| Technology
Section |
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| How
to Cut Product Costs 40% with QNX OS and Advantech Embedded Boards |
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Building
Embedded Products at Lower Cost
There are
many disadvantages to products based on traditional desktop PC’s
and desktop operating systems. The hardware needed for desktop
operating systems is much larger and more expensive. You will
usually need a hard disk for common desktop operating systems
and even Linux, but unfortunately, a hard disk is not a reliable
choice for most products. And of course the usual desktop operating
system is not known for reliability. You can sell an end product
which often requires re-installing software to correct crashes
or problems. Variants of desktop operating systems are not 100%
compatible anyway, and usually require a lot of development effort
as well. In addition, they usually are not a true real time operating
system, and so their performance and reliability are similar to
desktop systems. The trend is towards migrating to true proven
real time operating systems with real performance. These true
real time operating systems have been tested and used for many
years in real products. The QNX real time operating system is
one of these, with performance about 3 times faster.
How
to Cut Product Costs 40% or more -- QNX
is 3 times faster than desktop OS’s
The easy method
to cut product costs 40% or more is to use an operating system like
QNX OS, which is about 3 times faster than traditional desktop operating
systems. QNX OS has a task switch time less than 2 microseconds. That
is 100 times faster than typical desktop operating systems and their
embedded variants. What it means is that you could use a Pentium® 100 MHz CPU with QNX and likely get the same or faster performance as
using a Pentium® 233 MHz CPU with a typical desktop operating system or its variant.
A Pentium® 100 is much less cost than a Pentium® 233, but your product can have the same performance, even with 40% or
so cost down for the CPU or system.
Embedded
Boards Cut Cost Also
By switching to
an Advantech all-in-one embedded board, you can also cut a lot of cost
from a typical PC based product. An example of an all-in-one embedded
board is the new PCM-5820 embedded board from Advantech. It is compact
and a single board, but it contains video, audio, and most features
needed for an Internet or similar embedded application. QNX OS supports
this board, and QNX has drivers for the video chip as well. This board
has TV output which is suitable for many consumer-based Internet or
related products. QNX OS can also make this board perform about 3 times
faster compared to desktop operating systems or their embedded variants.
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Tel:
886-2-2218-4567
Fax: 886-2-2218-3875
Contact the editor
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QNX
OS Code Size is about 1/2 of others, Plus Reliable -- Download
a 1 Floppy Demo free
In addition, QNX
code size is about of other alternatives. In fact, QNX has a one-floppy
full Internet demo which contains an Internet browser, file manager,
graphics demo, QNX product web pages, dynamic HTML, JAVA script game,
dialer, QNX OS, TCP/IP networking, notepad, video drivers, modem drivers,
and an internet server, all in just 1 floppy disk. You can try this
amazing demo by downloading it from the Internet URL:
WWW.QNX.COM. It boots and runs stand-alone, without need for a hard
disk. There are also over 3000 free QNX sources and programs which you
can download. The result is that you can make a product based on DiskOnChip
or other Flash, without the cost of a hard disk, and makes the product
much more reliable. QNX is a true fault tolerant operating system, with
memory protection for every driver and application program. That is
unique among most real time operating systems. It is one of the reasons
why QNX OS is much more reliable than typical desktop systems.
Downsize
Costs, Upsize Profits
All of this results
in substantial cost savings for embedded products, and more reliable
products. The result is that by using Advantech embedded boards with
QNX, you can reduce your costs considerably and have the advantage of
quality hardware platforms with reliable software. You can save a lot
of cost by using all-in-one Advantech embedded boards, and save a lot
more cost by using the much faster QNX OS with 3 times more performance
compared to other desktop choices. You can likely cut at least 40% from
your product CPU & board costs, probably more. (Copyright 1999 Technical
Solutions Corporation)
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