MC/OS the Real-Time Kernel

This book explains the design and implementation of C/OS [pronounced "MicroC/OS"], the Micro-Controller Operating System, a portable, ROMable, preemptive, real-time, multitasking kernel for microprocessors. The system is written in C with assembly language code for the target microprocessor kept to a minimum. It can be ported to any microprocessor that provides a stack pointer and allows the CPU registers to be pushed onto and popped from the stack. The C compiler must be ANSI compatible and provide in-line assembly or language extensions that allow you to enable and disable interrupts. The system can manage up to 63 tasks, with performance comparable to many commercially available kernels. An earlier version of C/OS was published in the May and June 1992 issues of Embedded Systems Programming magazine. The code available from that article on bulletin board systems is uncommented. The code provided in "C/OS" the book is fully commented. The current release of the companion code disk V 1.08 has been updated in response to reader response. See the author's Release Notes for more information on revisions to the code. The text explains the fundamentals of multitasking real-time systems, details the design decisions of this kernel, and includes a user's manual for the system. Appendices provide complete code for the system, a port for the Intel 80186/80188 chip, a survey of real-time kernel manufacturers, and references to the technical literature on real-time and embedded systems. Source code is provided, so you can add your own custom features. Integrating C/OS in your application can be done in less than one day. C/OS can be ported to a different microprocessor within a few days, because assembly code has been kept to a minimum.

Audience: To use the book, you should be familiar with the ANSI standard for C, and have at least a minimum understanding of assembly language for the Intel 80x86 family of microprccessors.