A real-time operating system for microcontrollers
Keeping It Real
Exploit the full power of your microcontroller with the FreeRTOS multitasking operating system.
My desktop computer uses an operating system (OS) – Linux, of course – but "operating system" is a very loose term, often describing everything that makes a computer work, from launching programs, communicating over a network, managing filesystems, and presenting the user with a sophisticated graphical user interface. Much of this functionality lies outside of the kernel of the OS, and many computers are used in such a way that they don't need some of these facilities: specifically, servers that generally run headless with administrative and user access performed over some form of network.
In the world of embedded computers, a real-time operating system (RTOS) is much more focused on being a kernel. The simplest microcontroller might require no OS at all, which is known as bare metal programming. Many microcontroller applications are written in this way, and with the judicious use of timers and interrupts, a version of multitasking can be obtained. At some point, however, this cooperative multitasking can lead to spaghetti code that is difficult to understand, debug, and maintain.
Somewhere in the spectrum of applications, from a humble microcontroller sensing when to pop the toast out of your toaster to a complex navigation and control system for a robot, a point is reached wherein some sort of operating system is desirable or even necessary. This type of operating system, RTOS, does not at first glance bear too much resemblance to a server or desktop OS.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.