Sorry if this is a FAQ, I have googled around and don''t find much.

What to I want from an RTOS?

- The standard message/timer/mutex/thread stuff
- Some sort of abstraction layer, so that I can unit test my code
under Linux or Windows before hitting the hardware
- Support for a bunch of processors
- Easily configurable
- Good documentation & support forums
- in fact anything that lets me concentrate on my own design/code/test
and not have to worry too much about the o/s
- hmm, built in memory pool & debug trace would be useful (and does
anyone have any pointers to good FSM bases classes for C++ ?)

You don't have to discuss here, although I would quite welcome it,
just some URLs would suffice.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Quantum Leaps provides lightweight, *open source*, state machine
application frameworks for embedded systems. The company's popular QP
frameworks replace or augment traditional OS/RTOS and enable direct coding
of modern UML state machines in C or C++ without big tools. QP is
especially suitable for safety-critical systems, because it offers modern
design approach with excellent traceability from design to source code. QP
frameworks/RTOSs have been ported to several processors, such as: ARM7/9,
ARM Cortex-M3, Atmel AVR, TI MSP430, TI TMS320C28x, Renesas M16C/R8C,
Renesas H8/300, FreeScale ColdFire, Microchip PIC18, 8051 and 80251,
FreeScale HC(S)08, Cypress PSoC.

see www.state-machine.com

Baron Samedi wrote:
> Sorry if this is a FAQ, I have googled around and don''t find much.
>
> What to I want from an RTOS?
>
> - The standard message/timer/mutex/thread stuff
> - Some sort of abstraction layer, so that I can unit test my code
> under Linux or Windows before hitting the hardware
> - Support for a bunch of processors
> - Easily configurable
> - Good documentation & support forums
> - in fact anything that lets me concentrate on my own design/code/test
> and not have to worry too much about the o/s
> - hmm, built in memory pool & debug trace would be useful (and does
> anyone have any pointers to good FSM bases classes for C++ ?)
>
> You don't have to discuss here, although I would quite welcome it,
> just some URLs would suffice.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.

FreeRTOS certainly meets some of your requirements.  I am not sure about the 
Linux/Windows abstraction.

Micrium's uC/OS-II is free if this is not a commercial product.  You can use 
it for hobby and educational use without fee.  There is a Win32 port for it 
on the Micrium site, or you can contact us for our version of the Win32 
port.  It has some optional tools that support debug trace but the feature 
is not built in.

Scott

>Sorry if this is a FAQ, I have googled around and don''t find much.
>
>What to I want from an RTOS?
>
>- The standard message/timer/mutex/thread stuff
>- Some sort of abstraction layer, so that I can unit test my code
>under Linux or Windows before hitting the hardware
>- Support for a bunch of processors
>- Easily configurable
>- Good documentation & support forums
>- in fact anything that lets me concentrate on my own design/code/test
>and not have to worry too much about the o/s
>- hmm, built in memory pool & debug trace would be useful (and does
>anyone have any pointers to good FSM bases classes for C++ ?)
>
>You don't have to discuss here, although I would quite welcome it,
>just some URLs would suffice.
>
>Thanks in advance for any help.
>

Hello,

You may also evaluate ChibiOS/RT, it has all the features you
specified and more. The RTOS is licensed under the GPL3 but has
an exception clause that allows for closed source commercial
applications.

Homepage: http://chibios.sourceforge.net/

Documentation: http://chibios.sourceforge.net/html/index.html

Feel free to make all the comparisons and benchmarks you like,
there are no restrictions in the license.

Giovanni