REX OS

Last updated
REX Operating System
Developer Qualcomm
Written in C [1]
OS family L4A Pistachio and Iguana embedded operating system
Working stateDiscontinued
Source model Proprietary
Initial release1999;24 years ago (1999) [1]
Marketing target Smartphones
Platforms ARM
Kernel type Microkernel RTOS
License Proprietary

The REX Operating System (Real-time Executive Operating System) is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed by Qualcomm for the ARM processor based mobile phone Dual-Mode Subscriber Station (DMSS) or Advanced Mode Subscriber Software (AMSS) development. As of 2007, most Korean cell phones ran on REX.

Contents

REX is a combination of two operating systems: L4Ka::Pistachio embedded microkernel and Iguana , with extensive modifications and extensions by Qualcomm and HTC. [2]

Originally developed for the Intel 80186, it was then ported to ARM, and x86 architectures are no longer supported. REX is not POSIX compliant or open-source software and requires a proprietary software license from Qualcomm for use. [3]

It seems not to be actively developed or marketed as of 2012, but is used in currently or recently sold low end cell phones, typically for use by pay-as-you-go customers, like the Samsung SPH-M300.

Features

REX is an RTOS with the following features:

REX provides no memory protection features but does have memory management abilities.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embedded system</span> Computer system with a dedicated function

An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including electrical or electronic hardware and mechanical parts. Because an embedded system typically controls physical operations of the machine that it is embedded within, it often has real-time computing constraints. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today. In 2009, it was estimated that ninety-eight percent of all microprocessors manufactured were used in embedded systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">System on a chip</span> Micro-electronic component

A system on a chip or system-on-chip is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include on-chip central processing unit (CPU), memory interfaces, input/output devices, input/output interfaces, and secondary storage interfaces, often alongside other components such as radio modems and a graphics processing unit (GPU) – all on a single substrate or microchip. SoCs may contain digital, and also analog, mixed-signal, and often radio frequency signal processing functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VxWorks</span> Real-time operating system

VxWorks is a real-time operating system developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, deterministic performance and, in many cases, safety and security certification for industries such as aerospace, defense, medical devices, industrial equipment, robotics, energy, transportation, network infrastructure, automotive, and consumer electronics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartphone</span> Handheld mobile device

A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone functions and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from older-design feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, access to the internet, and multimedia functionality, alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically contain a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-installed and third-party software, and support wireless communication protocols. More recently, smartphone manufacturers have begun to integrate satellite messaging connectivity and satellite emergency services into devices for use in remote regions where there is no reliable cellular network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless</span> Application development platform

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless is an application development platform created by Qualcomm, originally for code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile phones, featuring third-party applications such as mobile games. It is offered in some feature phones but not in smartphones. First developed in 1999, as a platform for wireless applications on CDMA-based mobile phones, it debuted in September 2001. As a software platform that can download and run small programs for playing games, sending messages, and sharing photos, the main advantage of Brew MP is that the application developers can easily port their applications among all Brew MP devices by providing a standardized set of application programming interfaces. Software for Brew MP enabled handsets can be developed in C or C++ using the freely downloadable Brew MP software development kit (SDK). The BREW runtime library is part of the wireless device on-chip firmware or operating system to allow programmers to develop applications without needing to code for system interface or understand wireless applications. BREW is described as a pseudo operating system, but not a true mobile operating system. BREW is not a virtual machine such as Java ME, but it runs a native code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MontaVista</span> Software company

MontaVista Software is a company that develops embedded Linux system software, development tools, and related software. Its products are made for other corporations developing embedded systems such as automotive electronics, communications equipment, mobile phones, and other electronic devices and infrastructure.

Nucleus RTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) produced by the Embedded Software Division of Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Business, supporting 32- and 64-bit embedded system platforms. The operating system (OS) is designed for real-time embedded systems for medical, industrial, consumer, aerospace, and Internet of things (IoT) uses. Nucleus was released first in 1993. The latest version is 3.x, and includes features such as power management, process model, 64-bit support, safety certification, and support for heterogeneous computing multi-core system on a chip (SOCs) processors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfin</span>

The Blackfin is a family of 16-/32-bit microprocessors developed, manufactured and marketed by Analog Devices. The processors have built-in, fixed-point digital signal processor (DSP) functionality supplied by 16-bit multiply–accumulates (MACs), accompanied on-chip by a microcontroller. It was designed for a unified low-power processor architecture that can run operating systems while simultaneously handling complex numeric tasks such as real-time H.264 video encoding.

Operating systems based on the Linux kernel are used in embedded systems such as consumer electronics, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), networking equipment, machine control, industrial automation, navigation equipment, spacecraft flight software, and medical instruments in general.

Micro-Controller Operating Systems is a real-time operating system (RTOS) designed by Jean J. Labrosse in 1991. It is a priority-based preemptive real-time kernel for microprocessors, written mostly in the programming language C. It is intended for use in embedded systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FreeRTOS</span> Real-time operating system

FreeRTOS is a real-time operating system kernel for embedded devices that has been ported to 35 microcontroller platforms. It is distributed under the MIT License.

A Bluetooth stack is software that is an implementation of the Bluetooth protocol stack.

Independent Group of Unix-Alikes and Networking Activists (IGUANA) are developers of the Wombat system.

TI-RTOS is an embedded tools ecosystem created and offered by Texas Instruments (TI) for use in a range of their embedded system processors. It includes a real-time operating system (RTOS) component named TI-RTOS Kernel, networking connectivity stacks, power management, file systems, instrumentation, and inter-processor communications like DSP/BIOS Link. It is free and open-source software, released under a BSD license.

EFM32 Gecko MCUs are a family of mixed-signal 32-bit microcontroller integrated circuits from Energy Micro based on ARM Cortex-M CPUs, including the Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M3 and Cortex-M4.

MQX is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed by Precise Software Technologies, Inc., and currently sold by Synopsys, Embedded Access, Inc., and NXP Semiconductors.

The HTC Evo Shift 4G is a smartphone developed by HTC Corporation and marketed as the concurrent/sequel to Sprint's flagship Android smartphone, running on its 4G WiMAX network. The smartphone launched on January 9, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseband processor</span> In smartphones and other radio network interface devices

A baseband processor is a device in a network interface controller that manages all the radio functions ; however, this term is generally not used in reference to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. A baseband processor typically uses its own RAM and firmware. Baseband processors are typically fabricated using CMOS or RF CMOS technology, and are widely used in radio-frequency (RF) and wireless communications.

Galileo was an unreleased 32-bit operating system that was under development by Acorn Computers as a long-term project to produce "an ultra-modern scalable, portable, multi-tasking, multi-threading, object-oriented, microkernel operating system", reportedly significant enough to Acorn's strategy to warrant a statement to the financial markets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "REX and Common Software" . Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  2. Edgewall Software. "HTC Vision" . Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  3. Asif, Saad Zaman (2011-01-11). Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem: Technology Management for Mobile Communications. John Wiley and Sons. p. 299.