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SEOS (Simple Embedded Operating System)
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SEOS is a small and simple embedded RTOS. It is loosely based on
the ADEOS operating system described in "Programming Embedded
Systems in C and C++" by Michael Barr (see
Recomended Books). It runs on the Atmel AVR ATmega
processors. It was developed on the ATmega16 but it should
run on any of the ATmega processors. In general it should be
relatively easy to modify SEOS to work with other architectures
-- most changes will need to be made to the context switching
code. The main features of SEOS are a priority based cooperative
multitasking scheduler, critical sections, serial port
communications, and timer management. However, what's probably
the best thing about SEOS is that it is very simple and easy
to understand and provides a good starting point for more advanced
applications. NOTE: SEOS has not been rigorously tested and any
applications that use it should be carefully debugged.
Development Environment SEOS was developed using the WinAVR (20030424) compiler package. WinAVR is a free port for Windows of the avr-gcc cross compiler. The hardware used is a ATmega16 running on a STK500 development board made by Atmel. AVRStudio 4.07, which is freely available from Atmel, was used to program the board and run simulations. WinAVR, along with a lot of other useful AVR stuff, is available at www.avrfreaks.net. Memory Usage The minimum amount of memory required to run SEOS depends on the number of tasks added. Realistically 1-Kbyte of SRAM would be a good minimum to use. The state for each task requires 43 bytes. This state includes a 32-byte array used to save all the registers. To minimize the memory usage the context switch code can be modified to only save the minimum required registers -- the registers that must be saved is compiler specific. Each task must also have a stack size that is at least 4 bytes + stack size of the interrupt with the greatest stack size + any additional stack needed by the task for local variables and function calls. The stack for each task, as well as the state for the task, is stored on the heap. The size of each task's stack is set when the task is added. When accounting for the stack size of interrupt routines it is important to note that several registers need to be saved on the stack. For WinAVR (avr-gcc for Windows) the minimum stack size for an interrupt is approx 17 bytes -- return pointer + 15 saved registers. Therefore, the total minimum stack size for a task is 4 + 17 + greatest interrupt stack size + task specific stack data bytes. To be on the safe side a few additional bytes should be added to the task's stack. Also, SEOS uses about 10 bytes of the system stack space when starting up. NOTE: These memory figures are approximations and have not been carefully tested -- when debugging, stack overflows should always be checked for. SEOS has its own dynamic memory allocation functions. These functions can be found in the alloc.c module. This module creates a static byte array and allocates pieces of it when needed. Coding Conventions The naming and style conventions used for SEOS are primarily based on a handout written by Prof. David Stewart (see Handout 3). SEOS Code Download Click here to download SEOS source code. Please click on Feedback to send any questions/comments or bugs. Code For Tiny Processors These modules are used for processors that are too small to support a RTOS, such as the ATtiny processors. Two C modules are currently included: sleep.c and swtx.c. The processor used when developing these is the ATtiny26, which has 128 Bytes of SRAM. The sleep module simply implements a sleep() function that blocks (busy waits) for a specified number of milliseconds. Timer/Counter0 is used to keep track of the sleep time. The swtx module is a software implementation of a UART transmitter. It can be configured to use any I/O pin. Timer/Counter1 is used to generate the baud rate for the swtx module. TINY Code Download Click here to download TINY source code. Please click on Feedback to send any questions/comments or bugs. Recomended Books: Programming Embedded Systems in C and C++ By Michael Barr Published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. www.oreilly.com/catalog/embsys/ Designing Embedded Hardware By John Catsoulis Published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. www.oreilly.com/catalog/dbhardware/ Related Links: www.avrfreaks.net www.atmel.com www.oreilly.com |