What Is an Embedded Operating System?

Embedded Operating System (Embedded Operating System, EOS for short) refers to the operating system used in embedded systems. Embedded operating system is a kind of system software with a wide range of uses, usually including the underlying driver software related to the hardware, the system kernel, the device driver interface, the communication protocol, the graphical interface, the standardized browser, and so on. The embedded operating system is responsible for all software and hardware resource allocation, task scheduling, control and coordination of concurrent activities of the embedded system. It must reflect the characteristics of the system in which it is installed, and be able to achieve the functions required by the system by loading and unloading certain modules. At present, the operating systems widely used in the embedded field are: embedded real-time operating system µC / OS-II, embedded Linux, Windows Embedded, VxWorks, etc., and Android, iOS, etc. applied to smartphones and tablets.

Chinese name: Embedded operating system
Foreign name: Embedded Operating System

Short name: EOS
Types of: system software
Application area: Industrial control and defense systems

Embedded operating system history

In fact, the concept of embedded has existed long before. In terms of communications, embedded systems were used to control electromechanical telephone exchanges in the 1960s and were then called "Stored Program Control".

The real development of embedded computers was after the advent of microprocessors. In November 1971, Intel Corporation successfully integrated the arithmetic operator and controller circuits together and introduced the first microprocessor, Intel 4004. Since then, various manufacturers have introduced many 8-bit and 16-bit microprocessors. Including Intel 8080/8085, 8086, Motorola's 6800, 68000, and Zilog's Z80, Z8000 and so on. These microprocessor-based systems are widely used in instrumentation, medical equipment, robotics, household appliances, and other fields. The extensive application of microprocessors has formed a broad embedded application market. Computer manufacturers have begun to provide users with OEM products in a large number of plug-ins, and then users can choose a suitable set of CPU boards, memory boards, and various types according to their needs. The I / O plug-in board constitutes a dedicated embedded computer system and is embedded into its own system equipment.

For the sake of flexibility and compatibility, a series of modular single board computers have appeared. Popular single-board computers include Intel's iSBC series and Zilog's MCB. Later, people do not need to design a dedicated embedded computer from the selection of chips, but only need to select various functional modules to build a dedicated computer system. Users and developers want to purchase the most suitable OEM products from different manufacturers, and insert them into the outsourced or self-made chassis to form a new system. In this way, the plug-ins are expected to be compatible with each other, which leads to the industrial control microcomputer system bus. Birth. In 1976, Intel Corporation introduced Multibus, and in 1983 it expanded to Multibus II with a bandwidth of 40MB / s. The simple STD bus designed by Prolog in 1978 was widely used in small embedded systems.

The 1980s can be said to be an era in which various buses emerge in an endless stream. With the improvement of microelectronics technology, integrated circuit manufacturers have begun to integrate the microprocessor, I / O interface, A / D, D / A conversion, serial interface, and RAM, ROM and other components required in embedded applications. Integrate it into a VLSI, so as to manufacture a microcontroller designed for I / O, which is commonly known as a single-chip microcomputer, and has become a rising star of embedded computer systems. The subsequent development of DSP products further enhanced the technical level of embedded computer systems, and quickly penetrated into various fields such as consumer electronics, medical electronics, intelligent control, communications electronics, instrumentation, and transportation.

In the 1990s, driven by the huge demands of distributed control, flexible manufacturing, digital communications, and information appliances, embedded systems further accelerated their development. DSP products for real-time signal processing algorithms are developing towards high speed, high accuracy, and low power consumption. The third-generation DSP chip TMS320C30 introduced by Texas has led the microcontroller to 32-bit high-speed intelligent development. In terms of applications, the technology of handheld computers, handheld PCs, and set-top boxes is relatively mature and has developed rapidly. In particular, handheld computers. In the United States market in 1997, there were only four or five brands of handheld computers. At the end of 1998, all kinds of handheld computers have sprung up. In addition, Nokia launched smart phones, Siemens launched set-top boxes, Wyse launched smart terminals, and NS launched WebPAD. The small computer loaded on the car can not only control various devices (such as audio system) in the car, but also can connect with GPS to automatically control the car.

The 21st century is undoubtedly an era of networks. Applying embedded computer systems to various networks is also an important direction for the development of embedded systems.

Embedded operating system features

1 Embedded operating system 1) Small system kernel

Because embedded systems are generally applied to small electronic devices and system resources are relatively limited, the kernel is much smaller than traditional operating systems. For example, Enea's OSE distributed system has only 5K kernels.

2 Embedded operating system 2) Strong specificity

Embedded systems are highly personalized, with software

Scheduling mechanism of 4 embedded operating systems The combination of the system and the hardware is very close. Generally, the system must be transplanted for the hardware. Even in the same brand and the same series of products, it needs to be continuously modified according to the changes and additions of the system hardware. At the same time, for different tasks, it is often necessary to make major changes to the system. The compilation and download of programs must be combined with the system. This modification and the "upgrade" of general software are completely two concepts.

3 Embedded operating system 3) System simplification

Embedded systems generally do not have a clear distinction between system software and application software, and do not require their functional design and implementation to be too complicated. This will help control system costs and help achieve system security.

4 Embedded operating system 4) High real-time performance

High real-time system software (OS) is a basic requirement for embedded software. And software requires solid-state storage to increase speed; software code requires high quality and reliability.

5 Embedded operating system 5) Multitasking operating system

For embedded software development to move towards standardization, a multitasking operating system must be used. Embedded system applications can run directly on the chip without an operating system; however, in order to reasonably schedule multitasking, use system resources, system functions, and interface with special library functions, users must choose RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) Development platform, so as to ensure the real-time and reliability of program execution, reduce development time, and ensure software quality.

6 Embedded operating system 6) Requires development tools and environment

Development of embedded systems requires development tools and environments. Because it does not have the capability of independent development, even after the design is completed, users usually cannot modify the program functions in it, and must have a set of development tools and environments to develop. These tools and environments are generally based on software and hardware on general-purpose computers Equipment and various logic analyzers, mixed signal oscilloscopes, etc. When developing, there are often the concepts of a host and a target machine. The host is used for program development, and the target machine is the final execution machine. It needs to be combined alternately during development.

Embedded operating system core

The core of an embedded system is an embedded microprocessor. Embedded microprocessors generally have the following four characteristics:

1) Has strong support for real-time tasks, can complete multiple tasks and has a short interrupt response time, thereby reducing the internal code and core execution time in real time to a minimum.

2) It has a strong storage area protection function. This is because the software structure of the embedded system has been modularized, and in order to avoid erroneous cross effects between software modules, it is necessary to design a powerful storage area protection function, which is also conducive to software diagnosis.

3) Scalable processor architecture to enable the fastest development of embedded microprocessors that meet the highest performance of the application.

4) Embedded microprocessors must have very low power consumption, especially for battery-powered embedded systems used in portable wireless and mobile computing and communication equipment, such as mW or W.

Embedded operating system classification

Divided from hardware and software.

Embedded operating system based on hardware

Embedded Microprocessor Unit (MPU)

Embedded microprocessors have evolved from CPUs in general-purpose computers. It is characterized by having a 32-bit processor and higher performance, and of course its price is correspondingly higher. But unlike computer processors, in actual embedded applications, only functional hardware closely related to embedded applications is retained, and other redundant functional parts are removed, so that embedded applications can be implemented with the lowest power consumption and resources. special requirements. Compared with industrial control computers, embedded microprocessors have the advantages of small size, light weight, low cost, and high reliability. The main embedded processor types are Am186 / 88, 386EX, SC-400, Power PC, 68000, MIPS, ARM / StrongARM series, etc.

Among them, Arm / StrongArm is an embedded microprocessor specially developed for handheld devices, which belongs to the mid-range price.

Embedded Microcontroller Unit (MCU)

The typical representative of embedded microcontrollers is the single-chip microcomputer. From the appearance of the single-chip microcomputer in the late 1970s to today, although it has been over 30 years of history, this 8-bit electronic device still has extremely wide applications in embedded devices. The MCU chip integrates ROM / EPROM, RAM, bus, bus logic, timer / counter, watchdog, I / O, serial port, pulse width modulation output, A / D, D / A, Flash RAM, EEPROM, etc. Necessary functions and peripherals. Compared with the embedded microprocessor, the biggest feature of the microcontroller is that it is singularized and the volume is greatly reduced, which reduces power consumption and cost and improves reliability. The microcontroller's on-chip peripheral resources are generally rich and suitable for control, so it is called a microcontroller.

Due to the low price and excellent functions of the MCU, it has the most varieties and quantities. The most representative ones include 8051, MCS-251, MCS-96 / 196/296, P51XA, C166 / 167, 68K series and MCU 8XC930 / 931, C540, C541, and support I2C, CAN-Bus, LCD, and many dedicated MCUs and compatible series. MCUs account for about 70% of the market for embedded systems. Avr microcontrollers from Atmel have integrated FPGA and other devices, With high cost performance, it will inevitably promote the development of single chip microcomputers.

Embedded DSP Processor (Embedded Digital Signal Processor, EDSP)

The DSP processor is a processor specially used for signal processing. It has a special design in terms of system structure and instruction algorithm, and has high compilation efficiency and instruction execution speed. DSP has been used on a large scale in various instruments such as digital filtering, FFT, and spectral analysis.

The theoretical algorithm of DSP has appeared in the 1970s, but since a specialized DSP processor has not yet appeared, this theoretical algorithm can only be implemented by discrete components such as MPU. The lower processing speed of the MPU cannot meet the algorithm requirements of the DSP, and its application field is limited to some cutting-edge high-tech fields. With the development of large-scale integrated circuit technology, the first DSP chip was born in the world in 1982. Its operation speed is dozens of times faster than MPU, and it has been widely used in speech synthesis and codecs. By the mid-1980s, with the advancement and development of CMOS technology, the second generation of DSP chips based on CMOS technology emerged at the historic moment, and its storage capacity and operation speed were doubled, which became the basis of voice processing and image hardware processing technology. By the late 1980s, the computing speed of the DSP further increased, and the application field also expanded from the above range to communication and computer. After the 1990s, the DSP has developed into the fifth generation of products, with higher integration and wider use.

The most widely used is TI's TMS320C2000 / C5000 series, in addition, such as Intel's MCS-296 and Siemens' TriCore also have their own application scope.

Embedded System On Chip

SoC pursues the most inclusive integrated device of the product system, it is one of the hot topics in the embedded application field. The biggest feature of SOC is the successful combination of software and hardware, which directly embeds the code modules of the operating system in the processor chip. Moreover, the SOC has a very high comprehensiveness. A hardware description language such as VHDL is used inside a silicon chip to implement a complex system. Users don't need to draw huge and complicated circuit boards like traditional system design, and connect and solder a little bit. They only need to use precise language, comprehensive timing design, and directly call various general processor standards in the device library, and then After simulation, it can be directly delivered to the chip manufacturer for production. Since most of the system components are inside the system, the entire system is particularly concise, which not only reduces the volume and power consumption of the system, but also improves the reliability of the system and the design production efficiency.

Because SOCs are often dedicated, most of them are not known to users. A typical SOC product is Philips' Smart XA. A few general-purpose series such as Siemens' TriCore, Motorola's M-Core, certain ARM series devices, Neuron chips jointly developed by Echelon and Motorola, etc.

It is expected that in the near future, some large chip companies will repel competitors by launching mature SOC chips that can occupy most markets. SOC chips will also play an important role in applications such as sound, image, film and television, network and system logic.

Embedded operating system based on software

In terms of software, it can be mainly based on the type of operating system. There are two main types of software for embedded systems: real-time systems and time-sharing systems. Among them, real-time systems are divided into two categories: hard real-time systems and soft real-time systems.

Real-time embedded systems are designed to perform specific functions and can perform functions strictly in time series. The biggest characteristic is that the execution of the program is deterministic. In a real-time system, if the system fails to achieve a certain task within a specified time, which will lead to the overall failure of the system, the system is called a hard real-time system. In soft real-time systems, although response time is equally important, timeouts do not cause fatal errors. A hard real-time system often needs to add a control chip dedicated to time and priority management to the hardware, while a soft real-time system mainly implements time management through programming in software. For example, Windows CE is a multi-tasking system, and Ucos-II is a typical real-time operating system.

Embedded operating system composition

Embedded operating system hardware layer

The hardware layer contains embedded microprocessors, memories (SDRAM, ROM, Flash, etc.), general-purpose device interfaces, and I / O interfaces (A / D, D / A, I / O, etc.). Adding a power supply circuit, a clock circuit, and a memory circuit to an embedded processor constitutes an embedded core control module. The operating system and application programs can be fixed in ROM.

Embedded microprocessor

The core of the hardware layer of the embedded system is the embedded microprocessor. The biggest difference between the embedded microprocessor and the general-purpose CPU is that the embedded microprocessor mostly works in a system specially designed for a specific user group. The completed tasks are integrated in the chip, which is conducive to the miniaturization of embedded systems in design, and also has high efficiency and

Embedded operating system reliability.

The embedded microprocessor's architecture can adopt the von Neumann system or Harvard architecture; the instruction system can choose Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) and Complex Instruction Set CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer, CISC). The RISC computer contains only the most useful instructions in the channel, ensuring that the data channel executes each instruction quickly, thereby improving the execution efficiency and simplifying the design of the CPU hardware structure.

Embedded microprocessors have various systems, even in the same system, they may have different clock frequencies and data bus widths, or integrate different peripherals and interfaces. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 1,000 embedded microprocessors in the world, and there are more than 30 series of architectures. Among them, mainstream systems include ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, X86, and SH. But unlike the global PC market, no one embedded microprocessor can dominate the market. For 32-bit products alone, there are more than 100 embedded microprocessors. The choice of embedded microprocessor is determined by the specific application.

Memory

Embedded systems require memory to store and execute code. The memory of the embedded system includes Cache, main memory and auxiliary memory.

1) Cache

Cache is a small-capacity and fast memory array. It is located between the main memory and the embedded microprocessor core. When data read operations are required, the microprocessor reads data from the cache as much as possible, not Read in the main memory, this greatly improves the performance of the system, increasing the data transfer rate between the microprocessor and the main memory. The main goal of Cache is to reduce the memory access bottleneck caused by the memory (such as main memory and auxiliary memory) to the microprocessor core, so that the processing speed is faster and the real time is stronger.

In the embedded system, the cache is all integrated in the embedded microprocessor, and can be divided into data cache, instruction cache, or hybrid cache. The size of the cache depends on different processors. Cache is usually integrated into high-end embedded microprocessors.

2) Main memory

Main memory is a register that can be accessed directly by the embedded microprocessor and is used to store system and user programs and data. It can be located inside or outside the microprocessor, and its capacity is 256KB ~ 1GB. Depending on the specific application, generally the on-chip memory has a small capacity, high speed, and large off-chip memory.

The memories commonly used as main memory are:

ROM class NOR Flash, EPROM and PROM.

RAM type SRAM, DRAM and SDRAM.

Among them, NOR Flash has been widely used in the embedded field due to its advantages of multiple erasable times, fast storage speed, large storage capacity, and low price.

3) Auxiliary memory

Auxiliary memory is used to store large amounts of program code or information. It has a large capacity, but its reading speed is much slower than that of main memory. External storage commonly used in embedded systems: hard disk, NAND Flash, CF card, MMC and SD card.

Universal device interface and I / O interface

The embedded system needs some form of universal device interface to interact with the outside world, such as A / D, D / A, I / O, etc. The peripherals realize the input / output of the microprocessor by connecting with other devices or sensors outside the chip. Features. Each peripheral usually has only a single function, which can be off-chip or in-chip. There are many types of peripherals, ranging from a simple serial communication device to a very complex 802.11 wireless device.

The common equipment interfaces commonly used in embedded systems are A / D (Analog / Digital Conversion Interface), D / A (Digital / Analog Conversion Interface), I / O interfaces are RS-232 interface (serial communication interface), and Ethernet ( Ethernet interface), USB (universal serial bus interface), audio interface, VGA video output interface, I2C (field bus), SPI (serial peripheral device interface), IrDA (infrared interface), etc.

Embedded operating system middle layer

The middle layer between the hardware layer and the software layer is also called the Hardware Abstract Layer (HAL) or Board Support Package (BSP), which separates the software (applications) on the upper layer of the system from the underlying hardware In this way, the underlying driver of the system has nothing to do with the upper layer. The upper software developers do not need to care about the specific situation of the underlying hardware, and can develop according to the interface provided by the BSP layer. This layer generally contains the initialization of related underlying hardware, data input / output operations, and hardware device configuration functions. BSP has the following two characteristics.

Hardware dependencies: Because the hardware environment of an embedded real-time system has application dependencies, as an interface between the upper-layer software and the hardware platform, the BSP needs to provide the operating system with methods to operate and control specific hardware.

Operating system dependencies: Different operating systems have their own software hierarchy, so different operating systems have specific forms of hardware interfaces.

In fact, BSP is a software layer between the operating system and the underlying hardware, including most of the software modules in the system that are closely related to the hardware. Designing a complete BSP needs to complete two parts of work: hardware initialization of the embedded system and BSP functions, and designing hardware-related device drivers.

Embedded system hardware initialization

The system initialization process can be divided into three main links, in order from bottom to top, from hardware to software: chip-level initialization, board-level initialization, and system-level initialization.

Chip-level initialization

Complete the initialization of the embedded microprocessor, including setting the core registers and control registers of the embedded microprocessor, the core operating mode of the embedded microprocessor, and the local bus mode of the embedded microprocessor. The chip-level initialization gradually sets the embedded microprocessor from the default state at power-on to the working state required by the system. This is a pure hardware initialization process.

Board-level initialization

Complete the initialization of hardware devices other than the embedded microprocessor. In addition, some software data structures and parameters need to be set to establish hardware and software environments for subsequent system-level initialization and application program operation. This is an initialization process that includes both hardware and software.

system initialization

This initialization process is mainly software initialization, which mainly initializes the operating system. BSP transfers control of the embedded microprocessor to the embedded operating system, which completes the remaining initialization operations, including loading and initializing hardware-independent device drivers, establishing system memory areas, and loading and initializing other system software modules , Such as network systems, file systems, etc. Finally, the operating system creates the application environment and passes control to the entry point of the application.

Hardware-related device drivers

Another main function of BSP is hardware-related device drivers. The initialization of hardware-related device drivers is usually a high-to-low process. Although the BSP contains hardware-related device drivers, these device drivers are usually not used directly by the BSP. Instead, the BSP associates them with device drivers that are common to the operating system during the system initialization process. It is called by the general device driver in the application to realize the operation of the hardware device. Hardware-related drivers are another very critical link in BSP design and development.

Embedded operating system software layer

The system software layer consists of a Real-time Operation System (RTOS), a file system, a Graphic User Interface (GUI), a network system, and general component modules. RTOS is the foundation and development platform for embedded application software.

Embedded operating system

Embedded Operating System (EOS) is a kind of system software with a wide range of applications. In the past, it was mainly used in the field of industrial control and defense systems. EOS is responsible for all software and hardware resource allocation, task scheduling, control, coordination and concurrent activities of the embedded system. It must reflect the characteristics of the system in which it is installed, and be able to achieve the functions required by the system by loading and unloading certain modules. Some successful EOS product series have been launched. With the development of Internet technology, the popularization of information appliances, and the miniaturization and specialization of EOS, EOS has begun to develop from a single weak function to a highly specialized strong function. Embedded operating systems have prominent features in terms of system real-time efficiency, hardware-dependent dependencies, software curing, and application specificity. EOS is relative to the general operating system. In addition to the most basic functions of the general operating system, EOS also has the following functions: task scheduling, synchronization mechanism, interrupt processing, file processing, etc.

Embedded operating system applications

Embedded operating system industrial control

Embedded chip-based industrial automation equipment will gain considerable development. There are already a large number of 8, 16, and 32-bit embedded microcontrollers in application. Networking is the main way to improve production efficiency and product quality and reduce human resources, such as industry Process control, digital machine tools, power systems, grid security, grid equipment monitoring, petrochemical systems. As far as traditional industrial control products are concerned, low-end types often use 8-bit microcontrollers. However, with the development of technology, 32-bit and 64-bit processors have gradually become the core of industrial control equipment, and will definitely make great progress in the next few years.

Embedded operating system traffic management

In vehicle navigation, flow control, information monitoring, and automotive services, embedded system technology has been widely used. Embedded GPS modules and GSM mobile positioning terminals have been successfully used in various transportation industries. GPS devices have entered the homes of ordinary people from cutting-edge products. It only takes a few thousand yuan to find your location anytime, anywhere.

Embedded operating system information appliances

This will be called the largest application area of embedded systems. Networking and intelligence of refrigerators and air conditioners will lead people's lives into a new space. Even if you are not at home, you can also perform remote control via telephone line and network. Among these devices, embedded systems will be of great use.

Embedded operating system home intelligent management

Remote automatic meter reading for water, electricity and gas meters, security fire prevention, anti-theft system, the embedded special control chip will replace the traditional manual inspection, and achieve higher, more accurate and more secure performance. In the field of services, such as remote orderers, the advantages of embedded systems have been demonstrated.

POS Embedded operating system POS network

Contactless Smartcard (CSC) issuance system for public transportation, public phone card issuance system, vending machines, and various intelligent ATM terminals will be fully integrated into people's lives. By then, a card can be used everywhere.

Embedded Engineering Environmental Engineering and Nature

Real-time monitoring of hydrological data, flood control system and soil and water quality monitoring, dam safety, earthquake monitoring network, real-time meteorological information network, water source and air pollution monitoring. In many areas with harsh environments and complex ground conditions, embedded systems will achieve unmanned monitoring.

Embedded operating system robot

The development of embedded chips will make robots more obvious in terms of miniaturization and high intelligence. At the same time, it will significantly reduce the price of robots, making them more widely used in industrial and service fields.

Among these applications, you can focus on control applications. In terms of remote home appliance control, in addition to developing an embedded system that supports TCP / IP, home appliance product control protocols also need to be formulated and unified, which requires home appliance manufacturers to do. For the same reason, all network-based remote control devices need to implement an interface with the embedded system, and then be controlled by the embedded system and controlled through the network. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop and discuss embedded systems.

Application of Embedded Operating System Electromechanical Products

Compared with other fields, electromechanical products can be said to be one of the most typical and most widely used fields of embedded systems. Microcontrollers to industrial computers and SOCs have huge markets in various electromechanical products.

Mobile Internet

Many mobile Internet fields also require embedded development technology

Embedded operating system trends

Embedded operating system will be an essential component in future embedded systems, and its future development trends include ^[1] :

1. Customization: The embedded operating system will provide a simplified system call interface for specific applications, specifically supporting one or a class of embedded applications. The embedded operating system will also have a scalable and scalable system architecture, providing a multi-level system architecture. Embedded operating system will include various plug and play device driver interfaces;

2. Energy saving: Embedded operating systems continue to use micro-kernel technology to achieve small size, micro power consumption, and low cost to support small electronic devices. At the same time, it improves product reliability and maintainability. The embedded operating system will form a minimum kernel processing set, reduce system overhead, improve operating efficiency, and can be used for various non-computer devices;

3. Humanization: The embedded operating system will provide a sophisticated multimedia human-machine interface to meet the increasing needs of users;

4. Security: The embedded operating system should be able to provide a security guarantee mechanism, and the reliability of the source code is getting higher and higher;

5. Networking: For the network and for specific applications, the embedded operating system requires a standard network communication interface. The development of embedded operating systems will become easier to port and network. The embedded operating system will have network access functions, provide TCP / UDP / IP / PPP protocol support and a unified MAC access layer interface, and reserve interfaces for various mobile computing devices;

6. Standardization: With the development of the widespread application of embedded operating systems, problems such as increased information exchange and resource sharing opportunities need to be established to standardize their applications.

Embedded operating systems have a certain real-time nature, are easy to cut and expand, can be suitable for a variety of ARMCPU and various grades of applications from ARM7 to Xscale, embedded operating systems can use widely popular ARM development tools, such as ARM's SDT / ADS, RealView, etc. can also use development software, such as GCC / GDB, KDE or Eclipe development environment, there are special development tools on the market, such as Tornado, C / View, C / KA, CODE / Lab, Metroworks, etc . ^[2]

New Microsoft Embedded Operating System

Microsoft plans to launch the Windows Embedded 8 operating system in March 2013, which is a puzzle form of Windows 8. The Windows Embedded 8 Standard operating system is a modular version of Windows that runs a Linux-like customization and allows manufacturers to It is modified and customized, and new touch and gesture-based interfaces are applied on this embedded operating system.

Devices with embedded operating systems such as VOIP phones, DVD players, GPS receivers, and printers are already well known. As more and more devices are added to computer chips using embedded operating systems, managing these devices through software has become a growing demand. In the past, the barebones version of Linux was an option for embedded operating systems, thanks to its low system requirements and easy customization. More and more household items have begun to enter the field of intelligence and digital, which has stimulated people's interest in the "Internet of Things", and this network can connect all computerized items in your home, making it easy for their owners to control and search It's as simple as finding a file on your computer.

Windows Embedded 8 may just be a step in Microsoft's renaissance. This plan will transform Microsoft from a software company into a "device and services" company. Microsoft people are seeking to release an embedded roadmap, most likely to show stock holders that they are not bulky dinosaurs will be destroyed by the upcoming mobile tide. In fact, the Windows embedded operating system has been around for a while. The earliest Win3.x has an embedded version that can run on POS terminals. But the real Windows embedded device was built in 1999 and called Windows NT Embedded. The Windows XP code was then used to create "XP embedded". Following its pace is Windows Embedded Compact. Some people are new to this name, but you must have heard of another well-known name, Windows CE. This product is more used in set-top boxes, especially after it is used in Sega ill-fated Dreamcast consoles.

In 2009, Windows XP Embedded was upgraded to Windows Embedded Standard. It provides a complete Win32 API, but unlike Windows CE, it can run on ARM, MIPS, and SuperH processors. Windows Embedded Standard can only run on x86. It is fully compatible with "standard" projects, such as .NET framework, IE7, Windows Media Player, Silverlight, etc. Windows Embedded Standard allows manufacturers to customize the system, removing unwanted parts while retaining the core functional parts of the system. This feature has been used by some smart people in the past to produce Windows live CDS such as BartPE.

Common systems of embedded operating systems

Tenux

uC / OS II

RT-thread

uCLinux

FreeRTOS

RTX

Arm-Linux

VxWorks

RTEMS

pSOS

Nucleus

PalmOS

Windows CE

Windows XP Embedded

Windows Vista Embedded

Embedded Linux

ECOS

QNX

Lynx

Symbian

HOPEN OS

Android

Maemo

Meego