ARC International

Software & Tools

Deploy - Operating Systems

Deploy with Operating Systems Optimized for ARC® Subsystems


ARC enables programmability for market-ready solution verticals by offering choice and flexibility in operating systems. From the MQX RTOS to the latest Linux and third party operating systems, ARC has what is required for fast development times, low risk and software reuse. The choice of operating system depends on the target application. Users must ask the following questions when choosing an operating system:

  • Is this a High-level application or deeply-embedded project?
  • Is the OS running on the Host CPU or within an ARC subsystem?
  • Is memory protection required?
  • How much memory is available for OS use?
  • Will the end-customer be accessing the OS APIs?

The answers to these questions will help steer the decision towards a deeply-embedded RTOS or a full blown Linux-based operating system. ARC’s Application Consultants will work with licensees to assist with operating system decisions.

Benefits


  • Choose from OSs pre-optimized for ARC® subsytems and cores
  • Minimize risk by taking advantage of ARC's excellent support and services
  • Reuse existing software on the OS of your choice
  • Parallelize hardware and software development with integrated co-design and simulation tools

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MQX RTOS for ARCŪ Processors


MQX Software has helped leading companies bring embedded products to market for over 20 years. The MQX RTOS offers a highly optimized application development platform designed for speed and size efficiency, with specific support and optimizations for ARC processors. The MQX RTOS is at the center of a wide array of MQX software protocol stacks, file systems and other run-time components, all compatible with the MQX RTOS that enhance the capabilities of today's advanced embedded devices. ARC's royalty-free MQX RTOS includes full source code with each license and offers many comprehensive features that support reliability, deterministic performance, reconfiguration and multiprocessing. The scalable design allows MQX users to pick the components and features they require from MQX and prevents unused features from being included in the RTOS memory footprint. At less than 6 KB in size, the MQX RTOS is small enough to replace a home-grown scheduler while providing a much more comprehensive feature set. Learn more

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ARCŪ Linux OS for Host Applications


An optimized port of the Linux 2.6 OS is available for running on CPU configurations with a memory management unit (MMU). End-products containing ARC-based subsystems can also include an ARC as the Host CPU, reducing development complexity and avoiding royalty-stacking. ARC Linux can also used in single-CPU systems which require high-level Host-like functionality. Features specific to the ARC Linux port include:

  • Automatic detection of instruction cache and data cache configuration
  • Fast context switching using ARCŪ MMU's multiple address spaces
  • Provides Ethernet, IDE and UART drivers for FPGA-based ARCangel 4 development system
  • Support for ARC SIMD, DMA and extensions

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Partner Operating Systems for Software Reuse


Many ARC customers would like to reuse software ported to other operating systems. It is possible to quickly adopt ARC® because there are OS ports available for Express Logic ThreadX, μITRON, Micrium μC/OS-II, CMX and other operating systems. Learn more >>

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