FreeRTOS From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article relies on references to primary

sources. Please add references tosecondary or tertiary sources. (November 2010) FreeRTOS Company /developer Real Time Engineers ltd. OS family Working state Source model Real-time operating systems Current Free Software/Open Source

Latest stable release 7.4.0 / February, 2013 Marketing target Supported platforms Embedded devices ARM (ARM7, M4),Atmel AVR, AVR32,HCS12, MicroBlaze,Cortus (APS1, APS3, APS3R, APS5, FPF3, FPS6, ARM9,Cortex-M3, Cortex-

FPS8), MSP430,PIC, Renesas H8/S,SuperH, RX, x86, 8052,Coldfire, V850, 78K0R, Fujitsu MB91460 series, Fujitsu MB96340 series,Nios II, Cortex-R4, TMS570, RM4x Kernel type License Official website Microkernel Modified GPL to allow commercial use www.freertos.org

FreeRTOS is a popular[1] real-time operating system for embedded devices, being ported to 31 microcontrollers. It is distributed under the GPL with an optional exception. The exception permits users' proprietary code to remain closed source while maintaining the kernel itself as open source, thereby facilitating the use of FreeRTOS in proprietary applications.[2]

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1 Implementation 2 Key features 3 Supported architectures 4 Related projects 4.1 SafeRTOS 4.2 OpenRTOS 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Implementation[edit] FreeRTOS is designed to be small and simple. The kernel itself consists of only three or four C files. To make the code readable, easy to port, and maintainable, it is written mostly in C, but there are a few assembly functions included where needed (mostly in architecture-specific scheduler routines). FreeRTOS provides methods for multiple threads or tasks, mutexes,semaphores and software timers. A tick-less mode is provided for low power applications. Thread priorities are supported. In addition there are four schemes of memory allocation provided: allocate only; allocate and free with a very simple, fast, algorithm; a more complex but fast allocate and free algorithm withmemory coalescence; and C library allocate and free with some mutual exclusion protection. There are none of the more advanced features typically found in operating systems like Linux or Microsoft Windows, such as device drivers,

advancedmemory management, user accounts, and networking. The emphasis is on compactness and speed of execution. FreeRTOS can be thought of as a 'thread library' rather than an 'operating system', although command line interface and POSIX-like IO abstraction add-ons are available. FreeRTOS implements multiple threads by having the host program call a thread tick method at regular short intervals. The thread tick method switches tasks depending on priority and a round-robin scheduling scheme. The usual interval is 1/1000 of a second to 1/100 of a second, via an interrupt from a hardware timer, but this interval is often changed to suit a particular application.

The download contains prepared configurations and demonstrations for every port and compiler, allowing rapid application design. The FreeRTOS.org site also contains lots of documentation and RTOS tutorials (additional manuals and tutorials available for a fee starting from USD25), details of the RTOS design. Key features[edit]

Very small memory footprint, low overhead, and very fast execution. Tick-less option for low power applications. Equally good for hobbyists who are new to OSes, and professional developers

working on commercial products.

Scheduler can be configured for both preemptive or cooperative operation. Coroutine support (Coroutine in FreeRTOS is a very simple and lightweight task that

has very limited use of stack)

Trace

support

through

generic trace

macros.

Tools

such

as FreeRTOS+Trace (provided by the FreeRTOS partner Percepio) can thereby record and visualize the runtime behavior of FreeRTOS-based systems. This includes task scheduling and kernel calls for semaphore and queue operations. Supported architectures[edit]

Altera Nios II ARM architecture ARM7 ARM9 ARM Cortex-M3 ARM Cortex-M4 Atmel Atmel AVR AVR32 SAM3 SAM4 SAM7 SAM9 Cortus APS1 APS3

APS3R APS5 FPS6 FPS8 Cypress PSoC Energy Micro EFM32 Fujitsu FM3 series MB91460 series MB96340 Freescale Coldfire V1 Coldfire V2 HCS12 Kinetis IBM PPC405 PPC404 Infineon TriCore Infineon XMC4000 Intel x86 8052 PIC microcontroller PIC18 PIC24 dsPIC PIC32 Microsemi SmartFusion NXP

LPC1000 LPC2000 LPC4300 Renesas 78K0R RL78 H8/S RX600 RX200 SuperH V850 STMicroelectronics STM32 STR7 Texas Instruments MSP430 Stellaris Xilinx MicroBlaze

Related projects[edit] SafeRTOS[edit] SafeRTOS was constructed as a complementary offering to FreeRTOS, with common functionality but with a uniquely designed safety-critical implementation. When the FreeRTOS functional model was subjected to a full HAZOP, weakness with respect to user misuse and hardware failure within the functional model and API were identified and resolved. The resulting requirements set was put through a full IEC 61508 SIL 3 development life cycle, the highest possible for a software-only component. SafeRTOS was developed by WITTENSTEIN high integrity systems, in partnership with Real Time Engineers Ltd, primary developer of[3] the FreeRTOS project.[4] Both SafeRTOS and FreeRTOS share the same scheduling algorithm, have similarAPIs, and are otherwise very similar,[5] but they were developed with differing objectives.[6] SafeRTOS was developed solely in the C language to meet requirements for certification to IEC61508.[7]

SafeRTOS is known for its ability, unique among Operating Systems, to reside solely in the on-chip memory of a microcontroller, thus enabling the pre-certification of complete Hardware and Software systems to IEC61508 or other safety or reliability operating standards.[8] When implemented in hardware memory, SafeRTOS code can only be utilized in its original configuration, so certification testing of systems using this OS need not re-test this portion of their designs during the functional safety certification process.[9] SafeRTOS is included in the ROM of some Stellaris Microcontrollers[10] from Texas Instruments. This allows SafeRTOS to be used in commercial applications without having to purchase its source code. In this usage scenario, a simple C header file is used to map SafeRTOS API functions to their location in read-only memory. The use of read-only memory is ideal because the code it contains cannot be changed - eliminating the possibility of user error, and ensuring the code that was originally tested remains absolutely identical throughout the project lifetime. It will not need re-testing as the application code grows and evolves around it. The burden of complex kernel testing is removed as the already certified and approved certification evidence, including the test plan, code and results, can be purchased "off the shelf". OpenRTOS[edit] Another project related to FreeRTOS, one with identical code but different licensing, is OpenRTOS. The OPENRTOS license removes all reference to the GPL and its implications. For example, one of the conditions of using FreeRTOS in a commercial product is that the user is made aware of the use of FreeRTOS and the source code of FreeRTOS (not application) must be provided upon request. As it is a commercial product available for purchase, OPENRTOS doesn't have this licensing requirement. OPENRTOS users also have access to full technical support. See also[edit]

Embedded operating system Real-time operating system List of real-time operating systems

References[edit] 1. 2. 3. 4. ^ EETimes Embedded Market Study. ^ FreeRTOS GPL exceptions. ^ EETimes Embedded Market Study. ^ "FreeRTOS". Retrieved 8 Aug 2012.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

^ "SmartBotPaper". Retrieved 8 Aug 2012. ^ Relationship between FreeRTOS and SAFERTOS ^ "EETimesSafetyCritical". Retrieved 8 Aug 2012. ^ "Embedded Systems Design Europe". Retrieved 10 Aug 2012. ^ "Texas Instruments". Retrieved 10 Sepl 2012. ^ TI Stellaris Product range

External links[edit]

FreeRTOS.org OPENRTOS SAFERTOS FreeRTOS+Trace FreeRTOS ecosystem products