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MEDIA CONTACT:
Janice Hughes
Hughes Communications, Inc.
+1 860-423-6513
Cell: +1 860-450-2292
janice@hughescom.net
MARKETING CONTACT:
Stephen Martin
Quadros Systems, Inc.
Main: +1 832-351-2830
Direct: +1 781-641-2777
stephen.martin@quadros.com
Quadros Systems Boosts Performance of Latest ColdFire Microprocessors with Convergent RTOS Support
RTXC/dm only dual-mode RTOS available for Freescale’s new MCF532x and MCF537x processor families
Embedded World 2006, Nürnberg, Germany, February 14, 2006 - Quadros Systems, Inc.,
a leading supplier of configurable and scalable real-time operating
systems (RTOS), today announced a port of the Quadros 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. With the convergent capabilities
of Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS, developers can optimize both the dataflow
and control characteristics of this highly integrated processor family.
Such optimization 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.
With its four-stage execution pipeline, the EMAC is optimized 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
optimize both the RISC and DSP capabilities of the processor. By
combining a lightweight executive, requiring minimal context for DSP
processes, with a prioritized, 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 organized 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 maximized with a real-time operating
system that knows how to optimize both capabilities in the same RTOS.”
“By using an optimized 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 utilization.”
The RTXC Quadros dual-mode RTOS is intuitive and easy to use.
Developers planning to employ this advanced operating system do not
require any specialized training. The powerful kernel objects and
services are also fully manageable by the RTXCgen 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. For more information, visit www.quadros.com/coldfire.
Price & Availability
Single-project licenses for RTXC/dm start at $15,500. Price includes a
source code distribution and a Software Development Kit (SDK).
About the RTXC Quadros Family of Real-time Operating Systems
RTXC/dm is one of four highly scalable real-time operating systems in
the RTXC Quadros family, offering distinct performance advantages for
each of the major processing models. RTXC/ss (single stack) utilizes a
lightweight specialized executive to support high data rate and signal
processing applications. RTXC/ms (multi-stack) is optimized for control
processing using an event-driven, prioritized, preemptive scheduler.
RTXC/dm (dual mode) marries RTXC/ms and RTXC/ss and is ideal for
convergent processing applications which combine DSP/dataflow and
RISC/control processing in a single-core architecture. Both RTXC/ms and
RTXC/dm are brought together under RTXC/mp (multiprocessing) in various
combinations to support multicore and multiprocessor implementations.
About Quadros, Systems, Inc.
Quadros Systems, Inc. develops and markets RTXC technology, bringing
together RTOS, hardware and software professionals into one development
team to provide innovative technology that maximizes real-time
responsiveness and eases the development process for customers. In
addition to the RTXC RTOS family, Quadros Systems offers a wide range of
communications stacks and middleware including RTXC Quadnet (a suite of
integrated communications protocols) and RTXCflashfile (a high
performance file system for resident flash devices). RTXC products have
been deployed worldwide in thousands of embedded systems, serving
markets such as communications, medical, and industrial automation. For
more information, contact Quadros Systems, Inc. at +1 832-351-2830,
Quadros Systems Europe at +49 703/339-1561 or +44 207 993 6334 or visit
www.quadros.com.
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