CODEWITHSUNDEEP
android
pradeepchhetri
pradeepchhetri

Reputation: 2969

Android: kernel info and hardware requirements?

I am new to android technology. Can somebody answer few of my question:

  1. What are the similarities and differences between linux kernel and android kernel?

  2. What is the minimum hardware requirement for mobile device to have android support?

  3. Whether it is required to have a touch-screen mobile to run android technology?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 1451

Answers (1)

Shade
Shade

Reputation: 10011

Q1. The Android kernel is the Linux kernel with added device drivers for the hardware components that are not supported by the pure Linux kernel. However, there are also other differences. Quoted from here, and here:

The Android kernel code is more than just the few weird drivers that were in the drivers/staging/androidsubdirectory in the kernel. In order to get a working Android system, you need the new lock type they have created, as well as hooks in the core system for their security model. In order to write a driver for hardware to work on Android, you need to properly integrate into this new lock, as well as sometimes the bizarre security model. Oh, and then there's the totally-different framebuffer driver infrastructure as well.

You may also refer to this page for an opinion on this matter.

Q2. You may take a look at the Android 2.3 Compatibility Definition (I haven't read it). For 3.0 the requirements are (quoted from here):

1GHZ processor, 512MB RAM, a display screen that is at least 3.5-inches in size

Q3. No, your device does not need to have a touchscreen to be compatible with Android. Refer to the compatibility guide above, but this is also evidenced by the first Android testing devices, that were running android (picture).

Upvotes: 4

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