Wind River integrates virtualization technology into next-generation RTOS for Internet of Things

Wind River has introduced a virtualization profile for the next generation version of its market-leading VxWorks® real-time operating system (RTOS). Based on proven Wind River virtualization technology, Virtualization Profile for VxWorks extends the scalability capabilities of the VxWorks 7 Core Platform by integrating a real-time embedded, Type 1 hypervisor into the core of the RTOS.

Through embedded virtualization, Virtualization Profile allows VxWorks customers to consolidate multiple workloads on a single processor. It provides robust, safe and secure partitioning across all market segments, from automation control to medical scanners to avionics control systems -- critical in today’s era of the Internet of Things (IoT). OS-agnostic, the profile allows combinations of VxWorks, Linux, Windows® and other operating systems to share the memory and cores of a multi-core processor or system-on-chip (SoC).

“VxWorks with integrated virtualization allows customers to address IoT device challenges, where connectivity, scalability, security, and future-proofing are required,” said Dinyar Dastoor, vice president of product management at Wind River. “It delivers the key benefits that will give our customers a competitive edge in consolidation, flexibility, safety, and security, as well as CAPEX and OPEX savings, and significant reduction in development time for end devices. We see a strong need for these capabilities across all market segments, but with an emphasis where connectivity is now requisite, such as in industrial, medical, aerospace and defense.”

Recognized as the industry-leading RTOS, VxWorks has been re-architected with a highly modular approach leading to the separation of the VxWorks core operating system from packages such as the file system or networking stack. As a result, individual applications can now be updated at any time without requiring a rework or retest of the entire system, increasing scalability and the ability to quickly adjust to market changes.