Quadros Systems Offers Prioritized Ethernet Packet Handling

Embedded Ethernet

Ethernet packet sorting and buffer management system from allows preferred TCP/IP packets to get priority-based processing

Houston, TX – July 28, 2010 — Responding to market demand for more responsive embedded systems, Quadros Systems, Inc., a leading supplier of configurable and scalable real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced Prioritized Ethernet Framework, a significant new addition to its embedded networking software suite. This framework allows the RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP Software to give prioritized treatment to preferred networking content.

“The challenge for many networked embedded systems is there is no way to distinguish critical packets from the large volume of non-essential Ethernet traffic,” said Bill Dittmann, chief engineer with Quadros Systems. “Ethernet packets are processed on a first-come first served basis. Important packets are left to wait while the packets that arrived ahead of them are processed. For embedded systems this leads to systems that are not responsive or, worse, fail to meet essential deadlines.”

Prioritized Ethernet Framework is available as an add-on component to the RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP package. Features include:

  • Packet sorting system in the data link layer that uses the VLAN tag on the packet header to determine priority level
  • Multiple stack interfaces for multiple priority-based paths through the networking stack; the number of priority levels is user-configurable
  • Buffer management system to regulate buffer utilization and ensure available memory to handle critical packets
  • Individual sockets are bound to specific priority levels; all incoming and outgoing traffic on the socket is at the same priority level allowing prioritization to specific services.
  • Each priority level processes packets within a different RTXC Quadros RTOS task, which gives the packets preference in processing all the way through the TCP/IP stack.

“Previously, such sophisticated packet processing was only available in much larger and costlier systems,” said Stephen Martin, vice president of sales and marketing for Quadros. “Quality of Service (QoS) standards have been driven by the IT industry but have not been broadly adopted in the embedded market due to its complexity and cost. The Prioritized Ethernet Framework for the RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP suite now offers an affordable solution for delivering this capability to embedded systems.”

Availability

Ethernet Packet Prioritization Framework is available now as a value-added option for new or current users of RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP software. Quadros Systems also offers engineering services to adapt the framework to specific applications. For more information about RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP software or other Quadros products, please visit www.quadros.com.