Mentor Nucleus RTOS extends system reliability for Arm Cortex v8-A 64-bit processors on multicore SoCs

January 12, 2018 -- Mentor, a Siemens business, today announced the update of the Nucleus® real time operating system (RTOS) targeting high-performance, next-generation applications based on 32- and 64-bit processors on multicore SoCs for industrial, medical, automotive, airborne, and IoT devices. This Nucleus RTOS release extends the Nucleus Process Model to support asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) and symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) on Arm® Cortex®v8-A processors and multicore SoCs. The process model increases system reliability by isolating faults to individual software subsystems, preventing other software subsystems from being impacted. Support for 64-bit processors and multicore SoCs allows developers to leverage the Nucleus Process Model for AMP and SMP designs on the latest 64-bit silicon.

To meet the need for increased processing power and system consolidation, leading semiconductor manufacturers are delivering an array of heterogeneous multicore SoCs. The Nucleus Process Model provides the framework for embedded system developers to leverage cutting-edge multicore SoCs to meet performance requirements while increasing device reliability. The lightweight and scalable Nucleus Process Model increases system reliability by partitioning memory to create protected domains that isolate software subsystems in both kernel and user space without the overhead of memory virtualization. Other common use cases for the Nucleus Process Model include remote software updates for deployed IoT smart devices, and the ability to load and run only the applications needed in resource-constrained systems.

“Embedded developers continue at an unprecedented rate to drive towards system consolidation with today’s complex heterogeneous SoCs,” stated Scot Morrison, general manager, Platforms Business Unit, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division. “Reducing design complexity with an operating platform that can meet both real time requirements and increase system reliability across an array of 32- and 64-bit cores found on today’s leading multicore SoCs is exactly what Nucleus was designed to address.”

This release includes support for the LWEXT 4 journaling file system with 64-bit, addressing maximum files sizes of 16 tebibytes. Nucleus ReadyStart includes 64-bit support for FAT and SAFE, a fault-tolerant files system for an array of media including NAND, NOR, RAM Disk, and eMMC.

The Sourcery™ CodeBench integrated development environment (IDE) platform comes with GNU debugger (GDB) and JTAG support using leading third-party probes and a pre-built, hardened, and supported GNU compiler collection (GCC) toolchain. The toolchain comes bundled with both aarch64 and aarch32 multilibs providing flexibility and choice to end users when working with Armv8-based processors. The Sourcery CodeBench tool includes the Sourcery Analyzer technology, a powerful embedded design analysis solution combining unique profiling and analysis engine with data visualization capabilities.

Nucleus ReadyStart is a comprehensive solution that includes support for a broad range of processor and architectures, including the NXP LS1046A and Xilinx Zynq® UltraScale+ MPSoCTM UltraZED-EG.

About Mentor Embedded

The Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division enables embedded development for a variety of applications in numerous market segments including IoT, automotive, industrial, medical, smart energy, and consumer electronics. Embedded developers can create systems with the latest processors and micro-controllers with commercially supported and customizable Linux®-based solutions including the industry-leading Sourcery CodeBench and Mentor Embedded Linux® products. For real-time systems, developers can take advantage of the highly scalable, safety-certifiable Nucleus RTOS. For more information, visit www.mentor.com/embedded