eMCOS® POSIX is the world's first commercially available POSIX RTOS running on single-core MCUs, multicore SoCs and real manycore processors with up to 256 CPU cores. Kalray's Coolidge processor is the third generation MPPA (Massively Parallel Processor Array) with 80 cores. Developers will be able to access the extremely high processing power and low power consumption of that manycore processor on the same terms as existing multicore processors.
Heterogeneous computing
What we mean by a highly scalable real-time operating system for heterogeneous hardware configurations can be illustrated very well by this example.
eMCOS already supports a wide range of OS profiles, including AUTOSAR and POSIX with a corresponding POSIX hypervisor. The focus is on applications such as autonomous driving, industrial systems, robotics, medical devices and edge computing. Other application areas include high-performance computing and machine learning as it takes place in data centers.
The “Autonomous Driving Development Platform” provides safe, secure high-performance computing hardware based on heterogeneous processors and an ultra-modern manycore processor. To use such a modern platform for autonomous driving with mixed critical FuSa applications, one needs outstanding computing power with high energy efficiency, but also real-time capability and safety & security at the same time.
Safe, secure manycore processor support
Apart from eMCOS which is based on multikernel architecture, there is currently no other RTOS on the market that can meet these requirements. All traditional RTOS’s on microkernel architecture which can result in full-blown performance bottlenecks on manycore processors.
Due to its greater hardware scalability, eMCOS here runs on different CPUs in different SoCs but through its unique inter-process communication as a single RTOS system: a shining example of Software Oriented Architecture, while still providing users with the already established POSIX interface standard.
In addition, partners eSOL and Kalray provide an optimized eMCOS POSIX for MPPA software development kit, covering all the required to build advanced applications with multiple POSIX processes for the MPPA Coolidge.
Features in a nutshell:
- Kalray's MPPA Coolidge manycore processor with 80 cores handles the AI accelerator for perception, while NXP Semiconductors' BlueBox motherboard handles the Autoware processes.
- The message-passing feature in eMCOS enables high-speed communication between the chips of the BlueBox without the need for a protocol stack or hypervisor.
- Application development can be undertaken completely independently of the RTOS configuration. RTOS communication occurs between cores within chips and seamlessly between chips as well. eMCOS POSIX complies with POSIX profile PSE53 for multiple process execution.
- eSOL's patented scheduling algorithm, "Semi-Priority-Based Scheduling", ensures both the real-time performance essential for embedded systems and high performance through load balancing with eMCOS.
BlueBox
NXP's BlueBox combines a central computer module with safe integrated NXP processors, advanced I/O connectivity and a high-performance extension with Kalray's MPPA processor-based PCIe cards enabling heterogeneous acceleration. This means BlueBox provides developers with a solution that can accelerate system development cycles and time to market.
For machine learning, Kalray's Coolidge MPPA processor is used for perception, prediction, path-finding functions and new networked services. Indeed, Kalray's manycore processor provides a massively parallel architecture with heterogeneous multiprocessing capabilities which is ideal for offloading and accelerating machine learning and other algorithms. The 80-core MPPA multicore processor combines outstanding computational performance with high levels of safety (spatial isolation, freedom from interference, determinism), programmability capabilities and power efficiency.
Outlook
Currently, all stakeholders are working on BlueBox 3.0, the latest generation of the NXP BlueBox reference platform, which was officially launched at CES2021. This allows the latest software and hardware versions to be supported as a total solution for future high-performance computing applications.
