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Linux Foundation's Open Source Zephyr RTOS Gets Major Update
The Linux Foundation's open source Zephyr real-time operating system (RTOS) recently announced an update to version 1.14, offering a number of new features. Overall, the foundation says that, with the update, the software is now a "more stable, certifiable option for product makers and developers."
According to the developers, Zephyr -- a hardware OS, licensed under Apache 2.0, which is designed for use with multiple architectures and for "resource-constrained"/embedded systems -- now supports more than 160 boards and eight architectures, including x86_64.
Also in this edition the developers re-engineered the timing subsystem, "greatly simplifying the resulting driver, removing thousands of lines of codes and reducing a typical kernel build size by hundreds of bytes," they explained in the official announcement of this release.
Other improvements include a rework of the network packet API, new drivers for the native POSIX port, additional support for device idle power management, "major updates" to the logging and shell subsystems, plus a number of security-focused changes, among others.
The full list of improvements and changes can be accessed here.
Testing of Zephyr projects can be validated with supported simulators including QEMU, ARC Simulator, Renode and the native POSIX configuration.
The code for the updated RTOS is available here.
Find out more about Zephyr on the official project Web site here.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is the vice president of Web & Digital Strategy for 1105's Converge360 Group, where she oversees the front-end Web team and deals with all aspects of digital projects at the company, including launching and running the group's popular virtual summit and Coffee talk series . She an experienced tech journalist (20 years), and before her current position, was the editorial director of the group's sites. A few years ago she gave a talk at a leading technical publishers conference about how changes in Web browser technology would impact online advertising for publishers. Follow her on twitter @beckynagel.