Evaluation of MPSoC Operating Systems

The development of Multi-Processors Systems on Chip (MPSoC) has increased recently due to their high processing speed and low-power consumption. Software implementation of these systems rely on parallel computing, a different programming paradigm which has not been fully adopted by most of the developers. Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) is one of the most important pieces in an embedded system. Unfortunately, some RTOSs have been mostly released for single processor embedded systems and there are just a few research-purposes multiprocessor operating systems. This paper explores some alternatives reported in the literature to the implementation of MPSoC operating systems. One of the most promising commercial MPSoC RTOS called FreeRTOS xcore is introduced and described. The characteristics of this MPSoC RTOS are contrasted with those of some other available RTOSs, concluding that FreeRTOS xcore is a suitable operating system for mid-range multiprocessor systems, where easy and fast implementation is a crucial constraint.