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The FreeRTOS.org Project

* Immediate Free Download * Feature Rich * Easy To Use Pre-configured Projects * Can Be Used in Commercial Applications * Large User Community * Free Forum Support * Optional Commercial Licensing * Optional Commercial Support * Safety Critical Version Available * Expert Development Services * One RTOS for 17 Architectures * Smallest Footprint

FreeRTOS.org^TM is a portable, open source, mini Real Time Kernel - a free to download and royalty free RTOS that can be used in commercial applications.

Ports exist for many different processor architectures and development tools. Each official port includes a pre-configured example application demonstrating the kernel features, expediting learning, and permitting 'out of the box' development.

Free support is provided by an active user community. Commercial support along with a full development service is also provided.

SafeRTOS^TM is a version that has been certified for use in safety critical applications. It is a functionally similar product for which complete IEC 61508 compliant development/safety lifecyle documentation is available (conformance certified by TÜV SÜD, including compiler verification evidence). While FreeRTOS.org does not contain the same safety features as SafeRTOS there is still commonality - allowing FreeRTOS.org to benefit directly from the very rigorous SafeRTOS testing and validation activities.

FreeRTOS.org - seventeen official architecture ports - more than 5000 downloads per month.

"It's probably safe to say at this point that FreeRTOS goes through more 'peer-review' than any other RTOS available on the planet. I have used it in several projects - one of which was a multiprocessor environment that used more than 64 processors and needed to run for months reliably. The FreeRTOS core performed well. Take FreeRTOS for a spin." - John Westmoreland

Latest news:

FreeRTOS.org^TM V5.0.0 Now Available:
- Improves the queue and semaphore interrupt safe API - please see Upgrading to V5.0.0 for important upgrade information.
- Adds support for the latest LM3S3768 and LM3S3748 microcontrollers from Luminary Micro.
- Virtex4 PowerPC demo upgraded to use V10.1 of the Xilinx EDK.
- Adds new task hook functionality.

FreeRTOS.org, OpenRTOS and SafeRTOS in the news:

Code Red announce Code Suite - a new Eclipse based IDE that includes a FreeRTOS.org wizard.
Fujitsu announce their support for the FreeRTOS.org suite of products.
Elektronik Praxis article on using Eclipse with FreeRTOS.org and OpenOCD. An English version is also available in pdf format.
Feature article published describing the compiler verification technique used during the development of SafeRTOS.
Embedded Systems Design Europe discusses FreeRTOS.org in its editorial, and includes a news item.
EDN reports on IEC 61508 certification for SafeRTOS.
Elektronik Praxis reports on availability of support packages.
ETN - something in Swedish. I hope it only says good things!
[1] [2] Embedded Control Europe report on the announcements of SafeRTOS and OpenRTOS respectively.

Older news:

FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.8.0 Now Available:
Includes new stack overflow checking features plus some new API functions.
Masters 2008:
For the second year running, FreeRTOS.org will be presenting RTOS training classes at the Microchip Masters worldwide conference in Phoenix, Az.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.7.2 Now Available:
Adds two new ports - both for Fujitsu microcontrollers. The first is for the 32bit MB91460 series, and the second for the 16bit MB96340 (16FX) series.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.7.1 Now Available:
Adds new recursive semaphore feature and updates all IAR ARM ports to use the IAR Embedded Workbench V5.11 project format.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.7.0 Now Available:
Adds new counting semaphore macros, an alternative queue API, and includes the SAM7X Eclipse and STM32 Primer demos within the main .zip file download.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.6.1 now available:
Adds a port and demo application for Microchips brand new high performance 32bit microcontroller family, the PIC32. Based on a MIPS M4K core. Read the press release here.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.6.0 now available: The method used to cause a context switch within an ISR has changed for ARM7/9 GCC ports only. This unfortunately is not backward compatible with the old method, but does mean no further changes will be required in the future. See the "RTOS Configuration and Usage Details" section of the documentation page relevant to your port for full instructions. All the ARM7 GCC demo applications have also been updated to demonstrate the new method.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.5.0 now available: See the version history for full information. Highlights include:
- Extended queue API.
- Introduction of mutexes (priority inheritance mechanism for the existing binary semaphore implementation).
- Demo applications for the new LM3S1962 and LM3S8962 evaluation kits from Luminary Micro.
- Pre-configured Eclipse Europa projects for ARM7 and Cortex-M3 using OpenOCD - with step by step setup instructions.
- Improved Cortex-M3 context switching code.
- lwIP demo for the STR912.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.4.0 now available: Updates the AVR32 UC3A ports, adds a port for the AVR32 UC3B, and includes some kernel improvements.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.3.1 now available: V4.3.1 adds a demo application for the STMicroelectronics STM32 Cortex-M3 microcontroller - reinforcing FreeRTOS.org's position as the choice for the Cortex-M3 core.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.3.0 now available: V4.3.0 includes demo applications for the new Ethernet and CAN enabled ARM Cortex-M3 processors from Luminary Micro. In addition the Cortex-M3, PIC24 and dsPIC DSC ports have been updated to demonstrate a more flexible interrupt management scheme.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.2.1 now available: V4.2.1 introduces the AT32UC3A AVR32 port and demo applications. Ports and demo applications are provided for both the GCC and IAR development tools. Embedded TCP/IP examples are also provided for GCC.
New LPC2368 demo: Includes a embedded WEB server demo based on the uIP TCP/IP stack.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.2.0 now available: V4.2.0 includes some modifications to the kernel that are a direct output of the SafeRTOS development. V4.2.0 also extends support for the Luminary Micro Cortex-M3 based LM3S811 evaluation board, with Keil, IAR and GCC demos now included.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.1.3 now available: Includes new ports and demos for:
- Microchip PIC24
- Microchip dsPIC^® DCS
- STMicroelectronics STR750 (ARM7) with IAR tools
- STMicroelectronics STR750 (ARM7) with RIDE tools
The latest ColdFire files are also now included in the zip file download.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.1.1 now available: Adds a demo for the Luminary Micro LM3S811 Evalutaion Kit.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.1.0 now available: Improves functionality for message queues.
New demo added: For the Rowley CrossFire LPC2138 ARM7 embedded evaluation board.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.0.4 now available: Introduces an STR9 ARM9 port with embedded WEB server demo.
FreeRTOS.org^TM V4.0.3 now available: Adds IAR support for ARM Cortex-M3.
New support packages: Professional development and support packages are now available.

The FreeRTOS.org V4.x.x download includes pre-configured demo applications for Luminary Micros new ARM Cortex-M3 based LM3S102 embedded microcontroller. The LM3S10x was the first commercially available Cortex-M3 microcontroller, and FreeRTOS.org was the first Cortex-M3 real time kernel available for production silicon! See the press release here.

In addition FreeRTOS.org V4.0.0 introduces co-routines - a new feature especially suited to RAM constrained embedded systems.

FreeRTOS.org Features:

FreeRTOS.org is a scaleable real time kernel designed specifically for small embedded systems. Highlights include:

Free RTOS kernel - preemptive, cooperative and hybrid configuration options.
The SafeRTOS derivative product provides a high level of confidence in the code integrity.
Designed to be small, simple and easy to use.
Very portable code structure predominantly written in C.
Supports both tasks and co-routines.
Powerful execution trace functionality.
Stack overflow detection options.
No software restriction on the number of tasks that can be created.
No software restriction on the number of priorities that can be used.
No restrictions imposed on priority assignment - more than one task can be assigned the same priority.
Queues, binary semaphores, counting semaphores and recursive mutexes for communication and synchronisation between tasks, or between tasks and interrupts.
Mutexes with priority inheritance.
Free development tools (Cortex-M3, ARM7, MSP430, H8/S, AMD, AVR, x86 and 8051 ports).
Free embedded software source code.
Royalty free.
Cross development from a standard Windows host.
Pre-configured demo applications for selected single board computers allowing 'out of the box' operation and fast learning curve.
Compile time configuration allows a ROM footprint print as low as 3.3Kbytes on an ARM7 (Thumb mode) using GCC (third party figures, requires specific GCC command line options).

plus ...

Embedded Ethernet example applications: Including live demonstrations.
Microcontroller performance comparisons: Results for ARM7 and MSP430 have been added. More to follow.
'How FreeRTOS.org^TM works': Source code explained.
Embedded software application design: Tips for using FreeRTOS on small embedded systems.

Why choose FreeRTOS.org?

Here are some reasons why FreeRTOS.org is a good choice for your next application - FreeRTOS.org...

Provides one solution for many different architectures and development tools.
Is known to be reliable. Confidence is assured by the activities undertaken by the SafeRTOS sister project.
Is undergoing continuous active development.
Has a minimal ROM, RAM and processing overhead.
Is very simple - the core of the kernel is contained in only 3 C files. The majority of the many files included in the .zip file download relate only to the numerous demonstration applications.
Is truly free for use in commercial applications (see license conditions for details).
Comes with a porting, platform development, or application development service should it be required.
Is well established with a large and ever growing user base.
Contains a pre-configured example for each port. No need to figure out how to setup a project - just download and compile!
Has an excellent and active free support forum.
Has the assurance that commercial support is available should it be required.
Provides ample documentation.
Is very scalable, simple and easy to use.

Existing ports:

ST STM32 Cortex-M3 microcontroller.
Luminary Micro ARM Cortex-M3 based microcontrollers using ARM Keil (RVDS), IAR, Rowley and GCC tools.
Atmel AVR32 AT32UC3A flash microcontrollers using GCC and IAR tools.
ST Microelectronics STR71x (ARM7), STR75x( ARM7), STR9 (ARM9) (STR711F, STR712F, etc.).
LPC2106, LPC2124 and LPC2129 (ARM7). Includes I2C driver source code. Demo's for Olimex and Keil hardware.
Renesas H8S2329 (Hitachi H8/S) with an EDK2329 demo.
Atmel AT91SAM7 family (AT91SAM7X256, AT91SAM7X128, AT91SAM7S32, AT91SAM7S64, AT91SAM7S128, AT91SAM7S256). Includes USB driver source code for the IAR Kickstart, plus uIP and lwIP embedded Ethernet TCP/IP stack demos.
AT91FR40008 with an Embest ATEB40X demo.
MSP430 with a Softbaugh demo including LCD driver. MSPGCC and Rowley CrossWorks tools are supported.
HCS12 (MC9S12C32 small memory model and MC9S12DP256B banked memory model)
Fujitsu MB91460 series (32bit) and MB96340 series (16FX 16bit) using the Softune compiler and Euroscope debugger.
Cygnal 8051 / 8052
Microchip PICMicro PIC18 (8 bit), PIC24 (16bit MCU) and dsPIC (16bit DSC) and PIC32 (32bit)
Atmel AVR (MegaAVR) with an STK500 demo.
RDC8822 Microcontroller (AMD embedded 186 clone) with demo for the Flashlite 186 SBC.
PC [running on top of FreeDOS or other DOS]
ColdFire - note this port is unsupported
Zilog Z80 (eZ80 Acclaim!) - note this port is unsupported
Xilinx Microblaze soft processor core running on a Virtex4 FPGA.
Xilinx PowerPC (PPC405) running on a Virtex4 FPGA.
Tern Inc Ethernet Engine controller.
More microcontroller, development tools and single board computer ports here soon! Please contact me if you are interested in any other ports and are willing to supply a development kit for the purpose. C167, etc.

Ports exist for Rowley CrossWorks, Keil, CodeWarrior, IAR, GNU GCC (various), MPLAB, SDCC, Open Watcom, Paradigm and Borland development tools.

The free source code download includes a pre-configured demo project for each port. Each demo project is targeted at a popular single board computer and will build exactly as downloaded. See the RTOS ports and Development Tools section for details. In addition four sample embedded Ethernet TCP/IP WEB server applications are available:

An lwIP example running on a SAM7X (also includes an example CDC USB driver).
A uIP example, also running on a SAM7X.
A uIP example running on an Olimex LPC-E2124 (LPC2129 processor).
Finally a LPC2106 example that uses a WIZnet TCP/IP coprocessor over an I2C bus.

FreeRTOS offers a smaller and easier real time processing alternative for applications where eCOS, embedded Linux (or Real Time Linux) and even uCLinux won't fit, are not appropriate, or are not available.

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Copyright (C) 2003 - 2008 Richard Barry
Any and all data, files, source code, html content and documentation included in the FreeRTOS^TM distribution or available on this site are the exclusive property of Richard Barry. See the files license.txt (included in the distribution) and this copyright notice for more information. FreeRTOS^TM and FreeRTOS.org^TM are trade marks of Richard Barry.