Licensed kernel overcomes open source limitations

OpenRTOS is a commercially licensed version of the popular FreeRTOS.org that does not require users to publicly distribute changes made during development.

Available now from Wittenstein high integrity systems, OpenRTOS is a commercially licensed version of the popular FreeRTOS.org that has none of the requirements of the modified Gnu General Public Licence (GPL) to publicly distribute changes made during development.

FreeRTOS.org is a portable open-source miniature real-time kernel, which is both free to download and royalty free.

The code has ports to 13 different processor architectures maintained by FreeRTOS.org and a number of other "unofficial" ports.

The modified GPL used for FreeRTOS.org requires that all users must open source changes they make to the kernel, provide FreeRTOS.org code to users of the application, and also document that the product uses FreeRTOS.org (usually by a link to the FreeRTOS.org website).

Although there is no requirement to open source the application code, many companies feel unable to accept these licensing requirements.

OpenRTOS is a commercially licensed version of FreeRTOS.org that removes all reference to the GPL, freeing companies from the above constraints.

OpenRTOS is an ideal solution for the rapidly developing 16 and 32bit microcontroller space, significantly reducing development times by providing an out-of-the-box scheduler.

It is designed to be small, simple and easy to use, and provides pre-emptive, co-operative and hybrid configuration options.

The portable code structure is predominantly written in C and places no software restriction on the number of tasks or priorities that can be used.

Queues and semaphores are used for communication and synchronisation between tasks, or between tasks and interrupts.

Wittenstein high integrity systems also provides tailored support packages for users of OpenRTOS and SafeRTOS with direct access to experienced engineers who have detailed knowledge of the product.

The support team is managed by Richard Barry, the creator of FreeRTOS.org.

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