FRANKFURT, Smart Networks Developer Forum, September 28, 2004 - Setting a new standard for performance in carrier-grade network elements, QNX Software Systems today demonstrated its patented distributed processing technology running on the RapidIO interconnect. The demo, showcased this week at SNDF Europe, illustrates how RapidIO and the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS can achieve significantly higher throughput and reliability than competing solutions, with virtually no limit on scalability."From multi-core CPUs to massive carrier routers, QNX distributed processing gives networking OEMs the power to create highly scalable, fault-tolerant systems, while significantly reducing the CPU utilization associated with traditional forms of inter-processor communication," said Romain Saha, networking business manager, QNX Software Systems. "This, combined with QNX Neutrino's simplified programming interface, enables developers to quickly realize the exceptional performance and architectural benefits of RapidIO."
QNX distributed processing extends far beyond traditional forms of networking by allowing any application running on any processor to transparently access the resources of any other processor. Remote resources - disks, NICs, protocol stacks, and so on - can all be accessed as if they were on the local CPU. As the demo shows, system designers can leverage this transparency to dynamically distribute CPU-intensive tasks among multiple processors, thereby achieving greater fault resilience and greatly increasing the CPU power available to an application.
A longtime supporter of the RapidIO standard, QNX Software Systems also serves as an active member of the RapidIO Trade Association. RapidIO is a packet-switched, high-speed interconnect that breaks the "PCI bottleneck" in chassis-based telecom systems. Compared to traditional shared buses, RapidIO offers greater concurrency, lower latency, and higher fault tolerance through a decentralized point-to-point architecture, along with built-in facilities for error recovery, dynamic configuration, and multi-processor support.
Demo platform powered by Freescale PowerQUICC processors
The SNDF demo showcases the benefits of RapidIO and QNX distributed processing on a high-performance Silicon Turnkey Express (STx) RapidIO development system, powered by Freescale 8560 PowerQUICC IIIâ„¢ processors. QNX offers extensive support for the both the Freescale PowerQUICC and the Freescale host processor families.
To catch the demo, visitors to SNDF Europe are invited to visit the QNX booth, #5-7. SNDF Europe takes place September 28-30, 2004, at the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers.
More about the QNX Neutrino RTOS
Designed for high availability networking elements, the QNX Neutrino RTOS is built on a memory-protected microkernel architecture, providing dynamic upgrades, fine-grained fault isolation, and rapid error recovery. With native support for both symmetric multiprocessing and transparent distributed multiprocessing, QNX Neutrino offers massive scalability, allowing networking elements to handle increases in network traffic or services without the need for forklift upgrades. To accelerate development of QNX Neutrino applications, QNX Software Systems offers the QNX Momentics® development suite, a highly integrated offering that includes C, C++, and Java code editors, a graphical source debugger, and diagnostic tools for code coverage, application profiling, system profiling, and memory analysis. QNX Momentics supports Windows, Solaris, Linux, and QNX Neutrino development hosts.
About QNX Software Systems
With millions of installations worldwide, QNX Software Systems is the global leader in realtime, microkernel operating system technology. Companies like Cisco, DaimlerChrysler, Harris, Siemens, and General Electric rely on QNX technology to build ultra-reliable systems for the networking, automotive, medical, military, and industrial automation markets. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Visit http://www.qnx.com.