FSMLabs Speed Packets and Products to Market with Support for PowerQUICC(TM) III Processors; RTLinux(R) Enables Hard Real-Time Response and Supports Enterprise-Type Workloads on Freescale's SoC Platforms.

SOCORRO, N.M. -- FSMLabs (http://www.fsmlabs.com), a mission-critical software developer, today announced support for developing and deploying hard real-time applications on Freescale Semiconductor's PowerQUICC(TM) III communications processors containing a PowerPC(R) core. Designed into leading networking applications, PowerQUICC III systems-on-a-chip (SoC) processors target smart packet forwarding, routing and security in core and edge devices and blades, balancing throughput, power consumption, packet performance and package cost. The combination of FSMLabs' RTLinuxPro Development Kit and PowerQUICC III processors yields a hard-to-beat mix of real-time responsiveness, standards-based openness, and enterprise software compatibility of the Linux operating system.

Software content in all types of intelligent devices is doubling year-over-year. To address this ever-increasing software load and accompanying complexity of embedded applications, device developers have moved from proprietary embedded RTOS platforms to open, enterprise-class Linux. However, even with an emphasis on application-centric software stacks, core embedded platforms still need to deliver near line-rate performance. FSMLabs' real-time technology enables networking equipment providers and other device OEMs to meet hard real-time performance requirements; at the same time, it lets companies deploy enterprise-class Linux to support complex software stacks and workloads.

Support for Freescale's PowerQUICC Family of Communications Processors

FSMLabs has a long tradition of investment in Freescale's processor technology containing PowerPC cores. FSMLabs pioneered PowerPC architecture support in Linux and today boasts support for over a dozen technology variants for PowerPC cores, ranging from low-power SoCs to stand-alone CPUs for high-performance blades and systems.

"FSMLabs gives OEMs the benefit of over a decade of experience in enabling and optimizing embedded PowerPC processor-based designs," recounted Cort Dougan, FSMLabs' director of engineering and the primary original author of Linux for the PowerPC. "Our expertise helped establish PowerPC processors and Linux as a winning combination for networking and applications, and today gives semiconductor manufacturers and OEMs a distinct advantage in time-to-market and product reliability."

For high-performance communications and other applications, RTLinux targets a wide range of PowerQUICC processors, including the highly integrated MPC8540 and MPC8560 PowerQUICC III devices and other processors based on the e500 core.

"FSMLabs solutions help Freescale customers deliver high-performance designs on time and within budget," said Rich Schnur, segment manager for Freescale's Digital Systems Division. "FSMLabs has pioneered real-time Linux OS solutions for PowerQUICC processors, and today RTLinux helps keep the PowerQUICC family of communications processors at the forefront of network designs."

FSMLabs offers COTS support for reference platforms that include Freescale's Application Development Systems (ADS), such as the MPC8540ADS. RTLinux can also be retargeted to support most commercial systems based on PowerQUICC processors, as well as OEM-specific custom hardware.

Real-Time Performance Edge on Freescale CPUs

FSMLabs' RTLinux enables developers to meet requirements for low-latency hard real-time responsiveness independent of application load over a wide range of system clock rates. On e500 core-based systems running at 833 MHz, developers can expect less than 1.7 microseconds worst-case interrupt latency with real-time context switch worst cases of 8.5 microseconds. These measurements are computed while the standard Linux guest operating system is fully loaded and servicing heavy network traffic. By comparison, native Linux offers limited real-time performance, with response times for comparable operations measured in milliseconds, not microseconds.

The RTLinux host/guest architecture enables developers of intelligent devices to build high-reliability systems and to support the ever-increasing software content on those devices. Application developers can take advantage of RTLinux to use standard Linux applications and services in conjunction with POSIX 1003.13 real-time code that runs in the RTLinux environment. Real-time code can migrate freely between execution in RTLinux and native Linux environments, giving customers true OS choice.

About FSMLabs

FSMLabs provides hard real-time mission-critical solutions designed for reliability and simplicity of operation. FSMLabs was founded in 1998 and is privately held, with headquarters in New Mexico and sales and engineering staff worldwide. FSMLabs products include RTLinux, RTCoreBSD, Lnet real-time networking, PSDD protected memory real-time, VxIT legacy emulation, Carrier Grade Linux, RTCore Eclipse IDE and ControlsKit XML/RPC interface builder. For more information, visit www.fsmlabs.com or e-mail [e-mail].

RTLinux, RTCore, Lnet, PSDD, ControlsKit, and FSMLabs are registered trademarks of Finite State Machine Labs Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective organizations.