Earlier in 2009, Micrium introduced its μC/OS-III real-time kernel, a real-time operating system (RTOS) that use the ARM7/9, Cortex-MX, Nios-II, PowerPC, Coldfire, i.MX, Microblaze, H8, SH, M16C, M32C, or Blackfin processors, among others. Rather than read the specs here, you will find a complete datasheet at: micrium.com/newmicrium/uploads/file/datasheets/ucos-iii_datasheet.pdf.

Developers might remember--or have a copy of--Jean Labrosse's book, "MicroC/OS-II, The Real-Time Kernel." The author has a new book, "μC/OS-III, The Real Time Kernel," that developers can purchase. The book goes far beyond a manual for the new RTOS and offers a detailed examination of and guide to the software. According to Micrium, "The first half of the book offers detailed descriptions of μC/OS-III's services, while the second half outlines several example applications that target the STMicroelectronics STM32 family of microcontrollers."

Anyone who has "brought up" an RTOS for the first time on an embedded system knows the problems that can pop up throughout the process. To help overcome the trepidations developers might feel, Micrium offers a package that includes an STM32 development board with the book ($US 199.95), available from Amazon. So, readers can start with known-good example code. The board's STM32F107 processor contains an ARM Cortex M3 core (72 MHz), 256 kbytes of flash memory, and 64 kbytes of RAM. The board provides, among other capabilities, a 10/100 Ethernet connector, USB-OTG Full-Speed connector, RS-232C connector, SD-Card socket, and a J-Link connector debugging. (I asked Micrium's people for the board information above because I couldn't find details on either the Micrium or STMicro Web sites. Perhaps they'll have more info in a while.)

A reviewer posted comments on the Amazon Web site about this book/board combination that express exasperation at the lack of development tools and his or her inability to get past the first chapter. A follow-up comment from someone else explained that readers will find examples, links to code and tools, and other information in the second section of the book, as noted above. And, readers can get a 30-day evaluation edition of IAR's Embedded Workbench, for example, to use while working with the STMicro eval board and the μC/OS-III RTOS.

Have you used the μC/OS-III or the earlier MicroC/OS-II in a project? How easy was it to learn and use? Share your opinions here with your colleagues.
--Jon Titus