Hardware Consolidation lowers overall System Costs drastically


Ravensburg, February 17th 2009 - Real-Time Systems, the leader in embedded virtualization and hypervisor technology announced today the general availability of its Release 2.0 of the RTS Hypervisor.

As an industry first, it is now possible with the RTS Hypervisor to execute Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) in parallel to operating systems like Linux or Microsoft Windows XP without adding any latencies to the native real-time performance. Deterministic behavior like response times of a real-time OS remains fully intact. Because of Intel's virtualization technology (VT) operating systems can be deployed unmodified and without any patches.
 
By partitioning processor cores, memory and I/O devices into individual, independent computers, the RTS Hypervisor facilitates hardware consolidation and helps to drastically reduce overall system cost without tradeoffs. Devices or machines that currently use an embedded hardware board in parallel to a computer executing Windows XP can now safely be merged in a single Intel multi-core hardware, greatly reducing design-, manufacturing- and maintenance costs. With just one dual core CPU an RTOS can now execute completely independent in parallel to Windows XP. Other combinations of executing multiple of the same or different operating systems are simply a matter of available CPU cores. Executing four instances of the same RTOS on a Quad-Core processor is just one of the many possibilities the RTS Hypervisor now offers.

Due to strict separation, individual operating systems can boot independently in a user defined order. Even rebooting an operating system while others keep running is possible with the RTS Hypervisor. For easy communication between operating systems, shared memory as well as a TCP/IP virtual network is available.

Partitioning the hardware is simple. Without modification to the original device drivers PCI devices can be assigned exclusively to a specific operating system. Even multi function devices like a USB controller can be partitioned to support multiple operating systems. Version 2.0 of the RTS Hypervisor now offers extended configuration possibilities, facilitating exclusive assignment of I/O ranges, timer and hard disks to different operating systems.
 
The concept of assigning at least one CPU-core to each OS avoids dependencies between operating systems and guarantees hard real-time performance. Dual-core processors have made their entry into embedded designs but recently a lot of attention has been drawn to the ATOM processors Intel launched last year. Especially due to their low power consumption and possibility of passive cooling this architecture finds a lot of interest in the industry. Besides Intel's virtualization technology these chips also offer Hyper-Threading and therefore can be used with the RTS Hypervisor. In addition to dual-core, quad-core and multi processor systems, Version 2.0 of the RTS Hypervisor has been tested and released especially for Intel ATOM based computers and modules.

Currently the RTS Hypervisor supports Windows XP, Windows CE, VxWorks, Microware OS-9, On Time RTOS-32, Pharlap ETS, Linux and preemptive Linux. QNX and other popular operating systems are in preparation.


Visit Real-Time Systems GmbH at Embedded World. March 3^rd - 5^th 2009. Hall 11, Booth F110

 
About Real-Time Systems GmbH:
Real-Time Systems GmbH is a leading provider of real-time virtualization and operating system technology, engineering services and products for embedded and real-time systems. With an extensive knowledge of quality software design, Real-Time Systems GmbH provides a competitive advantage to their customers.

Real-Time Systems GmbH is privately held and maintains its corporate headquarters in Ravensburg, Germany with partners in Europe, USA and Asia.

 
For more information, please visit: www.real-time-systems.com

 
Press Contact:

Real-Time Systems GmbH,
attn. Gerd Lammers
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D-88212 Ravensburg
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