Phoenix-RTOS is a

real-time operating system A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. An RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix, which ...

designed for

Internet of Things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

appliances. The main goal of the system is to facilitate the creation of "Software Defined Solutions".

History

Phoenix-RTOS is the successor to the Phoenix

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

, developed from 1999 to 2001 by Pawel Pisarczyk at the Department of Electronics and Information Technology at

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professor ...

. Phoenix was originally implemented for

IA-32 IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called i386) is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarnation of ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

s and was adapted to the ARM7TDMI processor in 2003, and the

PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple– IBM ...

in 2004. The system is available under the GPL license.

Phoenix-RTOS 2.0

The decision to abandon the development of Phoenix and write the Phoenix-RTOS from scratch was taken by its creator in 2004. In 2010, the Phoenix Systems company was established, aiming to commercialize the system. Phoenix-RTOS 2.0 is based on a

monolithic kernel A monolithic kernel is an operating system architecture where the entire operating system is working in kernel space. The monolithic model differs from other operating system architectures (such as the microkernel architecture) in that it alone d ...

. Initially versions for the

processor and configurable eSi-RISC were developed. In cooperation with

NXP Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 30 countries. NXP reported revenue of $11.06 billion in 2 ...

, Phoenix-RTOS 2.0 was also adapted to the Vybrid (ARM Cortex-A5) platform. This version is equipped with

PRIME A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only way ...

(Phoenix-PRIME) and the G3-PLC (Phoenix-G3) protocol support, used in

Smart Grid A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including: * Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a ...

networks. Phoenix-RTOS runs applications designed and written for the

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

operating system.

Phoenix-RTOS 3.0

Phoenix-RTOS version 3.0 is based on a

microkernel In computer science, a microkernel (often abbreviated as μ-kernel) is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system (OS). These mechanisms include low-level address space management, ...

. It is geared towards measuring devices with low power consumption. The main problem with the first implementation was low kernel modularity and difficulties with the management process of software development (

device driver In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and o ...

s, file system drivers). It is an open source operating system (on BSD license), available on

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, co ...

HaaS modules

The Phoenix-RTOS can be equipped with HaaS (Hardware as a Software) modules that allow the implementation of rich devices functionality, e.g. modems. Existing HaaS modules include: # Phoenix-PRIME - software implementation of PRIME PLC standard certified in 2014. # Phoenix-G3 - a software implementation of the G3-PLC standard.

Implementations

In 2016, Energa-Operator (based in Poland) installed 6.6k Data Concentrator Units with balancing meter functionality in its network, based on the Phoenix-RTOS. License agreements to use the system in the mass production of smart meters have been signed.

External links

Phoenix-RTOS vendor

PRIME Alliance

G3-PLC Alliance

References

{{Reflist, 30em Embedded operating systems Real-time operating systems