RTX RTOS Platform Broadens Scope of IntervalZero's Solution


May 17, 2012 -- IntervalZero Inc., whose RTX software transforms Microsoft Windows into a real-time operating system (RTOS), is broadening the scope of its solution through a vertically integrated RTX RTOS platform.

"The RTX RTOS Platform combines trusted, proven technologies and new technologies to deliver cost and performance breakthroughs, and other benefits in markets that require hard real-time or deterministic capabilities for high-precision, high-performance applications," said Jeffrey Hibbard, IntervalZero CEO .

"For nearly a decade we've proven that by using RTX, systems developers can replace proprietary real-time hardware with software, reducing the hardware costs associated with hard real-time and determinism by 25 to 50 percent, and doubling application performance every 18 to 24 months.

The RTX RTOS Platform capitalizes on continuous advances in:

  • Standard Windows PCs to deliver the Windows user experience, including multi-touch.
  • X86 multi-core multiprocessors from Intel and AMD for application-performance improvements, for scalability, and for elimination of proprietary real-time hardware such as digital signal processors (DSPs) and microcontrollers (MCUs).
  • RTX software for transforming Windows into an RTOS, eliminating the need for a separate proprietary RTOS or real-time hardware; and for its symmetric multiprocessing capabilities (SMP).
  • Real-time Ethernet from a variety of third-party partners, EtherCAT and ProfiNET for example, for streamlining and simplifying system development and for improved safety.
  • Microsoft's Visual Studio for a single integrated development environment.
  • Additional third-party-provided applications, communications, I/O, and driver capabilities that can enhance the platform's value.

"We see systems with separate hard real-time operating systems on dedicated or virtual hardware that also have a Windows general-purpose operating system; or systems that have an over-reliance on real-time hardware, such as DSPs or MCUs. Both approaches drive up costs, limit performance, or cause development delays," Hibbard said.

The use of real-time hardware increases the time-to-market because of the need to build custom hardware. In addition, the hardware cannot keep pace with performance gains allowed by x86; it does not scale well; and it cannot take advantage of AVX/ signal processing and cores on multicore, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) chips. The RTX RTOS platform eliminates these challenges.


Reprinted from SOCcentral.com, your first stop for ASIC, FPGA, EDA, and IP news and design information.
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