Quadros Systems Boosts Performance of Latest ColdFire Microprocessors with Convergent RTOS Support; RTXC/dm only dual-mode RTOS available for Freescale's new MCF532x and MCF537x processor families.

NURNBERG, Germany -- Quadros Systems, Inc., a leading supplier of configurable and scalable real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced a port of the Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS to the Freescale ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x processors. These latest ColdFire families integrate capabilities previously implemented with multiple devices including a microprocessor, DSP and various I/O, communications and display controllers. With the convergent capabilities of Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS, developers can optimize both the dataflow and control characteristics of this highly integrated processor family. Such optimization ensures the efficiencies of applications running on these new generation devices that greatly reduce hardware cost and power consumption.

The ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x families are built on an advanced architecture that includes an enhanced multiply accumulate (EMAC) module. With its four-stage execution pipeline, the EMAC is optimized for 32 x 32 multiply-accumulate operations such as the ability to run FFT algorithms in a VoIP application. Coupled with extensive I/O capabilities such as USB, SVGA LCD, fast Ethernet and CANbus, the system creates a significant real-time interrupt burden that could potentially severely limit the efficiency of the EMAC dataflow code.

With RTXC Quadros dual-mode RTOS (RTXC/dm), Quadros Systems is able to optimize both the RISC and DSP capabilities of the processor. By combining a lightweight executive, requiring minimal context for DSP processes, with a prioritized, preemptive kernel for event-driven tasks, RTXC/dm ensures that both RISC and DSP application code execute with maximum efficiency. The two kernel structures are organized by priority with dataflow processing controlled by a dedicated scheduler always operating at a higher priority than control operations.

"The number of applications requiring both DSP and control capabilities is burgeoning," noted Tom Barrett, president of Quadros Systems. "System developers need to limit hardware costs while providing even more functionality. Convergent control/DSP architectures enable them to gain that edge, but it can only be maximized with a real-time operating system that knows how to optimize both capabilities in the same RTOS."

"By using an optimized convergent RTOS rather than a traditional RTOS for applications using the entire processor/EMAC functionality, we can deliver as much as 40% greater application efficiency," noted Stephen Martin, Quadros director of marketing. "Fewer processor cycles can translate into a lower cost processor with a reduced clock rate, or increased functionality supported on the same device with no additional hardware costs. Also, applications using our dual-mode RTOS can achieve much higher levels of responsiveness by giving the developer fine-tuned control over application tasks and processor utilization."

The RTXC Quadros dual-mode RTOS is intuitive and easy to use. Developers planning to employ this advanced operating system do not require any specialized training. The powerful kernel objects and services are also fully manageable by the RTXCgen(TM) host-based configuration utility.

Quadros also provides extensive driver support for the full range of on-chip peripherals of the ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x families, including USB host and device software development kits, GUI development library and LCD controller driver; TCP/IP stack (v4/v6) with Fast Ethernet driver, IPsec/IKE with support for onchip hardware acceleration, FAT file system as well as high-performance fail-safe flash file system. Development tools support includes CodeWarrior (v6) with kernel-aware debugging.

ColdFire MCF532x and MCF537x processors, combined with the efficiency of the Quadros RTXC dual-mode RTOS, provide an ideal solution for the following applications: human interface applications, factory service and maintenance systems, point-of-sale terminals, medical instrumentation and monitoring, security/access control panels, voice over IP, remote monitoring, industrial machine control, and automation.

Quadros Systems solutions are scalable across the entire ColdFire family, reducing learning curve for new projects and preserving application code. For more information, visit www.quadros.com/coldfire.

Price & Availability

Single-project licenses for RTXC/dm start at $15,500. Price includes a source code distribution and a Software Development Kit (SDK).

About the RTXC Quadros Family of Real-time Operating Systems

RTXC/dm is one of four highly scalable real-time operating systems in the RTXC Quadros family, offering distinct performance advantages for each of the major processing models. RTXC/ss (single stack) utilizes a lightweight specialized executive to support high data rate and signal processing applications. RTXC/ms (multi-stack) is optimized for control processing using an event-driven, prioritized, preemptive scheduler. RTXC/dm (dual mode) marries RTXC/ms and RTXC/ss and is ideal for convergent processing applications which combine DSP/dataflow and RISC/control processing in a single-core architecture. Both RTXC/ms and RTXC/dm are brought together under RTXC/mp (multiprocessing) in various combinations to support multicore and multiprocessor implementations.

About Quadros, Systems, Inc.

Quadros Systems, Inc. develops and markets RTXC technology, bringing together RTOS, hardware and software professionals into one development team to provide innovative technology that maximizes real-time responsiveness and eases the development process for customers. In addition to the RTXC RTOS family, Quadros Systems offers a wide range of communications stacks and middleware including RTXC Quadnet (a suite of integrated communications protocols) and RTXCflashfile (a high performance file system for resident flash devices). RTXC products have been deployed worldwide in thousands of embedded systems, serving markets such as communications, medical, and industrial automation. For more information, contact Quadros Systems, Inc. at [phone], Quadros Systems Europe at +49-703/339-1561 or [phone] or visit www.quadros.com.

RTXC, Quadros, Quadnet, and RTXCflashfile are trademarks of Quadros Systems, Inc. All other tradenames and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (C) 2006, Quadros Systems, Inc., all rights reserved.