science

MQX

MQX is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand MQX rather than just read about it. In short: MQX (Message Queue eXecutive) is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed by Precise Software Technologies, Inc., and currently sold by Synopsys, Embedded Access, Inc., and NXP Semiconductors. Like most RTOSs, MQX includes a multitasking kernel with pre-emptive scheduling and fast interrupt response, extensive inter-process communication and synchronization facilities, and a file system.

Key takeaways

MQX belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect MQX to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of MQX from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

MQX (Message Queue eXecutive) is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed by Precise Software Technologies, Inc., and currently sold by Synopsys, Embedded Access, Inc., and NXP Semiconductors. Like most RTOSs, MQX includes a multitasking kernel with pre-emptive scheduling and fast interrupt response, extensive inter-process communication and synchronization facilities, and a file system. Its configurable size conserves computer memory space using a minimum of 6 KB of read-only memory (ROM), including its kernel, interrupts, semaphores, queues, and a memory manager. MQX includes an Internet protocol suite TCP/IP stack (RTCS), embedded File Allocation Table based DOS file system (MFS), Universal Serial Bus (USB) host/device stack, and design, debugging (task-aware (TAD), and remote), and performance analysis tools. It is supported by popular libraries for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) such as wolfSSL for increased security measures. MQX is generally used in embedded systems. MQX development occurs on a host machine running Unix or Windows, and cross-compiles target software to run on various target central processing unit (CPU) architectures. MQX has been ported to many platforms and now runs on most modern CPUs used in the embedded market, including Kinetis, ColdFire, PowerPC, ARC, ARM, StrongARM, xScale. All new Kinetis (ARM Cortex-M4), i.MX RT (ARM Cortex-M7), and ColdFire devices will be enabled with complementary Freescale MQX RTOS. Freescale plans to expand the availability of this complementary integrated enablement software to include many embedded processors in its broad portfolio.

History MQX had its origins at Dy4 Systems, Inc., a company based in Ottawa, Canada. In 1984, a small team of software engineers there, consisting of Jeremy James, Mati Sauks, and Craig Honegger started researching novel applications for embedded multiprocessors. This work led to the use of a real-time operating system in writing firmware for Dy4 single board computers. In 1989, James and Sauks commercialized the Harmony RTOS, with the name MPX, which was developed for portable multiprocessor real-time computing systems by the National Research Council Canada, and created a company named Precise Software Technologies, Inc. This effort led to developing the Precise Real-Time Executive technology that was the basis of a product named MQX and MQX+m, which were real-time executives for single processor and multiprocessor applications. The unique asynchronous message passing paradigm delivered by MQX when it was introduced in 1991 and the royalty-free licensing model were accepted immediately in the embedded real-time market. Since the introduction of MQX, Precise continually added functions to the MQX RTOS69 through its various iterations and versions. Precise Software Technologies was acquired by ARC International in March, 2000 and continued to develop, license and sell MQX on many new processor architectures including Freescale ColdFire, IBM/Freescale PowerPC and ARM. In 2004, Embedded Access assumed distribution and support of the MQX RTOS on non-ARC processor architectures. In 2009, Freescale began shipping the MQX RTOS complimentary with selected ColdFire MCUs. MQX has been used in thousands of embedded projects by over 1,000 companies, who have shipped millions of products running it. Today, firms such as ABB, Agilent, ATI Technologies, Baoruh Electronic, Bausch and Lomb, General Dynamics, Daewoo, Exabyte, General Electric, B.F. Goodrich, Liebert, Matrox, Mitel Networks, Philips, Porsche, QLogic, SICK, Sony, Tyco, and Xerox use MQX in applications such as industrial control, networking, storage, and consumer electronics.

References

External links Official website, NXP Semiconductors Embedded Access

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with MQX

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what MQX claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to MQX before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about MQX ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of MQX

In research: MQX appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses MQX in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: MQX is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics ARM operating systems, Embedded operating systems, Microkernel-based operating systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for MQX outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study MQX in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what MQX means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain MQX out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is MQX in simple terms?

Why does MQX matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study MQX?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on MQX.

MQX