Orange County, CA — (press release) — REDSonic, Inc., a provider of real-time embedded Linux solutions, today announced the beta release of RedIce Linux 2.0, the first complete integration of critical technologies for complete hard real-time Linux.

Different from other real-time Linux implementations currently on the market, RedIce Linux allows RTAI, the Real Time Application Interface from Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale Politecnico di Milano, and RED-Linux to run concurrently. This enables real-time jobs requiring extremely low latency (less than 50 microseconds) and hard real-time user applications (with complete Linux kernel support) the ability to run side-by-side, all under the same job priority structure.

“We combined RED-Linux with RTAI to provide the best total Linux solution for both embedded and server platforms,” says Andrew Chen, CTO of REDSonic. “By integrating these components, RedIce Linux provides real-time performance and quality of service guarantees in both the user and kernel space.”

The RedIce Linux approach is to add new real-time capabilities to the standard Linux kernel, while preserving all existing Linux functionality. This is accomplished by the insertion of preemption points into the kernel and by including a high-resolution microsecond timer.

In addition to a preemptable kernel, RedIce Linux includes a highly flexible two-component scheduler. “Our unique and advanced expertise on real-time scheduling theory allows us to build one of the most flexible and powerful real-time Linux schedulers,” says Kwei-Jay Lin, president and CEO of REDSonic, and faculty member of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Irvine. “We have a seamless integration of both hard and soft real-time kernel services.”

The RedIce Linux scheduler is divided into two parts, the dispatcher and the allocator. By separating these two modules, it is easy to modify and integrate different scheduling paradigms, all within the same general framework. “RedIce Linux provides a flexible scheduling framework which simplifies the implementation of real-time schedulers,” says Yu-Chung Wang, Ph.D. candidate and developer of the RED-Linux kernel at U.C. Irvine. “It provides an integrated scheduler which implements rate-monotonic (RM), earliest deadline first (EDF), time-driven, and share-driven scheduling paradigms.”

Along with the RedIce Linux kernel, REDSonic provides a complete SDK+ tool chain for embedded system development (available Q4, 2000):

• RED-Gen — A flexible and powerful real-time scheduler generator.
  
• RED-Builder — A tool for configuring, building, and downloading target images to the application platform.
  
• RED-Probe — An easy-to-use graphical tool to remotely monitor the behavior and performance of real-time embedded system.

“REDSonic provides powerful and customized real-time Linux solutions to our clients,” explains Kwei-Jay Lin. “Our highly qualified engineering team has enhanced the capability of the standard Linux kernel in order to provide guaranteed quality of service (QoS) and support for mission- and time-critical applications.”

Availability

RedIce Linux 1.0 is available immediately for download from the REDSonic web site, www.redsonic.com. RedIce Linux 2.0 beta is currently available for evaluation to select customers and partners. Please contact REDSonic for partnership program information.

About REDSonic

REDSonic, Inc. provides total real-time Linux solutions for both embedded and server systems. RedIce Linux, REDSonic's premier offering, is a low-latency preemptable kernel and includes a flexible scheduler which provides soft and hard real-time performance while maintaining full compatibility with existing Linux applications.

RedIce Linux is supported by a comprehensive development tool chain including compilers, debuggers, schedule code generators, target image builder, and event viewer. The company's Professional Services Group also provides Linux support, porting and custom application development to customers in North America and Asia. REDSonic has offices located in Orange County, Calif. and Taipei, Taiwan.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.