a scaled-down version of the content for his handheld device.

IT Security

Security is a fundamental requisite in DRM. Essential security requirements in DRM systems include content confidentiality and integrity, unique user identification for access control and tamper-resistant mechanisms to process protected content and enforce content usage rules. Security constructs necessary to secure both the delivery channel and content is critical in such systems and the application of suitable cryptographic techniques such as watermarking, SHA, etc is necessary.