Product category: Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: SDC Systems | Subject: RTLinuxPro
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 13 February 2006

Linux performs in
real-time wireless applications

RTLinuxPro is being used in several advanced wireless communication system products - including two described here by Harris and BBN

Projects at these companies address the challenges of ad hoc networking, mobility, and software defined radios that can select from multiple wavebands and data encodings and operate in the harshest, most demanding environments. Although many industry experts have always had concerns about the performance of Linux in real-time applications, there is no doubt that Linux is proving that it can deliver the kind of performance real-time projects require.

At Harris GCSD, engineers are using FSMLabs RTLinuxPro on two production versions of their Highband Network Waveform and mobile ad hoc radio.

The first version runs on a single-board Intel Pentium system, and the follow-on operates on dual and quad PowerPC architecture configurations.

'This radio technology has been through highly successful demonstration and operational test evaluation at customer sites', notes Tim Kaiser, WIN-T Software IPT Lead at Harris Systems.

'It has been enthusiastically perceived as the answer to tactical radio communications'.

The RTLinux real-time kernel and threading capability provide deterministic microsecond granularity, critical to software-based waveform generation.

'FSMLabs product has been a solid platform to develop and field within our product radio'.

'Their support of the operating system has been top notch', added Kaiser.

RTLinux maintains worldwide GPS based time synchronisation at a 625us period on the networked devices.

BBN, the company that originally developed the Internet, is also working on ad hoc wireless networks with particular attention to antennae pointing and power-saving.

'At BBN we have been using FSMLabs RTLinuxPro for many years for our wireless MAC protocol efforts', comments Jason Redi, Director, R and D of Mobile Networking at BBN.

'RTLinux provides rock-solid thread switching times and reliability that we need to build high performance software for next-generation wireless networking'.

'When combined with the familiar Linux environment and tools, we have a hard-real time kernel that is exactly right for building high speed wireless protocols'.

Designers of mission-critical wireless applications look to RTLinux for its ability to support deterministic responsiveness in Linux and BSD-based COTS applications.

RTLinux provides the 'best of both worlds': hard real-time and open, standards-based computing.

'Military communications applications like the army's WIN-T (warfighter informational network-tactical) and emerging civilian fixed-wireless, WiMax, UWB implementations benefit from RTLinux performance and reliability', said Victor Yodaiken, President and CEO of FSMLabs.

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