Getting Started with Android on ARM

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Android is a robust software stack that includes an operating system, middleware and select applications.

Android is developed and maintained as an open source project by Google with contributions from members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), including ARM.

Android has been designed and built for the ARM architecture, and continues to be the primary development platform of the OHA with hundreds of companies contributing to the Android on ARM codebase.

Getting Started with Android

Reference Platforms

Android Porting Services Partners

Quick Links to Google Android for ARM
Android Home
SDK for Java based Application Development
NDK for Native ARM Application Development
Android for ARM Source Code

The best source for Android on ARM is directly from Google’s own Android website. Here you will find links to various resources, references, development kits and the raw ARM sources for the Android project.

Android development on ARM is divided into two categories, application development and OS porting to various ARM based SoCs and boards.

There are two development kits for Android applications. The first is the SDK, or Software Development Kit, which is a Java development environment that produces applications intended to run in the Android Dalvik Java VM. The Dalvik runtime environment has been heavily optimized for the ARM architecture, including an ARM targeted Just-in-time (JIT) compiler, utilizing the latest ARMv7 architectural features.

The second development kit is the NDK, or Native Development Kit. The NDK augments the SDK for the creation of native ARM code used in timing sensitive or performance critical applications.

Creating a new “port” of Android to a custom ARM based SoC or development board requires the Android platform sources. The Android sources are made up of a collection of git repositories consisting of unique Android open source projects as well as readily available external projects. Google has created a tool called “repo” to manage the numerous git repositories that make up the full platform. Getting started with repo and the Android sources is simple and well documented on the Android sources portal.

Begin developing and innovating today with Android on ARM. A number of both vendor and community supported Android projects are available for a wide range of ARM based SoCs.

SoC	ARM Core	Project Location	Notes
Development Chips	ARM11 ARM Cortex-A	Linux-arm.org	Includes latest ARM kernel patches and drivers for various ARM development boards. Kernel patches are validated with both Android and the ARM Linux Internet Platform for immediate Android support of ALIP ports.
OMAP3xxx, AM3xx	ARM Cortex-A8	Google.com	Includes support for popular Beagle board and EVM platforms.
OMAP3xxx	ARM Cortex-A8	onARM.com	Reuse ALIP BSP for EVM, Beagle and Zoom2.
Tegra 250	ARM Cortex-A9	nVidia.com
S5PC100	ARM Cortex-A8	odroid.com (hardkernel.com)	Projects target ODROID and ODROID-T device platforms.
i.MX51	ARM Cortex-A8	Freescale.com
EMMA Mobile 1x	ARM1176	Renesas.com
EMMA Mobile EVx	ARM Cortex-A9	Coming Soon…
ZMS	ARM Cortex-A8	ZiiLabs.com

Please note that access to some of the content listed below is subject to acceptance of licensing terms. Please read the project sites closely before accessing software content.

The SCA is a good place to find partners to assist with your Android porting and customization efforts, including some of the following partners.