From bare-metal to RTOS: 5 Reasons to use an RTOS
Developers can come up with amazing and convoluted reasons to not use an RTOS. I have heard excuses ranging from they are too expensive (despite open source solutions) all the way to they aren’t efficient and use too much memory. In some circumstances some excuses are justified but there are many reasons why a developer should look to an RTOS to help with their real-time scheduling needs.
From bare-metal to RTOS Quick LinksFrom Baremetal to RTOS: A review of scheduling techniques
Transitioning from bare-metal embedded software development to a real-time operating system (RTOS) can be a difficult endeavor. Many developers struggle with the question of whether they should use an RTOS or simply use a bare-metal scheduler. One of the goals of this series is to walk developers through the transition and decision making process of abandoning bare-metal thinking and getting up to speed quickly with RTOSes. Before diving into the details of RTOSes, the appropriate first step...
Modern Embedded Systems Programming: Beyond the RTOS
An RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) is the most universally accepted way of designing and implementing embedded software. It is the most sought after component of any system that outgrows the venerable "superloop". But it is also the design strategy that implies a certain programming paradigm, which leads to particularly brittle designs that often work only by chance. I'm talking about sequential programming based on blocking.
Blocking occurs any time you wait explicitly in-line for...
Using the Beaglebone PRU to achieve realtime at low cost
Introduction
I work as an engineer in a synchrotron facility. A few weeks ago, I helped the people in charge of the power supply developments to integrate a realtime control algorithm on a prototype platform: a BeagleBone Black (BBB) running Linux. I had already worked with this board in the past, and I found it very interesting given its excellent resources versus price ratio (around 40 euros). This time, I was impressed by its realtime capabilities. I thought it would be a good idea to...
Mutex vs. Semaphore - Part 1
It never ceases to amaze me how often I see postings in forums asking the difference between a semaphore and a mutex. Probably what baffles me more is that over 90% of the time the responses given are either incorrect or missing the key differences. The most often quoted response is that of the “The Toilet Example (c) Copyright 2005, Niclas Winquist” . This summarises the differences as:
- A mutex is really a semaphore with value 1
No, no, and no again....
Optimizing Real-Time Operating Systems for Efficient Edge Devices
Edge computing has become a crucial technology in today's world, requiring real-time operating systems (RTOS) to provide the necessary capabilities for efficient resource management, optimal performance, and reliable operation of edge devices. Let’s have a look at the key features and benefits of RTOS for edge computing, including the challenges, solutions, best practices, and future trends.
Key Features of RTOS in Edge EnvironmentsRTOS provides several essential features that make it...
Who needs source code?
Many developers feel that the supplying source code is essential for licensed software components. There are other perspectives, including the possibility of it being an actual disadvantage. Even the definition of source code has some vagueness.
Embedded Programming Video Course Teaches RTOS
If you'd like to understand how a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) really works, here is a free video course for you:
RTOS part-1: In this first lesson on RTOS you will see how to extend the foreground/background architecture from the previous lesson, so that you can have multiple background loops running seemingly simultaneously.:
RTOS part-2: In this second lesson on RTOS you will see how to automate the context switch process. Specifically, in this lesson, you will start building...
Getting Started With Zephyr: Bluetooth Low Energy
In this blog post, I show how to enable BLE support in a Zephyr application. First, I show the necessary configuration options in Kconfig. Then, I show how to use the Zephyr functions and macros to create a custom service and characteristic for a contrived application.
Who needs source code?
Many developers feel that the supplying source code is essential for licensed software components. There are other perspectives, including the possibility of it being an actual disadvantage. Even the definition of source code has some vagueness.
Optimizing Real-Time Operating Systems for Efficient Edge Devices
Edge computing has become a crucial technology in today's world, requiring real-time operating systems (RTOS) to provide the necessary capabilities for efficient resource management, optimal performance, and reliable operation of edge devices. Let’s have a look at the key features and benefits of RTOS for edge computing, including the challenges, solutions, best practices, and future trends.
Key Features of RTOS in Edge EnvironmentsRTOS provides several essential features that make it...
A design non-methodology
Although writing an RTOS or kernel may be an interesting project, it is unlikely to be a wise course of action.
