QNX Momentics Multi-Core Edition Addresses Imminent Industry Transition to Multi-Core Processors

OTTAWA, October 24, 2005 — To address the momentous industry shift toward the use of dual- and multi-core processors, QNX Software Systems today announced its most advanced development suite ever. The QNX® Momentics® development suite Multi-Core Edition offers the industry’s only comprehensive software foundation that helps customers quickly and successfully migrate to the new generation of multi-core hardware, including the Broadcom BCM12xx and BCM14xx, the Freescale MPC8641D, and multi-core processors from Intel.

QNX Momentics Multi-Core Edition is an integrated set of development tools and OS features that enable software engineers to quickly build reliable, high-performance embedded products that leverage the latest generation of multi-core processors. Customers can choose from QNX’s rich suite of multiprocessing solutions and implement the model best suited to their product requirements. In addition to offering both asymmetric (AMP) and symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) capabilities, QNX has pioneered an innovative “hybrid” capability that combines the superior resource management of SMP with the application control of AMP.

“The semiconductor industry is at an inflection point with multi-core architectures becoming an evolutionary path to address performance, power, and system integration challenges,” said David Perkins, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking and Computing Systems Group. “As a result, the availability of software solutions optimized for multi-core platforms has never been more important. With its Multi-Core Edition, QNX is enabling software developers to rapidly migrate uniprocessing-based designs to those based on innovative multi-core architectures, such as Freescale’s MPC8641D dual-core processor containing PowerPC® technology.”

About the QNX Momentics development suite Multi-Core Edition

The QNX Momentics development suite Multi-Core Edition includes everything needed to help customers port legacy, or build new, embedded designs that harness multi-core processor architectures:

• Asymmetric Multiprocessing (AMP) — For developers looking to manage individual processors on a chip independently, QNX offers out-of-the-box AMP support. This support is powered by QNX’s Transparent Distributed Processing, a mature, lightweight interprocess communication (IPC) mechanism that allows developers to efficiently coordinate their multi-core applications. Where developers want to use both the QNX Neutrino® RTOS and Linux in a heterogeneous environment, QNX also provides support for the Transparent Inter-Process Communication (TIPC) protocol.
• Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) — For years, QNX has proven the power of its SMP capabilities with industry-leading networking customers, enabling them to extract maximum performance from their multiprocessing designs while simultaneously minimizing the complexity associated with management of shared resources. Developers can now realize these same benefits in multi-core processors.
• Bound Multiprocessing (BMP) — QNX has developed a new approach to multiprocessing that combines the superior resource management of SMP with the application control of AMP. Called BMP, this QNX innovation allows developers to assign applications to specific processors while abstracting away the design complexity associated with resource sharing in the AMP model. Additionally, QNX BMP supports dynamic load-balancing for system performance optimization.
• Development Tools — QNX has optimized its system profiler, system information, and system builder tools to support the unique architectures of multi-core processors.

“The advent of multi-core hardware rewrites the rules for embedded software developers, who, until now, have worked mostly with uniprocessor designs,” said Dan Dodge, CEO, QNX Software Systems. “With QNX Momentics Multi-Core Edition, QNX has done the heavy lifting, giving a significant time-to-market advantage to any developer who wants to tap the boost in performance and scalability offered by multi-core processors. From tools for optimizing multi-core designs to a breakthrough approach to multiprocessing, QNX Momentics Multi-Core Edition is the fastest, most comprehensive solution for creating multi-core applications.”

Availability

QNX Momentics Multi-Core Edition will be available in Q1 2006.

About QNX Software Systems

QNX Software Systems, a Harman International company (NYSE: HAR), is the industry leader in realtime, embedded OS technology. The component-based architectures of the QNX Neutrino RTOS and QNX® Momentics® development suite together provide the industry’s most reliable and scalable framework for building innovative, high-performance embedded systems. Global leaders such as Cisco, DaimlerChrysler, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens depend on QNX technology for network routers, medical instruments, vehicle telematics units, security and defense systems, industrial robotics, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and distributes products in over 100 countries worldwide.

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Editorial Contacts

Paul Leroux
QNX Software Systems
+1 613 591-0931
paull@qnx.com

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