science

Versatile Real-Time Executive

Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive rather than just read about it. In short: Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed and marketed by the company Mentor Graphics. VRTX is suitable for both traditional board-based embedded systems and system on a chip (SoC) architectures.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed and marketed by the company Mentor Graphics. VRTX is suitable for both traditional board-based embedded systems and system on a chip (SoC) architectures. It has been superseded by the Nucleus RTOS.

History The VRTX operating system began as a product of Hunter & Ready, a company founded by James Ready and Colin Hunter in 1980 which later became Ready Systems. This firm later merged with Microtec Research in 1993, and went public in 1994. This firm was then acquired by Mentor Graphics in 1995 and VRTX became a Mentor product. The VRTX operating system was released in September 1981. Since the 1980s, the chief rival to VRTX has been VxWorks, a Wind River Systems product. VxWorks had its start in the mid 1980s as compiler and assembly language tools to supplement VRTX, named VRTX works, or VxWorks. Later, Wind River created their own real-time kernel offering similar to VRTX.

VRTX VRTX comes in several flavors:

VRTX: 16-bit VRTX, for Z8000, 8086, etc. VRTX-32: 32-bit VRTX, for M68K, AMD29K, etc. MPV: Multiprocessor VRTX for distributed applications, such as distributed across VME backplanes. VRTX-mc: Micro-Controller VRTX, for small systems needing minimal memory use. VRTX-oc: On-chip VRTX, freeware community source code for personal and academic use, license required for commercial use. VRTX-sa: Scalable Architecture VRTX for full operating system features. Loosely based on Carnegie Mellon University's Mach microkernel principles. SPECTRA: Virtual machine (VM) implementation for running a VRTX VM on Unix-like hosts. Also includes an open integrated development environment allowing third-party tools open access to cross-development resources. Most companies developing software with VRTX use reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessors including ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, or others.

Implementations VRTX runs the Hubble Space Telescope. VRTX runs the Wide Area Augmentation System. VRTX was the first operating system ported to the AMD Am29000. VRTX is used as a core for the Motorola proprietary P2K operating system, which runs on most company devices since the Motorola V60 and T280i, up to the Motorola RAZR2 V9x. It runs on several hardware platforms including LTE (Motorola V300, V500, V600, E398, RAZR V3 and others featuring the ARM7 processor), LTE2 (Motorola L7 and upcoming devices with 176x220 screen resolution), Rainbow POG (3G phones featuring an MCORE processor from Motorola E1000 to RAZR V3x), Argon (all new 3G phones with 532 MHz ARM11 processor since Motorola RAZR MAXX V6, and V3xx), and others.

See also List of telescope parts and construction Xenomai is a real-time development software framework cooperating with the Linux kernel. It could be used to port the VRTX based system to Linux although not all features are supported. VRTX has reached end-of-life, an automated porting tool named OS Changer is available to reuse the code on a modern OS.

References

External links Official website, Mentor Graphics

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Versatile Real-Time Executive

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive

In research: Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive 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: Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Versatile Real-Time Executive in simple terms?

Why does Versatile Real-Time Executive 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 Versatile Real-Time Executive?

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 Versatile Real-Time Executive.