eCos

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eCos

Website	ecos.sourceware.org
Company/ developer	eCosCentric
Programmed in	C
OS family	Real-time operating systems
Source model	Open source
Latest stable release	? / ?
Marketing target	Embedded systems
Available language(s)	?
Available programming languages(s)	?
Supported platforms	ARM, CalmRISC, FR-V, Hitachi H8, IA-32, Motorola 68000, Matsushita AM3x, MIPS, NEC V8xx, Nios II, PowerPC, SPARC, and SuperH
Kernel type	?
Default user interface	?
License	eCos License (GPL with exceptions)
Working state	Current

eCos (embedded Configurable operating system) is an open source, royalty-free, real-time operating system intended for embedded systems and applications which need only one process with multiple threads. It can be customized to precise application requirements, with hundreds of options, delivering the best possible run-time performance and minimized hardware needs. It is programmed in the C programming language, and has compatibility layers and APIs for POSIX and µITRON. A thriving net community has grown up around eCos, ensuring ongoing technical innovation and wide platform support.

eCos was designed for devices with memory size in the tens to hundreds of kilobytes^[1], or with real-time requirements. It can be used on hardware with too little RAM to support embedded Linux, which currently needs a minimum of about 2 MB of RAM, not including application and service needs.

eCos runs on a wide variety of hardware platforms, including ARM, CalmRISC, FR-V, Hitachi H8, IA-32, Motorola 68000, Matsushita AM3x, MIPS, NEC V8xx, Nios II, PowerPC, SPARC, and SuperH.

Included with the eCos distribution is RedBoot, an open source application that uses the eCos Hardware Abstraction Layer to provide bootstrap firmware for embedded systems.

1 History
2 Non-free versions
3 External links
4 References

[edit] History

eCos was initially developed by Cygnus Solutions which was later bought by Red Hat. In early 2002, Red Hat ceased development of eCos and laid off the staff that were working on the project^[2] who then formed their own company, eCosCentric, in order to continue development and provide commercial support for eCos. In January 2004, at the request of the eCos developers, Red Hat agreed to transfer its eCos copyrights to the Free Software Foundation^[3]. The transfer was finally executed in October 2005.

[edit] Non-free versions

eCosPro is a proprietary eCos and RedBoot distribution created by eCosCentric that is targeted towards developers looking to integrate eCos and RedBoot within commercial products. It is claimed as a "stable, fully tested, certified and supported version"^[4], however, some of the additional features have not been released as free software.