FSMLabs Shortens Linux Migration Path for Legacy RTOS Applications

1 January 1970

FSMLabs, a core system software development company targeting mission-critical
applications, today announced the availability of a migration kit to support the real-time execution of legacy applications originally designed for Wind River's VxWorks embedded OS. The migration kit, dubbed VxIT, complements FSMLabs real-time RTCore(TM) technology for embedded Linux and BSD applications.

VxIT lets developers map their legacy RTOS code into the RTLinux environment with minimum effort, maximum flexibility, and exceptional hard real-time performance. "Previous attempts at legacy RTOS application migration to Linux offered small API sets and at best soft real-time execution under Linux," remarked Victor Yodaiken, FSMLabs' president. "With VxIT,
developers can port existing VxWorks code to RTLinux directly, without need for extensive recoding or re-architecting." VxIT is especially valuable to projects facing the announced obsolescence of VxWorks 5.0 and lack of support for earlier versions of the proprietary RTOS.

VxIT helps developers preserve legacy investment in diverse applications, ranging from telecommunications to industrial control to aerospace. "VxIT enabled us to port our existing application to RTLinuxPro using unchanged source code," recounts Erik Leussink of Atos Origin. "VxIT and RTLinux provided a more cost-effective alternative to our legacy platform without any loss of reliability or performance. Moreover, support from FSMLabs has been
great and vital to meeting target deadlines."

Legacy Application Support Architecture

VxIT supports over 250 legacy RTOS APIs, including the semantics of VxWorks tasks, synchronization, and I/O constructs. VxIT uses a fully deployable mix of build-time and run-time library translation. Building on these APIs as well as native Linux interfaces, developers can port and re-factor their applications to meet the performance and portability needs of
next-generation embedded software. Application code requiring hard real-time resides in the RTCore environment where it executes on a par with RTCore native applications, offering context switch and response times that match those offered by the source RTOS platform. General purpose, non-real-time code also migrates easily to the client Linux or BSD general purpose OS environment.

Availability

VxIT for RTLinux is available off-the-shelf TODAY from FSMLabs and its worldwide channel partners. Architecture support includes Intel IA-32, AMD x86 and compatible architectures, and PowerPC architecture devices. The product features support for both uni-processor and symmetric multi-processor (SMP) systems, with Linux as the non-real-time OS. Contact FSMLabs for availability of ARM and MIPS architectures, and NetBSD availability. VxIT is
sold on a per-developer basis as a bolt-on to the RTLinuxPro Developer Kit. VxIT includes run-time libraries, full source code for each supported architecture, a comprehensive regression test suite, complete documentation and technical support. Training, long-term support and additional porting/design services are available directly from FSMLabs. For pricing and
other detailed information, contact FSMLabs at business@fsmlabs.com.

For further information, please contact Patti Dorn of FSMLabs, Inc.,
+1-505-838-9109, pdorn@fsmlabs.com.