Ultimate Guide to Microsoft Open Source ThreadX

ThreadX is a real-time operating system (RTOS) that is widely used in various embedded systems, such as consumer electronics, automotive electronics, industrial control equipment, etc.

It’s running on more than 12 billion devices worldwide…

ThreadX is designed to run in resource-constrained environments, such as microcontrollers and small processors, and can handle tasks with extremely high reliability and precise timing control.

For example, it used to power Intel’s chip management engine and was the firmware that controlled all Raspberry Pis larger than the Raspberry Pi Pico. On Raspberry Pi 1, 2 and 3 it is a file on the SD card called bootcode.bin; on Pi 4 and 400 it is called start *. elf.

Key features of ThreadX:

1. Real-time performance: ThreadX can quickly respond to external events and ensure that tasks are completed within a specific time, which is very important for applications that require precise time control (such as industrial control, medical equipment, etc.).

2. Small and lightweight: It occupies very little memory and processing resources and is suitable for embedded systems and low-power devices.

3. Highly configurable: ThreadX can be customized according to specific application requirements to adapt to different hardware and functional requirements.

4. Multi-tasking: Supports concurrent execution of multiple tasks and can effectively manage the priority and resource allocation of different tasks.

5. Stable and reliable: In embedded systems, system stability and reliability are crucial, and ThreadX provides a high degree of stability and error handling capabilities.

Microsoft acquired ThreadX owner Express Logic in 2019 and rebranded it as Azure RTOS.

This open source may be a response to Amazon AWS taking over FreeRTOS.

With Microsoft open source and donating it to the Eclipse Foundation, ThreadX’s application scope and developer community may further expand.

For the Raspberry Pi Foundation, if it can obtain a license to release the source code of ThreadX, it will make the entire software stack of Raspberry Pi open source. This will increase the appeal of the Raspberry Pi, as open source software is generally considered more secure, more reliable, and easier to customize and improve.

Details

ThreadX

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