The East Coast version of the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC), held in Boston the first week of September, featured the conference's usual fine technical conference complemented by a large, well-attended exhibit area populated with companies promoting their latest and greatest software, hardware, and services. A standout, this time around, was the number of software products announced at the show, showing the increasing emphasis by OEM companies on product differentiation through software. RTOS continues to be a hot property, with several products involving new or enhanced RTOSes.

TenAsys announced the availability of iRMX for Windows INtime Add-On software. You use the 32-bit iRMX RTOS for designing high-reliability applications for Intel Architecture processor-based systems—PC-compatible, embedded, and Multibus/Multibus II. The new INtime add-on has code compatibility with existing iRMX for Windows customers using Windows 3.1, letting these customers adapt their GUI and enterprise components to the modern Win32 API. The iRMX development environment includes support for iC386, PL/M386, and ASM386 languages, as well as for the Microsoft C/C++ environment.

OSE Systems' has integrated the company's RTOS with Objective Interface Systems' (OIS) ORBexpress, OIS's adaptation of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). ORBexpress, is a lightweight CORBA-compliant software product, combining high-speed performance with extreme reliability, that OIS has developed for use in real-time, embedded, and high-performance development products. CORBA is a middleware product that allows interoperable distributed computing among hardware and software products. The implementation targets network applications, such as base stations, where systems need to send information between applications or within an application.

OSE's RTOS also has expanded support for StarCore DSP cores and StarCore-based systems, and added support for Agere Systems' StarPro DSP. OSE has enhanced its RTOS development platform for design and development of multi-core, multi CPU/DSP heterogeneous (DSPs and CPUs) embedded environments. OSE achieves multi-core support through shared execution image, so you need only one instantiation of the kernel or application code, regardless of the number of processor cores in your system. In addition, OSE's use of shared and private data areas lets you specifically allocate OSE signal pools (buffered messaging areas) in shared memory, so that multiple processors can access these shared signal pools without sacrificing application-data integrity. OSE tools for supporting DSP development include a Link Handler, which can achieve a zero-copy message transaction using a shared-memory interface between cores; Power Management API to control power dissipation and extend battery life; Illuminator for simultaneous debugging of heterogeneous multi-core or single core systems, and visibility into distributed systems and multiple simulations; Soft Kernel and Soft Link Handlers, for simulating multi-core systems such as the StarPro 2000 or MSC8102; Source Code Debugger integrations with several third-party tools; and support for Motorola's and Agere Systems' development boards.

ESC also featured new software products other than pure RTOSes. QNX Software Systems announced their Networking Infrastructure Platform, a suite of tools and protocol stacks for accelerating development of IP, optical, and storage network equipment. The platform features a software architecture supporting new applications and services on the fly; a ready-to-customize HA framework simplifying automatic fault detection and recovery; and built-in distributed networking for distributing applications across clusters of networked CPUs without having to write network-specific code.

The Networking Infrastructure Platform also provides symmetric multi-processing (SMP) without code changes, allowing a control-plane processor board to deliver twice the power to handle new network routes and services—without the cost, board space, and power consumption of additional CPU cards. Other platform features include the QNX RTOS v6.1, an MMU-protected microkernel OS that can recover automatically from software faults, even in drivers and protocol stacks, without rebooting; and support for multiple development platforms, protocol stacks, third-party development tools, and network management tools.

QNX also announced the availability of a Board Support Package (BSP) for the IBM PowerPC 405GP Development System for developing mainstream hubs, routers, and Ethernet switches and line cards. The BSP combines the memory protection and fault-tolerance of the QNX RTOS with the 405GP processor. Included in the QNX BSP are the QNX RTOS v6.1, drivers, full peripheral support, and Initial Program Load code (IPL) with support for a SDRAM controller and on-chip memory.

Two announcements—by Project Technology and QNX—involved the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The UML provides a platform on which developers can base tools, processes, and modeling extensions, to accelerate object-oriented software development. UML provides a way for developers to visualize system functionality and architecture independent of a specific implementation language.

Project Technology is supporting the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) standards established by the Object Management Group (OMG). With the company's BridgePoint Modeling Suite, you can create Platform Independent Models (PIMs) in UML and Object Action Language (OAL). A fundamental component of MDA, you can simulate and verify the PIM prior to deployment on any target, saving time you might use in debugging final code. Upon model completion, Project Technology's DesignPoint model compiler generates code for the target. The model compiler implements an MDA approach by allowing platform-specific information supplied to the model compiler to streamline translation of the PIM into code. At a minimum, a model compiler will automatically generate reliable code at a rate of 3000 lines per minute, according to Project Technology.

QNX has joined the Rational Unified Partner Program and is integrating the QNX microkernel RTOS with Rational Software's UML-based Rational Rose RealTime tools. According to QNX, with Rational Rose RealTime, QNX development teams can create highly reusable software designs, simplify communication among team members, and reduce the amount of hand-written C/C++ code. The Rational Unified Partner Program supports over 500 participating partners with tools, joint-marketing opportunities, qualifications, and training.