News & Articles Archives

"TenAsys INtime® RTOS and Intel® Dual-Core Processors Help Lower System Costs for Embedded Real-Time Applications: A Case Study"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
Embedded Intel® Solutions, March 28, 2006
"We expect the Intel® Core™ Duo processor to make it much easier and more cost-effective for developers to extend the Windows-based applications into embedded systems without sacrificing critical performance requirements."
read more at embeddedintel.com ›

"Intel® Advanced Platform Technologies for Communications and Embedded Applications"

Intel Corporation
Technology@Intel Magazine, March, 2006
In contrast to traditional single-core, multi-tasking environments, multi-core designs allow specific applications to be assigned to different cores, enhancing performance and security. In embedded application environments, it is possible to run real-time tasks on a dedicated execution core, unencumbered by tasks that would otherwise compete for processor resources.
read more in the Technology@Intel Magazine ›
or download the PDF from Intel.com ›

"Nose to the grindstone, eyes to the future"

Lucas Hale, ANCA Pty
Control Design, March, 2006
As ever-increasing customer demands for better machine performance, reliability and support grind onward, one CNC machine builder is unafraid of evolving its operating system to keep its competitive edge.
read more at ControlDesign.com ›

"EtherCAT: A Real-Time Industrial Fieldbus on Ethernet"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
RTC Magazine, March, 2006
EtherCAT fieldbus systems are based on technology and techniques designed to overcome the performance and determinism limitations associated with other attempts to utilize Ethernet packets and hardware to support an industrial fieldbus.
read more at RTC ›

"TenAsys INtime RTOS and Intel® Dual-Core Processors"

Intel Corporation
Case Study, February, 2006
Developers can improve performance and speed time to market by adopting the INtime RTOS as part of their real-time embedded solutions. Designed and optimized specifically for Intel® Architecture and Microsoft Windows software, the INtime RTOS uses virtual machine technology to facilitate close communication between two execution cores for virtually jitter-free performance. The TenAsys INtime RTOS is validated and optimized for the Intel Core Duo processor, using software to dedicate one core to the real-time features of a Windows-based, embedded design.
download the PDF from Intel.com (English) ›
download the PDF from Intel.com (Chinese) ›
get more information about multi-core technologies at Intel.com ›

"Determinism Means More Than Faster Processors"

Kim Hartman, TenAsys Corporation
Electronic Design, February 16, 2006
A bounded response to events is the key to defining a hard real-time system. Real-time systems require determinism to ensure predictable behavior. Without determinism, systems can't be called real-time. And without bounded determinism, systems can't be classified as hard real-time.
read more at ED ›

"XP & real-time systems"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
Embedded System Engineering, February 3, 2006
A virtual machine approach combines a Windows interface with an RTOS.
read more at ESE ›

"Software architecture for high performance real-time instrument systems"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
PXI Technology Review, Winter, 2005
High-performance instrumentation systems often have two distinct components: high-speed data acquisition and a user friendly human interface. Many instrumentation systems meet the challenge by incorporating multiple processors – a realtime system with its own real-time OS, and an Intel architecture based CPU human interface system running Windows, along with a package such as LabVIEW that makes human control and monitoring quick and easy to setup and use.
read more at PXI Tech Review ›

"Computer Numerical Controller Combines Hard RTOS with Windows Usability"

Microsoft Corporation
Windows Embedded Device Article, December, 2005
The CNC is a custom-designed embedded computer based on Intel Pentium-4 microprocessor offering operator console features, push-button controls, and a touch screen interface—eliminating the need for external pointing devices. The device also incorporates a USB interface for connection to a variety of devices such as flash disks, printers, digital cameras, CD/DVD drives for data backup, network connections for intranet access and file transfer, and built-in modems for remote diagnostics and updates.
read more at Microsoft ›
find out more about ANCA's CNC application ›

"TenAsys Brings Hard Real-Time Reliability to Windows XP Embedded Systems"

Microsoft Corporation
Windows Embedded Device Article, December, 2005
INtime software combines deterministic, hard real-time control with Windows XP Embedded, without requiring additional hardware. INtime was designed specifically to take advantage of the powerful capabilities of the x86 processor architecture. Real-time and non-real-time applications run in separate virtual machines on a single computer, for cost-effective, reliable control that is easy to develop and maintain.
read more at Microsoft ›

"Extending Windows XP into real time"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
Embedded Computing Design, November, 2005
The use of Windows in the embedded marketplace continues to grow, acknowledged directly by Microsoft’s aggressive promotion of two Windows platforms for the embedded market: Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded (XPe). CE addresses the small and mobile marketplace, whereas XPe is a specially packaged version of Windows XP with some features intended for complex embedded pplications. This article looks at the impact of dual and multicore microprocessors with a combined Windows XP and Real-Time Operating System environment.
read more at ECD ›
or download the PDF directly from embedded-computing.com ›

"Real-time Development with Visual Studio .NET"

TenAsys Corporation
Microsoft Windows Embdded Resource Catalog, September, 2005
Using Visual Studio as a real-time development tool maximizes developer knowledge and skills and unites both parts of a Windows real-time solution under a single Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
read the entire article ›

"Bringing Real-Time Development to Familiar and Powerful Windows Tools"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
RTC Magazine, June, 2005
Developing applications for Windows XP Embedded should take advantage of the excellent IDE provided by Visual Studio. Adding the right support for real-time requires leveraging the architecture and facilities provided by Visual Studio to provide a unified, streamlined development process with accurate debugging.
read more at RTC ›

"Diagnostic Medical Imaging – Real-Time Plus XP Embedded"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
Microsoft Windows Embedded Third-Party Solutions Guide
RTC Group Publication, March 16, 2005
Medical imaging devices are some of the most highly valued pieces of diagnostic equipment used by the medical industry today. Improvements to the quality of images produced and the depth of information presented are features that must be continuously addressed to remain competitive. With increasing complexity, the ease by which these devices operate and present images becomes even more important.
download the PDF ›

"Windows Plus Real Time on a Single CPU: A Marriage of Control and Flexibility"

Paul Fischer, TenAsys Corporation
RTC Magazine, November, 2004
PC technology and standard Windows operating systems can be combined with a real-time extension to build highly reliable and extensible real-time platforms, adopting a “single-computer dual-OS” system approach.
read more at RTC ›
download the PDF ›

"Real-Time Operating Systems: INtime Architecture"

Chris Main, TenAsys Corporation
Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), September, 2003
The Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows XP Embedded operating systems are increasingly being selected for dedicated applications where some deterministic behavior is required. Windows XP Embedded, based on the same binaries as the Windows XP desktop software, is the best choice of platform in many respects, but Windows XP Embedded and Windows XP alone cannot manage the strict determinism required of such systems and it is necessary to enhance the platform with real-time capabilities. The case for adding real-time extensions to the Windows XP platform has been made many times. Many solutions exist which provide some real-time capability at the Windows XP kernel device driver level, but this class of solution does not allow for a robust applications environment sufficient for ease of applications development and to allow for scaling across a wide spectrum of applications classes. This paper examines how TenAsys Corporation's INtime software not only adds deterministic behavior for applications but also allows those real-time applications to exist in an environment which is robust, reliable, and scalable.
read more on MSDN ›

"Managing a Real-Time Hardware Interface with INtime and Windows XP Embedded"

Chris Main, TenAsys Corporation
Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), September, 2003
Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded is a good platform to consider in designing a dedicated application from the point of view of features, footprint management, and the wealth of support and applications available. However, when an application requires real-time performance from a hardware interface, a real-time extension is required, along with some partition of the platform and the application. Time-critical threads must be executed under a real-time kernel, and interrupt resources must be dedicated to the hardware under that scheduler.
read more on MSDN ›

"A Critical Look at Embedding Windows into Medical Instrumentation Applications"

Kim Hartman, TenAsys Corporation
Medical Electronics Manufacturing's Designers Guide, Fall, 2002
Windows is the most widely available operating system for the PC platform, but what are its benefits and limitations for deterministic responsiveness?
read more at MEM ›