EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, BOSTON, MA — September 19, 2007 — Green Hills Software released a real-time operating system that is fully compatible with the ThreadX application programming interface (API). The new Green Hills Software RTOS has comparable performance and memory footprint to the ThreadX RTOS from Express Logic. “A sizable base of customers purchased ThreadX from Green Hills Software over the past decade. They came to Green Hills in order to obtain an RTOS with an integrated development toolset from a reliable, long term supplier,” commented Dan O’Dowd, founder and chief executive officer, Green Hills Software. “Express Logic’s recent cancellation of our reseller agreement has put customers at risk.
In order to protect our customers’ investment in Green Hills Software, we decided to release a drop-in replacement for ThreadX, which enables these customers to continue to obtain RTOS software, integrated development tools, and technical support from their single, preferred vendor.” The new RTOS from Green Hills Software is tested and verified to be compatible with the ThreadX API and is proven to work as a drop-in replacement for existing production code without requiring source code modifications. “The µ-velOSity RTOS from Green Hills Software is smaller, faster, and easier to use than ThreadX and hence is the preferred RTOS for resource-constrained, deeply embedded applications,” commented David Kleidermacher, chief technology officer, Green Hills Software.
“However, we realize that switching RTOSes can be difficult for some projects. For customers who have come to depend on Green Hills Software for its ThreadX-based offerings, we now have a drop-in replacement that enables them to continue to develop and deploy embedded systems using the ThreadX API for as long as they need.”Green Hills Software will continue to support and upgrade this RTOS, even as the ThreadX API is evolved by Express Logic. The right to reuse an operating system API to provide compatibility was recently upheld by an arbitration panel who stated that the “ThreadX API is not protected by copyright law, it can be copied at will and without attribution.”
The availability of this ThreadX-compatible RTOS from Green Hills Software provides our customers long term support for their ThreadX usage along with the ability to migrate applications to any of the Green Hills Software family of RTOSes (µ-velOSity, velOSity, and INTEGRITY), as may be required over time.
Availability
Green Hills Software’s RTOS with ThreadX API compatibility is available immediately for the ARM, Power Architecture, MIPS, ColdFire, Blackfin, and V850 processor families in a wide variety of business and pricing models (i.e. single product, product line, OEM, enterprise, and subscription), including models similar to those offered by Express Logic. Pricing for a specific business model is available upon request.
About Green Hills Software
Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software, Inc. is the technology leader in device software optimization (DSO), real-time operating systems (RTOS), and next generation security solutions. Our royalty-free INTEGRITY and velOSity real-time operating systems, µ-velOSity microkernel, compilers, MULTI and AdaMULTI integrated development environments and TimeMachine tool suite offer a complete development solution that addresses both deeply embedded and high-reliability applications. Green Hills Software is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with European headquarters in the United Kingdom.