WALTHAM, Mass.--()--IntervalZero today released RTX 2012, the latest version of its hard real-time software that transforms Microsoft Windows into a real-time operating system (RTOS).
Symmetric multiprocessing-enabled RTX 2012 includes system-wide debugging capabilities that are fully integrated into Microsoft’s Visual Studio development environment, giving developers more control of, and visibility into their applications’ behavior. This allows complex deterministic applications to be more easily understood and debugged, the company said.
RTX 2012 is a key component of the RTX RTOS Platform that comprises x86 multicore multiprocessors, the Windows operating system, and real-time Ethernet capabilities to outperform real-time hardware such as DSPs and MCUs and reduce the development costs for systems that require determinism or hard real-time.
“For real-time developers, the interplay of clock synchronization of threads across multiprocessor cores can present some tricky challenges,” said IntervalZero CEO Jeffrey D. Hibbard. “Because the RTX 2012 debugger has a more tightly refined ability to inspect the elements of threads across cores, developers can more quickly resolve issues that arise from the interplay between cores,” he said.
Hibbard said “other approaches that isolate systems on cores – virtualization in particular – claim that the cores don’t require direct interplay, eliminating the need for SMP. The challenge with that approach is that a cumbersome interprocess communication framework must be implemented with redundant data and replication. This causes unpredictable latency. RTX 2012 provides direct access to shared memory across all cores, offering optimal determinism, and the debugger helps the developer take advantage of this.”
IntervalZero said a new product licensing system has been implemented for RTX 2012 and will be used for all subsequent RTX releases. Hibbard said the new licensing system “gives our Customers much greater flexibility with both license activation and system deployment. Our plan is for the RTX RTOS platform to be source code compatible across both x86 and x64, so having a unified licensing system will be a help as Customers migrate from x86 to x64 over time.” IntervalZero has said it will release a 64-bit version of RTX later this year.
IntervalZero also said that with the release of RTX 2012 its Customers will have an option to purchase a bundle of RTX 2012 combined with the acontis EtherCAT master stack.
“Our partnership with acontis and the availability of the RTX-EtherCAT bundle is another step toward IntervalZero’s goal of making the RTX RTOS Platform a complete real-time solution – with pre-tested, pre-qualified applications and drivers all functioning together in a single integrated development environment. By adding the acontis EtherCAT Master to our platform, OEMs and end users will realize significant cost, performance, time-to-market, scalability and safety benefits,” Hibbard said.
Earlier this year IntervalZero outlined a strategy to broaden the scope of its solution through a vertically integrated RTX RTOS Platform that combines trusted, proven technologies and innovative new technologies to deliver cost and performance breakthroughs in markets that require hard real-time or deterministic capabilities for high-precision, high-performance applications.
IntervalZero is a Microsoft Embedded Gold Partner and was recognized as a leading Windows Embedded Partner in 2009, 2010 and 2011. It is a member of the Intel Embedded Alliance and RTX’s value in digital signal processing is featured on Intel’s web site.