science

Nucleus RTOS

Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS rather than just read about it. In short: Nucleus RTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) produced by the Embedded Software Division of Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Business, supporting 32- and 64-bit embedded system platforms. The operating system (OS) is designed for real-time embedded systems for medical, industrial, consumer, aerospace, and Internet of things (IoT) uses.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Nucleus RTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) produced by the Embedded Software Division of Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Business, supporting 32- and 64-bit embedded system platforms. The operating system (OS) is designed for real-time embedded systems for medical, industrial, consumer, aerospace, and Internet of things (IoT) uses. Nucleus was released first in 1993. The latest version is 3.x, and includes features such as power management, process model, 64-bit support, safety certification, and support for heterogeneous computing multi-core system on a chip (SOCs) processors. Nucleus process model adds space domain partitioning for task and module isolation on SOCs with either a memory management unit (MMU) or memory protection unit (MPU), such as those based on ARMv7/8 Cortex-A/R/M cores.

Supported platforms Nucleus supports many embedded processors including leading ARMv7 Cortex A, R, and M devices. Recent releases support ARMv8 64-bit devices. The official website has a full list of supported devices. It includes 32-bit MCUs and MPUs, configurable devices, and 32-bit and 64-bit multi-core processors.

History Nucleus 1.x was released first in 1993 by Accelerated Technology (ATI) as Nucleus PLUS. It soon became one of the most commonly used RTOSs in the embedded market. Following its early success there, ATI added support for networking, graphics, and file systems, which accelerated adoption. Mentor Graphics acquired ATI in March 2002, which was soon followed by the second generation of Nucleus RTOS. Version 2.x was released in 2003, improving its portability across different architectures and tool sets. New components like IPv6, Flash memory file system and Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 were added. Mentor replaced the legacy Codelab debugger with EDGE development tools which included compiler tools, debugger, simulator, and profiler. Mentor Graphics introduced the 3rd generation Nucleus in 2010. Version 3.x was intended for both high-end microprocessor units (MPUs), microcontroller units (MCUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). For devices with limited memory resources, Nucleus was designed to scale down to a memory size of <10 kilobytes (KBs) for both code and data. Nucleus 3.x introduced support for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) both unsupervised uAMP and supervised sAMP (using Mentor Embedded Hypervisor). Other additions in Nucleus 3.x:

Integrated power management support for kernel and middleware components; includes support for DVFS, tick suppression, and sleep modes including hibernation. Process model for memory partitioning to support dynamic loading and unloading of application modules. Loadable processes are supported on both high end MPUs and low end MCUs with or without hardware memory management support. Wireless support IoT protocols Safety certification for aerospace, medical, industrial and automotive Support for ARM TrustZone Mentor embedded multi-core framework for IPC and processor life cycle management for AMP designs (both supervised sAMP and unsupervised uAMP) Runtime tracing support with host side analysis tools In addition to the new features in version 3.x, Nucleus moved business model from a la carte, to one unified package. Mentor acquired CodeSourcery in Dec 2010 to replace the EDGE development tools with the Sourcery CodeBench. Sourcery CodeBench comprises a compiler tool-chain, debugger, and trace analysis tools. The compiler tool-chain is based on GNU tool-chain. The debugger and integrated development environment (IDE) are based on Eclipse. Sourcery CodeBench supports ARM, IA-32, MIPS, and PPC architectures with built-in workflows and OS awareness for Nucleus RTOS and Mentor Embedded Linux. Nucleus 3.x introduced a unified build and configuration system with which the Kernel is configured through a single file and builds as a single library. Like menuconfig in Linux, a user interface (UI) based configuration tool integrated with CodeBench provides the user with graphically selectable components to customize the kernel at build time. The Nucleus configuration system allows for user customization to integrate new tool-chains, architecture support and build properties.

Major components Nucleus RTOS components include:

Kernel Services Connectivity File system Networking IoT Framework Wireless Security UI & graphics

Kernel Real-time kernel with priority based pre-emptive scheduling Support for dynamic linking using loadable modules Interfaces for C++, Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), and The Real-time Operating system Nucleus (TRON) microITRON SMP/AMP, supervised and unsupervised SMP support and runtime control for bound computation domain and affinities to processor cores for tasks and interrupts Support for 64-bit architectures Scalable to fit memory constrained devices Built-in power management framework Source code for all components

Services Run-level initialization and registry POSIX: kernel, networking, and file system Shell and tracing Debug agent C++ Power management services

Connectivity Nucleus supports the ability to connect to other devices through various interfaces including:

USB 2.0 and 3.0 USB Host, Function, and On-The-Go (OTG) stacks Bluetooth with many advanced profiles enabled (A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, etc.) Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), PCI-X and PCIe Controller Area Network (CAN) and CANopen Secure Digital (SDIO) SPI, QSPI Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C)

File system Unlike Windows and Unix-like operating systems, Nucleus does not need a file system to work. However, for complex uses needing local storage, Nucleus supports several file systems including FAT, SAFE (fault tolerant), and LWEXT.

Multiple simultaneous file systems File Allocation Table (FAT) SAFE (high reliability power fail safe) LWEXT Install-able third-party file systems

Multiple media support CD-ROM Hard drive RAM disk NOR and NAND flash USB drive SD MMC Nucleus provides support for different file systems and storage media through a virtual file system application programming interface (API) that allows access to the supported file systems and storage devices using the same functions calls regardless of the underlying storage format.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nucleus RTOS

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS

In research: Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS 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: Nucleus RTOS is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics ARM operating systems, Embedded operating systems, MIPS operating systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nucleus RTOS in simple terms?

Why does Nucleus RTOS 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 Nucleus RTOS?

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 Nucleus RTOS.