QNX Expands Hardware Choices for Industrial Automation Developers

OTTAWA, February 10, 2009 — — — QNX Software Systems today announced that it has expanded its support for industrial automation platforms with board support packages (BSPs) for more than 20 reference designs and development kits from AMCC, Atmel, Freescale, IBM, Intel, Kontron, and other leading silicon vendors. Developers can download the new QNX BSPs immediately from Foundry27, the QNX community web portal. The new BSPs for the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS 6.4 include:

• AMCC —PPC440 EP/GR EVK
• Atmel — AT91SAM9RL64-EK EVB, AT91SAM9263-EK EVB
• Freescale — MPC8313E RDB, MPC8323E RDB, MPC8349E MDS, MPC8360E MDS, MPC85x0 ADS, MPC8536 DS, MPC8548 CDS, MPC8572 DS, MPC8641D HPCN (Argo Navis)
IBM — PPC970FX EVB
• Intel — EP80579 (Tolapai)
• Kontron — nanoETXexpress-SP
• Texas Instruments — DM355 EVM, DM644x EVM, OMAP 2420 SDP, OMAP 5912 OSK
• x86 BIOS — for x86-based reference boards

QNX will also soon add BSPs for the AMCC PPC405EX EVK, AMCC PPC460EX EVK, Atmel AT91SAM9RL64-EK EVB, Freescale MPC8536 DS, and Texas Instruments OMAP 3530 EVM. For a list of all current QNX BSPs, as well as the commercial availability of specific BSPs, developers can visit the Foundry27 BSPs and Drivers wiki.

Like other QNX software products, QNX BSPs are developed out in the open on the Foundry27 web portal. As a result, customers gain immediate access to all the latest BSP code updates and enhancements. Customers can also visit the Foundry27 BSP Project Wiki, where they can join a forum and talk directly with BSP developers from QNX Software Systems.

With its hard realtime capabilities and fault-tolerant microkernel architecture, the QNX Neutrino RTOS is popular in a wide range of control and automation applications, including systems for power generation, process control, building automation, SCADA, and transportation. The device drivers in QNX BSPs take advantage of microkernel architecture and run outside of the QNX Neutrino kernel, as memory-protected, user-space processes. This approach allows device drivers to be developed and debugged like regular applications, making it easier for industrial automation developers to customize existing drivers or to write their own drivers. User-space drivers also offer far greater fault-tolerance and system availability than conventional kernel-space drivers, which can easily cause kernel crashes.

QNX BSPs are covered by the commercial-friendly Apache 2.0 license, which, unlike the restrictive GPL license, gives developers the option to keep their derivative source code private or to publish it for cooperative development.

“By providing this rich choice of BSPs for industrial automation developers, QNX has done the heavy lifting required to run embedded software on the latest silicon,” said Leo Forget, product manager at QNX Software Systems. “As a result, customers can hit the ground running and focus right from the start on building higher-level applications and differentiating features.”

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, QNX Momentics® development suite, and QNX Aviage® middleware together provide the industry’s most reliable and scalable framework for building innovative, high-performance embedded systems. Global leaders such as Cisco, Daimler, 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.

Editorial Contacts

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

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