3.2.3 Operating Systems

FreeRTOS™ is a portable, open source, royalty free, mini real-time kernel (a free-to-download and free-to-deploy RTOS that can be used in commercial applications without any requirement to expose your proprietary source code). FreeRTOS is scalable and designed specifically for small embedded systems. This FreeRTOS version ported by Microchip is 6.0.1. For more information, visit the FreeRTOS website: www.freertos.org.

Emcraft Systems provides porting of the open-source U-boot firmware and uClinux™ kernel to the SmartFusion cSoC, a Linux®-based cross-development framework, and other complementary components. Combined with the release of its A2F-Linux Evaluation Kit, this provides a low-cost platform for evaluation and development of Linux (uClinux) on the Cortex-M3 CPU core of the Microchip SmartFusion cSoC.

Keil offers the RTX Real-Time Kernel as a royalty-free, deterministic RTOS designed for ARM and Cortex-M devices. It allows you to create programs that simultaneously perform multiple functions and helps to create applications which are better structured and more easily maintained.

  • The RTX Real-Time Kernel is included with MDK-ARM. Download the Evaluation version of Keil MDK-ARM.
  • RTX source code is available as part of Keil/ARM Real-Time Library (RL-ARM), a group of tightly-coupled libraries designed to solve the real-time and communication challenges of embedded systems based on ARM-powered microcontroller devices. The RL-ARM library now supports SmartFusion cSoCs and designers with additional key features listed in the 3.3 Middleware.

Micrium supports SmartFusion cSoCs with the company's flagship μC/OS family, recognized for a variety of features and benefits, including unparalleled reliability, performance, dependability, impeccable source code and vast documentation. Micrium supports the following products for SmartFusion cSoCs and continues to work with Microchip on additional projects.

μC/OS-III™, Micrium's newest RTOS, is designed to save time on your next embedded project and puts greater control of the software in your hands.

RoweBots provides an ultra tiny Linux-compatible RTOS called Unison for SmartFusion. Unison consists of a set of modular software components, which, like Linux, are either free or commercially licensed. Unison offers POSIX® and Linux compatibility with hard real-time performance, complete I/O modules and an easily understood environment for device driver programming. Seamless integration with FPGA and analog features are fast and easy.

  • Unison V4-based products include a free Unison V4 Linux and POSIX-compatible kernel with serial I/O, file system, six demonstration programs, upgraded documentation and source code for Unison V4, and free (for non-commercial use) Unison V4 TCP/IP server. Commercial license upgrade is available for Unison V4 TCP/IP server with three demonstration programs, DHCP client and source code.
  • Unison V5-based products include commercial Unison V5 Linux- and POSIX-compatible kernel with serial I/O, file system, extensive feature set, full documentation, source code and more than 20 demonstration programs, Unison V5 TCP/IPv4 with extended feature set, sockets interface, multiple network interfaces, PPP support, DHCP client, documentation, source code and six demonstration programs, and multiple other features.