Articles & White Papers
White Papers and Videos
Open Source Costs Time
This blog by Rich Quinnell of Microcontroller Central examines the issue of Time To Market, and how Commercial RTOSes, like ThreadX, fare versus Open Source OSes, like Linux. To read Rich's blog, click HERE
Embedded World, 2013 - Video Interview with Express Logic's John Carbone
Express Logic achieved its second consecutive record year in 2012 for revenues and ThreadX RTOS deployments. This success is attributed to its achievements in networking speed and time-to-market success, making ThreadX widely adopted for high-volume applications. John Carbone, VP of Marketing for Express Logic, explains these factors, and reviews Express Logic's year with Wolfgang Patelay of ICC Media.
To view the Video, see: Video
Xilinx Zynq White Paper and Video
This White Paper and video summarize Express Logic's support for the Xilinx Zynq-700 fully programmable SoC. They each highlight ThreadX and NetX support for Zynq.
To View the Video, see: Video
To View the White Paper, see: White_Paper
The Affordable Care Act’s Tax on Innovation – Issues Confronting Medical Device and Other Manufacturers
In this White Paper from Embedded Market Forecasters, Dr. Jerry Krasner analyzes why time-to-market and total cost of development will become issues of paramount importance for embedded developers. Read to find out how ThreadX can help! See: ACA_Tax_on_Innovation.pdf
Run-Time Stack Checking in ThreadX
In this white paper, Express Logic's Bill Lamie, author of ThreadX, discusses ThreadX stack-checking and how to take advantage of them to identify over/under allocation of stack size, and automatically catch such errors at run-time. See: ThreadX Run-Time Stack Checking White Paper
Regulatory Standards for Safety-Critical Embedded Systems
In this white paper, regulatory standards that must be met by Medical, Industrial and Aerospace software systems are described. See: Certification_Pack.pdf
Using ThreadX With Freescale's MCF51MM for Medical Device Development and Regulatory Approval - FTF 2010
Express Logic's ThreadX RTOS is used to develop an EKG demo that runs on the freescale MCF51MM ColdFire V1 board in the Tower System. This paper was opresented at Freescale's FTF2010 in Orlando, Florida, June 23, 2010. See: Using ThreadX With Freescale's MCF51MM and CodeWarrior for Medical Device Development.
How Priority Assignment Can Impact Context Switching In Real-Time Systems
Read this informative white paper on how to use event trace tools to analyze real-time system behavior and increase throughput. Find out how adjusting thread priorities can reduce context switching and increase overall throughput by 80%. See: AnalyzingReal-TimeSystemBehavior.pdf.
The Role of the RTOS in Power Conservation in Portable Devices
Portable electronic devices share certain requirements that can influence the choice of a real-time operating system (RTOS). While most developers might see these requirements dictating choices in the hardware area, they also pose demands on the software, and on the RTOS in particular. This paper explores the software-related requirements of portable devices and how the RTOS can help developers meet those requirements. Readers will learn how Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS can help developers produce more successful portable devices for consumer, medical and industrial needs. Read the paper in PDF format.
Shoot Out at the RTOS Corral
How Design Outcome Data Analysis can be used to assist Medical Device Developers in Selecting the OS Most Appropriate to Their Product Design Requirements by Jerry Krasner, Ph.D., MBA - March 2009
RTOS Real-Time Performance vs. Ease Of Use
Assessing performance needs of an application vs. other considerations
Real-time operating system (RTOS) vendors often make claims of “fast real-time performance,” and “rapid real-time response,” to convince developers to use their RTOS for a given application. The implication is that “faster is better,” and sub-microsecond interrupt response and context switch times are offered as compelling evidence.....More
Preemption-Threshold™
Express Logic's innovative Preemption-Threshold technology has been the subject of many white papers, both commercial and academic. Here are several to choose from:
Signum article on reducing overhead in RTOS scheduling, March, 2013. Click HERE to view Using Preemption-Threshold Scheduling to Cut Overhead While Meeting Deadlines, by Dr. Alex Dean Click HERE to view ARM Blog: Get An Exemption From Preemption, by John Carbone, Express Logic Click HERE to view Embedded Systems Design Magazine, March, 2011, Feature Article: "Lower the Overhead in RTOS Scheduling," by Professor Alexander Dean, Ph.D. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cmp/esd0311/#/26 Presentation from Real-Time Embedded Computing Conference (RTECC), Santa Clara, January, 2011 View Presentation White paper containing an overview of Express Logic's technique of reducing context switches. Overview of Preemption-Threshold Wang, Concordia University, and Saksena, University of Pittsburgh, on Scheduling Fixed-Priority Tasks with Preemption Threshold http://www.cs.utah.edu/~regehr/reading/open_papers/preempt_thresh.pdf R. Ghattas and A. G. Dean. Preemption threshold scheduling: Stack optimality, enhancements and analysis. In RTAS ’07: Proc. of the 13th IEEE Real Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium, 2007. 2007_Preemption-Threshold_Scheduling_Ghattas_and_Dean.pdf G. Yao and G. Buttazzo, Reducing Stack with Intra-Task Threshold Priorities in Real-Time Systems, Proc. of the 10th Int. Conf. on Embedded Software, 2010. 2010_10_PTS_paper_by_Yao_and_Buttazzo.pdf
ThreadX® Performance Analysis
White paper on ThreadX performance analysis. This paper describes performance analysis from a non-intrusive perspective and one that requires very slight modifications to the context switching code of ThreadX.
Run-Time Stack Analysis
White Paper describing methods of stack size analysis that are available to ThreadX RTOS users. Stack_Analysis_While_PaperRTOS Interrupt Architectures
Two Approaches - Unified and Segmented
This paper contains a comparison between two approaches to RTOS Interrupt Architecture that handle Interrupt Service Routines. The two approaches are "Unified" and "Segmented". There are significant differences between them with regard to the efficiency and simplicity of the resulting system.
Measuring Real-Time Performance of an RTOS
Thread-Metric is a free benchmark suite designed to measure the performance of an RTOS. It can be adapted to measure any RTOS, enabling performance comparison to assist in RTOS evaluation and selection. Links below provide a presentation that describes the Thread-Metric suite, and the code itself.
View
the Presentation
Download the Thread-Metric Benchmark Suite
RTOS Selection and Its Impact on Enhancing Time-To-Market and On-Time Design Outcomes
How time-to-market and on-time design considerations can cost or make you money - and why you should consider these factors in choosing or replacing your operating system. View the PDF
Articles
Downloadable Application Modules (German Language)
This article discusses the Downloadable Application Module technology recently added to ThreadX. The article was published in Design&Elektronik magazine:http://www.elektroniknet.de/embedded/technik-know-how/entwicklungs-tools-fuer-hard-und-software/article/83925/0/_Apps_fxxxuumlxxxrs_RTOS/. A copy of the article in PDF form can be downloaded HERE
Energy Saving Is A Hardware/Software Issue
In this azrticle from RTC Magazine, June, 2011, Express Logic and Energy Micro, AB, discuss ways that hardware and software combine to enable power conservation.
Energy Saving ArticleDownloadable Application Modules Bring Big System Features to Small RTOSes - embedded.com
This embedded.com article describes the Downloadable Module architecture offered in ThreadX, and how it enables more efficient memory utilization, memory protection, and remote application update
Downloadable Application ModulesDownloadable Modules Ease Memory Constraints in Small Embedded Systems- RTC Magazine
This article describes the Downloadable Application Module architecture offered in ThreadX, and how it enables small memory systems to support expanded functionality.
View ArticleWebinar - Porting Applications to ThreadX
View this archived webinar that shows how Mapusoft's OSChanger can help developers port applications to ThreadX from Nucleus, POSIX, VxWorks, or other RTOSes: http://info.mapusoft.com/Webinar3-29-11Webdnldpg.html
Managing Energy Savings In Real-Time
In this article, Raman Sharma, Energy Micro, and John Carbone, Express Logic, discuss the energy-saving features of Energy Micro's EMF32, Cortex-M3-based processors. http://www.rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/102069
Bill Lamie: Story of a man and his real-time operating systems, Electronic Systems Design, September, 2010
In this article by Bernard Cole and Toni McConnel, Bill Lamie, founder/CEO of Express Logic, recounts the path he took to develop 3 successful commercial RTOS products. http://www.eetimes.com/design/embedded/4207336/Bill-Lamie--Story-of-a-man-and-his-real-time-operating-systems
The DIY RTOS Meets Its Match
This article, appearing in ECN Magazine and on-line, discusses the relative merits of Do It Yourself (DIY) RTOS development versus the use of Commercial RTOS products. DIY_RTOS_Meets_Its_Match
Safety-Critical Systems In Rail Transportation
This article examines the regulatory standards related to safety-critical systems in the Rail and Transportation industry. See: http://www.elektroniknet.de/embedded/technik-know-how/betriebssysteme/article/29365/0/Sichere_Software_fuer_den_Schienenverkehr/ (German Language) Safety-Critical_Systems_In_Rail_Transportation.pdf (English Language)
Turnkey RTOS Certification for Safety-Critical Systems
Safety-critical systems often include a commercial real-time operating system (RTOS). Regulations require the production of detailed, extensive documentation of all software elements in such systems, including the RTOS. This webinar discusses ways in which the RTOS vendor can assist developers in securing regulatory approval, or certification, of their safety-critical systems that employ a commercial RTOS See: http://www.webseminare-data.de/icc/013/009-013-01-008/009-013-01-008.swf
Software Safety: System Software Safety Demands Attention
When thinking about machine safety, the safety aspects of the software that controls those machines should also be considered. http://www.designnews.com/article/439142-Software_Safety_System_Software_Safety_Demands_Attention.php
Celebrating Commercial Software
While Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and Open-Source Software (OSS) get well-deserved attention, commercial software powers many successful electronic products that influence our world. See: http://www.designnews.com/article/439142-Software_Safety_System_Software_Safety_Demands_Attention.php
Also see: http://www.ecnmag.com/article/2010/08/the-DIY-RTOS-meets-its-match/
An RTOS for an SMP Multicore Processor
As semiconductor designers turn to multi-processor (MP) architectures as a means of offering greater performance than is possible with single processors, such designs introduce programming complexity that can make them difficult to use. Better software tools are needed to make MP development easier, and included among them is the operating system, which has the
unique capability of enabling an MP system to be programmed much like a single processor system. This article explores how an RTOS can support a MP architecture and deliver high performance without requiring changes to the application program.
http://www.rtcmagazine.com/home/article.php?id=100751
Case Study: NASA's "Deep Impact" employs embedded systems, running ThreadX, to score bullseye 80 million miles away
January 19, 2006. This article describes the challenges faced by the team at Ball Aerospace in developing a spacecraft system to intercept and collide with the comet Tempel 1. The system used ThreadX to control the high-resolution and infrared imaging systems onboard. http://www.mil-embedded.com/articles/authors/lamie/
Express Logic Threads Itself Through All Types of Gadgetry
This October, 2005, San Diego Business Journal article profiles Express Logic's role in NASA's Deep Impact space mission and the company in general. Download the Acrobat PDF file: San Diego Business Journal, October 31, 2005.
Open Tools Offer New Choices for Developers
A new spirit of cooperation amongst tool and RTOS vendors is enabling developers to use the tools they prefer from an integrated, open environment. This article can be viewed at:
http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/home/article.php?id=100342
Multitasking Mysteries Revealed
This article by Bill Lamie (President/CEO of Express Logic) appeared in the February 1997 issue of Embedded Systems Programming, but it still reflects valid considerations related to the use of a multitasking RTOS. It provides an overview of multitasking and describes its applicability in the real-time embedded arena. Click here to download a PDF: Multitasking_Mysteries.pdf Copyrighted 2010 United Business Media LLC. 70928-ml.
Chasing Down Memory Bugs
This article by Bill Lamie (President/CEO of Express Logic) appeared in the April 1996 issue of Embedded Systems Programming. It discusses various memory-oriented software bugs and provides several techniques (including source code) for catching them. Please contact us for a reprint.
Device Software Has 'Deep Impact' on NASA Space Mission
An exclusive, in-depth look at a device software project to help discover the origins of our solar system–and mankind itself. http://www.dso.com/
Open Tools Offer New Choices for Developers
A new spirit of cooperation amongst tool and RTOS vendors is enabling developers to use the tools they prefer from an integrated, open environment. http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/home/article.php?id=100342
Pardon The Interruption: Two Approaches To RTOS Interrupt Architectures
While both Segmented and Unified Interrupt Architecture RTOSs for ARM core-based designs enable deterministic real-time management of an embedded system, there are significant differences between them with regard to the efficiency and simplicity of the resulting system. This article evaluates the two approaches to RTOSs Interrupt Architecture. http://www.iqmagazineonline.com/magazine/pdf/v_3_4_pdf/Pg58_61_press_Pardon.pdf
A SMP RTOS For The ARM MPCore Multiprocessor
Synopsis: To quench their customers’ thirst for ever-increasing high-performance, semiconductor designers are turning to multi-processor (MP) architectures as a means of offering greater performance than is possible with single processors. Multiprocessing is ideal for demanding applications executing multiple tasks at the same time such as consumer entertainment and convergence devices in the home and car. Examples include a settop- box recording several TV channels while sharing home movies across the Internet, and an in-car navigation system delivering simultaneous back-seat video gaming. But MP designs introduce programming complexity that can make them difficult to use and can threaten development schedules. Better software tools are needed to make MP development easier, and included among them is the operating system, which has the unique capability of enabling an MP system to be programmed much like a single processor system. To the extent that this can be achieved, developers can reap the benefits of MP performance without the cost of overly complex software development. http://www.iqmagazineonline.com/magazine/article.php?nav=article&article_id=256
Real-Time Embedded Multithreading: Using ARM Cores And The Threadx RTOS
Synopsis: This article contains a discussion of embedded multithreading used in the ARM® processor family, and Express Logic’s popular ThreadX® real-time operating system (RTOS).
The ARM architecture is arguably today’s most popular embedded platform. Because of its inherent simplicity, it can be found in a wide variety of devices — from cell phones to laser printers. Express Logic's ThreadX RTOS is also simple and addresses the same target markets as the ARM processor family. ThreadX is one of the most popular RTOSs for the ARM processor, thus this article has relevance for many embedded developers, both those familiar with ThreadX and ARM, and those who have an interest in learning more about them. http://www.iqmagazineonline.com/magazine/article.php?nav=article&article_id=111
RTOSes Balance Performance with Ease of Use
Some systems require lightning speed response times. For most, however, the trick is to right-size real-time performance to fit the application need. http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/home/article.php?id=100221
PRODUCT HOW-TO: Doing embedded design with an Eclipse-based IDE
Step-by-step, Express Logic's John Carbone describes how to use the Ecipse-based BenchX Integrated Development Environment to do embedded systems design.
http://www.embedded.com/design/212500435
FTF 2010 Session Handout
View Express Logic's session on "Developing a Medical Application Using ThreadX and Freescale's MCF51MM." This paper describes the benefits of using an RTOS, and how ThreadX Certification Pack™ helps achieve regulatory compliance.
FTF_Handout
