Jonkoping, Sweden, 26th June 2013 – Atollic (atollic.com), a leading provider of development tools for embedded software, and Quadros Systems, a leading provider of real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced the availability of RTOS-aware debug support for the RTXC™ Quadros™ real-time operating system in the Atollic TrueSTUDIO IDE.

With kernel aware debugging TrueSTUDIO’s debugger is able to display detailed data on the state of the RTXC Quadros RTOS objects during a debug session. Each object is displayed in its own dockable window. These windows are available for objects such as tasks, queues, mutexes, semaphores, alarms, counters, event sources, partitions, mailboxes and pipes—13 windows available for detailed visibility into the kernel. To speed debugging the TrueSTUDIO debugger offers exceptional refresh speed on all views while stepping through code, or when hitting a breakpoint.

About RTXC Quadros RTOS
The RTXC Quadros real-time operating system boasts 25+ years of operational excellence and is incorporated into hundreds of millions of embedded devices. It is easy to understand and use but delivers a high degree of flexibility and sophistication along with support for multiple scheduling models and policies. The small, scalable footprint can fit almost any ROM or RAM budget; typically 20 KB or less. The RTXC Quadros RTOS is ported to many MCUs including ARM Cortex-M, -A, and -R cores and is delivered with source code and a working project. The company’s flexible licensing options make the RTXC Quadros RTOS affordable for any project.

The RTOS is complemented by a suite of communications stacks and middleware for embedded development including TCP/IP, USB, file systems and more.

About Atollic TrueSTUDIO
Atollic® TrueSTUDIO® is the premier C/C++ development tool for professional ARM® developers, reducing time to market and improving software quality in your next embedded systems project. Atollic TrueSTUDIO is uniquely targeted to improve the software quality, with features like code complexity analysis, code review support, and optional modules for integrated unit testing and test quality measurement. With Atollic TrueSTUDIO, you get a supremely powerful C/C++ compiler and debugger IDE, perfect for the most demanding of development projects!

Atollic TrueSTUDIO is based on one of the most widely used compilers in the world, thus providing proven and reliable code generation, compact code and high performance for ARM7™, ARM9™ and ARM Cortex™-M/R/A projects. More information on Atollic TrueSTUDIO can be found here: http://www.atollic.com/index.php/truestudio

San Jose, California, April 22, 2013 – Icon Labs (www.iconlabs.com), a leading provider of embedded networking and security technology, and Quadros Systems (www.quadros.com) a leading provider of real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced the availability of Icon Labs’ Floodgate™ Packet Filter embedded firewall software for the RTXC™ Quadros™ real-time operating system.

Malicious attacks on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and other industrial control and smart grid networks are a major concern. These systems were not originally built to withstand the kinds of sophisticated cyber-attacks coming from hackers, criminal enterprises and even terrorists.  Recently the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Security team noted that there are now several new, publicly available exploit tools that specifically target Internet accessible industrial control system and programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Targeted systems include those from Rockwell Automation (ROK: New York), GE (GE: New York) and Schneider Electric (SU:EN Paris).

Floodgate Packet Filter adds proven firewall security to Quadros-powered devices to protect from Internet-based attacks. The combined solution is designed to meet ANSI/ISA/IEC/TS 62443 standards for cyber security. The system is designed explicitly for use in embedded devices with limited memory and processor speeds that require secure network implementation certified to standards such as the ISASP 99 which is measured by the Wurldtech Achilles® Test Platform.

Floodgate Packet Filter has been used to provide security for industrial control applications, small footprint industrial firewall appliances and MCU based control devices. It provides Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) and rules based filtering to protect embedded devices from real-world cyber-attacks.  Rules-based filtering utilizes white-listing and black-listing to define system criteria such as port number, protocol, or source IP address for protection.  Floodgate also features Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) that provides dynamic packet filtering based on the state of the connection to a device.

RTXC Quadnet Ethernet-TCP/IP stack is a robust but small footprint networking solution for network-attached devices and gateways. It was built specifically for the unique needs of embedded systems but with RFC-compliance and a Berkeley sockets API. The Quadnet stack already offers advanced authentication and encryption features for IP-layer security (IPsec/IKE) and application security (SSL/TLS). The Floodgate Packet filter will add a layer of protection against threats such as packet floods, request storms, port scans, malformed IP packets and corrupted Ethernet frames.

“Network-attached embedded devices are the latest target for hackers,” says Stephen Martin, vice president, marketing at Quadros Systems.  “Our customers are coming to us for new levels of security and protection against these cyber-attacks. Adding Icon Labs’ Floodgate Packet Filter to our RTX Quadnet Ethernet -TCP/IP stack provides our customers with a comprehensive defense against attack that meets today’s advanced security certification requirements.”

“Embedded devices connected to the Internet are no longer immune from hackers and other malicious threats.  Attacks against embedded devices have become front page news”, said Alan Grau, President of Icon Labs.  “We are excited to be working with Quadros to deliver a secure platform for industrial control and smart grid devices.”

About Icon Laboratories, Inc.
Icon Labs is a leading provider of embedded networking and security solutions.  Founded in 1992, Icon Labs is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, visit www.iconlabs.com, send email to info@iconlabs.com, or call 1.888.235.3443 (U.S. and Canada) or 515.226.3443 (International).

About Quadros Systems, Inc.
Quadros Systems, Inc. (www.quadros.com) develops and markets integrated software platforms based on RTXC RTOS technology. Our developer-centric, relational approach is designed to give you the solution you need for rapid development time and ease of use. We invest in your success by taking the time to understand the unique requirements of your project with free up front consultation. For more information, contact Quadros Systems, Inc. at +1 832-351-2830 or visit www.quadros.com.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 6, 2012  — CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) platform solutions and DSP cores for the mobile handset, portable and consumer electronics markets, and Quadros Systems, Inc., a leading provider of real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced that the Quadros Systems’ RTXC RTOS is now available for use with the versatile CEVA-X family of high-performance, low power DSP cores. The highly efficient RTOS provides the performance and reliability needed by SoC developers requiring an embedded solution for a wide variety of applications. It is available for all members of the CEVA-X family and is already in use by CEVA customers developing baseband SoCs and advanced audio and voice processing.

Known for its efficiency, high performance and small footprint, the RTXC family of embedded RTOSes provides a low-overhead, flexible solution for customers working on CEVA-X based designs. The one-stop development and run-time solution includes the RTXC Quadros RTOS and the comprehensive CEVA-Toolbox™ suite of development tools for easy customization and programmability. This integrated offering gives developers a single point of contact for high quality tools and foundational software.

“The combination of the performance and low power benefits of the CEVA-X DSP family and the efficiency of the RTXC RTOS is compelling for developers of all types of embedded systems. Since CEVA holds 90% of the market for DSP cores and is broadly used by the world’s leading SoC developers, it is important that we can offer a well-integrated and supported solution to allow designers to quickly run new applications and develop new features,” said Stephen Martin, vice president, sales and marketing at Quadros.

The Quadros Systems multi-kernel approach provides a flexible way to address the needs of all embedded applications, including DSP-based, DSP+MPU designs, and multicore SoCs. The RTOS’ versatile API enables easy migration across architectures and applications while preserving customers’ application code. It is scalable to allow customization of RTOS resources to specific applications, and designed to ensure low system overhead, low latency and responsive services.

“We have seen strong demand for the type of capabilities offered by the RTXC Quadros RTOS from our customers, who want an easy-to-use and optimized embedded solution that meets their performance, power and area requirements. With the CEVA-X family, we offer a flexible range of options for DSP functionality, and now with the availability of this RTOS, we have strengthened the overall development ecosystem that will allow designers to focus on the unique differentiation of their products,” said Eran Briman, vice president of marketing at CEVA.

The RTXC support is available for the CEVA-X1622, CEVA-X1641 and CEVA-X1643 DSP cores, each delivering a different balance of performance, power dissipation and cost. Because the CEVA cores are software compatible, it is easy to move application code from one to another, significantly reducing investment in code development, tools and designer training.

Houston, TX – February 2, 2011 – Quadros Systems, Inc., a leading supplier of configurable and scalable real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced RTXCview, a powerful system trace and profiling tool for embedded systems. RTXCview works as a companion to traditional debuggers, providing a revolutionary visual insight and understanding of the runtime behavior of embedded systems using the RTXC RTOS.

The Problem

At many times in the course of developing an application, the developer needs to understand exactly what is happening inside the system. There are complex interactions among tasks, interrupt service routines (ISRs), and other kernel objects such as message queues, mutexes and semaphores. These interactions must often occur within certain time constraints in order to meet timing requirements related to safety or system performance. In systems built around a modern real-time operating system (RTOS), where the processor context is being changed every few hundred microseconds, one may need to know, “What actor was in control of the CPU at a given time?” “What action was taken?” “When did it occur, and why?”

Such things are often very difficult to figure out from studying the code alone. Debuggers are not particularly effective in analyzing such problems in a debug session because a debugger does not address the problems at the desired level. The rough timing of a problem’s appearance is often known but why something goes wrong at that time is what has to be determined. In the end, the developer is left with that age-old recourse of designing and developing test cases that isolate the problem into a repeatable situation. Only then are the questions of who, what, when and why answerable. The result is a lot of extra time and expense focused on problem resolution and can be a major factor in the increasing cost of software development.

Other system concerns include performance issues such as system responsiveness or throughput. The system can be optimized if the developer can successfully manage the relative timing between tasks. Yet this is simply a trial-and-error exercise if there is no way to understand moment by moment system behavior.

The Solution

RTXCview allows the developer to study the detailed runtime behavior of the system as it actually occurred, even in real production code settings RTXCview addresses the questions of who, what, when and why by presenting the runtime information in a unique, highly efficient manner. Traditional runtime viewers show time in the horizontal axis and code entities vertically, similar to a Gantt chart. In systems with only a few tasks and ISRs, the user can spend a lot of time just moving the visible part of the presentation to see what code entity is actually active and for how long.

RTXCview shows everything on a scalable timeline using the vertical axis, allowing the user to zoom in and out to get a different look to address the question of when. The unique presentation allows for zooming in on details, down to microseconds, but also gives a good overview when zooming out over several seconds. The question of who can be easily determined because tasks, threads and interrupt service routines are clearly shown in color-coded sections along the timeline when they are in control of the CPU. Color coding the entities eliminates the need to move focus all over the screen just to locate an actor. In addition, the presentation method also shows the level of interference from higher priority entities, a very important schedulability consideration usually beyond the capability of the traditional runtime viewer.

RTXCview addresses the question of what by showing the timing of kernel services issued by the task, thread and ISR actors. And again, the scalable timeline allows zooming in and out for less or greater detail of this information. The result is a clear understanding of how much time is used for each operation and how these operations (or actors) relate to other operations in frequency, order and timing.

Upon seeing all the information addressing the questions about who, when and what, the answer to why usually becomes clear, leading to a rapid resolution of the issue in question.

The Package

The RTXCview product consists of two parts: a recorder in the RTXC kernel that runs on the target processor and logs system and user events in the target RAM, and a viewer?the RTXCview tool that runs on a host PC.

Instrumentation code in the RTXC kernel service APIs and other important places in the kernel invoke the recorder to store data. The recorder uses a ring buffer to store system data on a continuous basis but the developer can make decisions on when to begin recording and what data to capture so that the trace file is focused on the problem area.

The viewer component of RTXCview presents a unique visualization display to look at the performance of the system over time. And there are other views that show statistical information about processor usage, system loading, execution time and even response time on an entity by entity basis. An example is shown in the screenshot in the top-right area labeled “Actor Information”.

Even though the recorder might collect the user’s selected set of data, the user might choose to present only a subset of that data, thereby simplifying the presentation area of interest. Selection of the displayed classes or objects is under full user control.

RTXCview is available in two versions: a Basic Edition, offering standard features and a Professional Edition, for advanced users who want to “tune” the tool for greater insight.

Benefits of RTXCview

Developers who use RTXCview can avoid “flying blind”, preventing costly field failures by better understanding the interactions of system components.

• Improves runtime insight and understanding which leads to better design and improved system performance/stability
• Helps detect the underlying causes of system failures
• Provides information about CPU usage and the ability to meet deadlines
• Prevents future problems by allowing for trend studies in CPU usage and execution times

User studies have shown that complex timing problems (sometimes referred to as Heisenbugs) can be identified in minutes rather than hours or days using RTXCview.

Availability

RTXCview System Trace Tool is available immediately. It is licensed on a per seat basis starting at $1500. For more information please visit www.quadros.com/RTXCview.

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.