[U-Boot] boot-up time optimization. Where to start?

[Simon Schwarz]

Hi there,

I just started to work on my bachelor thesis. It is about "Linux boot-up
time optimization". The past days I spend analyzing what consumes the most
time in the boot process.

 I found that u-boot takes pretty much as long as the whole Linux kernel
(the one we are using).

I started digging into the source and I think I have a big picture of what
is going on. I already learned from the mailing list that it is a good idea
to start a discussion early if you plan to change something and want it
upstream. At this point of my thesis I'am free to choose where I start -
only string attached is that if it is platform specific it has to be TI
OMAP3.

So here is my question: Where do you see the most potential to optimize
u-boot?

I already have two bullets on my list (just some ideas - maybe totally
unrealistic *g*):
- Use Hardware specific copy commands
- build the checksum while moving the kernel to RAM

Thanks!
Simon