/acorn-kernel

Simple and reliable micro operating system RTOS for AVR microprocessors written 100% in assembler

Primary LanguageAssembly

Acorn kernel

The main objective behind Acorn kernel is creating an open source, small, robust and reliable micro kernel RTOS for 8bit Atmel AVR microprocessors written entirely in Assembler.
The kernel by itself is a static preemptive operating system which basically means:
  • Any number of tasks can be accurately defined before run time and when the system starts up all tasks are created and this number does not change.
  • A so called "scheduler" organizes the tasks execution as each task is given a time quantum to execute its code based on interrupt or software driven events.
  • Each task could be in one of 2 priorities: DEVICE level(I/O related) - highest one or USER level(CPU related) - lowest one. This simplifies the kernel and increases the real time event responsiveness.
  • Provides synchronization primitives which are used for intertask communication, resource counting, task sleep,suspend,yield and critical section protection.
The operating system is logically divided into general and executive levels. Such division separates the system structures and procedures as to who and what can call them thus making the code development easier.
The development path being pursued is simplicity and easy to understand and apply methodology. In this regard help and collaboration from engineers as well as hobbyists is needed to bring this project to perfection.
The micro operating system powers a number of embedded projects deployed at customer site and has been working without a glitch.