µC/OS-II, The Real-Time Kernel is a highly portable, ROMable, very scalable, preemptive real-time, multitasking kernel (RTOS) for microprocessors and microcontrollers. µC/OS-II can manage up to 255 tasks and provides the following services:
- Semaphores
- Mutual Exclusion Semaphores (to reduce priority inversions)
- Event Flags
- Message Mailboxes
- Message Queues
- Task Management (Create, Delete, Change Priority, Suspend/Resume etc.)
- Fixed Sized Memory Block management
- Time Management
- Timer Management
µC/OS-II runs on a large number of processor architectures (see PORTS).
A Validation Suite(tm) developed for µC/OS-II provides all of the documentation necessary to deliver µC/OS-II as a pre-certifiable software component for safety critical systems, including avionics RTCA DO-178B and EUROCAE ED-12B, medical FDA 510(k), and IEC 61058 standard for transportation and nuclear systems. The very affordable Validation Suite(tm), is available through Validated Software. It is immediately certifiable for the highest criticality systems, including DO-178B Level A, Class III medical devices, and SIL3/SIL4 IEC-certified systems. For more information, check out the µC/OS-II page on the Validated Software web site (www.ValidatedSoftware.com) or call +1- 303-531-5290.
If your product is NOT safety critical, you should view the certification as proof that µC/OS-II is a very robust and highly reliable RTOS.
See REASONS for choosing µC/OS-II in your next embedded product!
Read some of the reviews about the µC/OS-II book
"There is no equivalent to this book. The knowledge offered here, along with the complete source code for the µC/OS-II real-time operating system is everything you need to know to understand preemptive priority-based multitasking. Whether you just want to learn what goes on behind the scenes in your commercial RTOS or you're looking for a small, inexpensive RTOS with source code, this is the book for you.", Michael Barr from Annapolis, MD, USA
"Never in my career I've seen a so good, clear written book! Exceptional value for money! You can learn the basics of real
time OS in a very short time thanks to Mr Labrosse's style of explanation. invaluable for the embedded world. Good work Jean J., a very good work!"
Franchini Giorgio from Bergamo, Italy.
"Jean LaBrosse is one of those people who has that uncanny knack for taking a complicated issue and making it seem simple. His MicroC/OS is a wonderful example. The book does much more than simply present usable source code (though it does that also). It explains _WHY_ the code is the way it is. µC/OS-II is very much in today's spirit of open-source software. It is rapidly becoming, for real-time embedded systems, what Linux represents for desktops. The OS is not just a good OS for real-time systems, but a good, _RELIABLE_, OS in general. If only we could get Microsoft to follow Labrosse's KISS approaches."
Jack W. Crenshaw (Columnist for Embedded Systems Programming Magazine)
"The book clarifies some of the most obscure real-time programming concepts. It even does it in a language accessible to everybody, with tons of images and code samples. Labrosse's coding standard is exemplary: consistent and clear. The book also explains how to port µC/OS-II over different CPU architectures, which is really useful. The reference section is also very clear. Highly recommended to anyone involved in real-time programming. I just wish I would have found this book years ago."
Jean Louis Gareau (Author of Windows CE from the Ground Up) from the USA
"I had never used a real-time kernel. I bought µC/OS-II and Embedded Systems Building Blocks to get started. The books are very well written. The kernel works great. And, in a couple of days, I was up and running my first application based on the µC/OS-II kernel. No need to shop for another kernel, no need to shop for other books to explain how a kernel works. This book is the answer to all your questions about "What is a real-time kernel? And how does it work?"
Robert Bowen from St. Peters, MO, USA
"I have not actually read many technical books... I usually reference them when I have to during a project. This book is different.. it is structured to be read (1st 7 chapters) and explains the RTOS extremely well. I liked the instances where info is re-iterated, because it is quite alot to take in and any redundancy helps. I am a hardware designer of 20 yrs and plan on using the RTOS in my latest Rabbit based Wireless LAN gadget mainly because of the clarity of it's operation expressed in this publication."
John Yaron from Peckville, PA USA
"If you're new to the subject of RTOS: Buy the book.
Read it.
Try it.
Use it.
This book is an eye opener.
It makes you want to create every project with this RTOS, provided your chip has enough resources.
The best thing about it: The price is right and the secrets are out.
It's all well documented C-source.
You will love it."
Jan Homuth from Frankfurt, Germany
"Whether or not you end up using this RT Operating System - or another - or not be using an Operating System at all - this book gives you a very good illustration of all concurrency issues you should consider when desgining an embedded application."
Yoav Yanai from Arendonk, Belgium
µC/OS-II Context Switch Animations
Understand how a context switch works by seeing an animation for an Intel 80x86 CPU (Real Mode, Large Model).
Open Context Switch Flash animation
Understand how a context switch works by seeing an animation for an Renesas H8S CPU (Advanced Mode).
Open Context Switch Flash animation
( You need the Macromedia Flash Plug-in to view the animation )
Other animations will be added in the future.
The µC/OS-II Story
Read the µC/OS Story.
µC/OS-II RAM Calculator Spreadsheet
Use this spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel format) to determine the amount of RAM needed by µC/OS-II in your application.
You may need to change the size of OS_FLAGS, OS_STK and POINTER to match your processor.
Simply set the values of the ENABLE #defines and sizes of other constants as per your OS_CFG.H file.
» further information on german