SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE /PRNewswire/ -- OEMs
building in-car telematics systems and mobile devices for the healthcare and
military markets can now boost system responsiveness while extending battery
life, thanks to a new and extremely flexible power management framework from
QNX Software Systems.
Unlike conventional approaches to power management, the QNX framework
gives designers precise, fine-grained control over the power consumption of
each system component. As a result, each component draws power only when it
has to. There's no need to wake up all components in a system -- and thereby
drain the battery -- just because certain components need to run.
To provide fast, intelligent wakeups, the framework also allows individual
applications and hardware peripherals to save their states before being
suspended. As a result, any part of the system can, upon waking up,
immediately resume where it left off.
"When it comes to power management, no two systems are the same. Even
within a single product line, systems may use different power sources, CPUs,
and peripherals, resulting in very different power management requirements,"
said Sachin Lawande, director, product management, QNX Software Systems. "With
the new QNX power management framework, system designers can create a highly
customized power management policy for each system they deploy, achieving
longer battery life and, in many cases, a more responsive user experience."
A Choice of Mechanisms
Designed for systems based on the QNX(R) Neutrino(R) RTOS, the new
framework allows systems designers to choose from two power management
mechanisms.
The first mechanism provides a simple, straightforward method for
controlling the power modes of the CPU and of individual peripherals. The
second, based on a centralized power manager, allows designers to implement a
system-wide power management policy that can manage applications and other
software services as well as hardware devices. With this approach,
applications can become power-aware; for instance, they can save their state
in the event of an impending power outage. Applications can also monitor the
system and notify the power manager of any events (e.g. driver has pulled key
out of ignition) that may require a change in the power mode.
Instantaneous Bootups
Extremely fast bootups are critical to in-car telematics systems. As a
result, the QNX power management framework allows only selected devices to be
powered up when the system boots. Other devices can then be activated as
required.
To further reduce boot times, the QNX Neutrino RTOS provides multi-stage
booting: multiple image file systems (IFSs) can be loaded in sequence or
concurrently. This provides fine control over the boot process, allowing
faster initialization of critical components. For instance, in a telematics
control unit (TCU), only essential OS services could be launched when the
system first boots up, allowing the TCU to respond virtually instantaneously
when the ignition is turned on.
Reference Implementation Gives Developers a Jump Start
To give developers a jump start on creating their own power management
policies, QNX Software Systems has included a sample policy in its board
support package (BSP) for the Renesas Biscayne telematics platform. Based on
Renesas' SH7760 series system-on-a-chip (SoC), the BSP describes how to map
QNX Neutrino's power-mode definitions to Biscayne's power modes: normal,
standby, sleep, deep sleep, etc. It also includes sample startup code for
controlling the power state of the processor, as well as sample code for
changing the power states of peripherals in response to various system events.
"The QNX framework allows telematics designers to fully exploit the power
management capabilities of Biscayne's high-performance SH7760 SuperH(R) RISC
architecture," said Tatsuo Yamamoto, vice president of the SuperH system
solution business unit, Renesas Technology America Inc.* (formerly Hitachi
Semiconductor America Inc.). "With the introduction of this framework, QNX
Software Systems has taken yet another step at positioning QNX Neutrino as the
premier RTOS for the in-car telematics industry."
About QNX Software Systems
Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems is the industry leader in realtime,
microkernel OS technology. The inherent reliability, scalable architecture,
and proven performance of the QNX Neutrino RTOS make it the most trusted
foundation for future-ready applications in the networking, automotive,
medical, and industrial automation markets. Companies worldwide like Cisco,
Ford, Johnson Controls, Siemens, and Texaco depend on the QNX technology for
their mission- and life-critical applications. Headquartered in Ottawa,
Canada, QNX Software Systems maintains offices in North America, Europe, and
Asia, and distributes its products in more than 100 countries worldwide. Visit
http://www.qnx.com.
* Renesas Technology Corp. is a joint semiconductor company established on
April 1, 2003 by Hitachi, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
Reader Information
Web: http://www.qnx.com
Email: info@qnx.com
Editorial Contacts
Vivek Ramgopal/Chantal Yang
Schwartz Communications
+1 781 684-0770
qnx@schwartz-pr.com
Paul Leroux
QNX Software Systems
+1 613 591-0931
paull@qnx.com
QNX, Neutrino, Momentics, and 'Build a more reliable world' are registered
trademarks of QNX Software Systems Ltd. in certain jurisdictions. All other
trademarks and trade names belong to their respective owners.
SOURCE QNX Software Systems
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Related links:
http://www.qnx.com
CONTACT:
Vivek Ramgopal or Chantal Yang,
+1-781-684-0770, qnx@schwartz-pr.com, both of Schwartz
Communications; or Paul Leroux of QNX Software Systems,
+1-613-591-0931, paull@qnx.com
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