Product category: Design and Development Software
News Release from: Quadros Systems | Subject: RTXC for ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 17 February 2006
Dual-mode RTOS makes most of RISC and
DSP
Quadros Systems has ported its RTXC dual-mode RTOS to the Freescale ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x processors.
Quadros Systems has ported its RTXC dual-mode RTOS to the Freescale ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x processors These latest ColdFire families integrate capabilities previously implemented with multiple devices including a microprocessor, DSP and various I/O, communications and display controllers
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 7 Apr 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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With the convergent capabilities of Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS, developers can optimise both the dataflow and control characteristics of this highly integrated processor family.
Such optimisation ensures the efficiencies of applications running on these new generation devices that greatly reduce hardware cost and power consumption.
The ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x families are built on an advanced architecture that includes an enhanced multiply accumulate (EMAC) module.
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With its four-stage execution pipeline, the EMAC is optimised for 32 x 32 multiply-accumulate operations such as the ability to run FFT algorithms in a VoIP application.
Coupled with extensive I/O capabilities such as USB, SVGA LCD, fast Ethernet and CANbus, the system creates a significant real-time interrupt burden that could potentially severely limit the efficiency of the EMAC dataflow code.
With RTXC Quadros dual-mode RTOS (RTXC/dm), Quadros Systems is able to optimise both the RISC and DSP capabilities of the processor.
By combining a lightweight executive, requiring minimal context for DSP processes, with a prioritised, preemptive kernel for event-driven tasks, RTXC/dm ensures that both RISC and DSP application code execute with maximum efficiency.
The two kernel structures are organised by priority with dataflow processing controlled by a dedicated scheduler always operating at a higher priority than control operations.
"The number of applications requiring both DSP and control capabilities is burgeoning", noted Tom Barrett, President of Quadros Systems.
"System developers need to limit hardware costs while providing even more functionality".
"Convergent control/DSP architectures enable them to gain that edge, but it can only be maximised with a real-time operating system that knows how to optimise both capabilities in the same RTOS".
"By using an optimised convergent RTOS rather than a traditional RTOS for applications using the entire processor/EMAC functionality, we can deliver as much as 40% greater application efficiency", noted Stephen Martin, Quadros Director of Marketing.
"Fewer processor cycles can translate into a lower cost processor with a reduced clock rate, or increased functionality supported on the same device with no additional hardware costs".
"Also, applications using our dual-mode RTOS can achieve much higher levels of responsiveness by giving the developer fine-tuned control over application tasks and processor utilisation".
The RTXC Quadros dual-mode RTOS is intuitive and easy to use.
Developers planning to employ this advanced operating system do not require any specialised training.
The powerful kernel objects and services are also fully manageable by the RTXCgenT host-based configuration utility.
Quadros also provides extensive driver support for the full range of on-chip peripherals of the ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x families, including USB host and device software development kits, GUI development library and LCD controller driver; TCP/IP stack (v4/v6) with Fast Ethernet driver, IPsec/IKE with support for onchip hardware acceleration, FAT file system as well as high-performance fail-safe flash file system.
Development tools support includes CodeWarrior (v6) with kernel-aware debugging.
ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x processors, combined with the efficiency of the Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS, provide an ideal solution for the following applications: human interface applications, factory service and maintenance systems, point-of-sale terminals, medical instrumentation and monitoring, security/access control panels, voice over IP, remote monitoring, industrial machine control and automation.
Quadros Systems solutions are scalable across the entire ColdFire family, reducing learning curve for new projects and preserving application code.
Single-project licences for RTXC/dm start at $15,500.
Price includes a source code distribution and a software development kit (SDK).
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