Embedded Operating System for newbies (long post; sorry)

I think Linux on a PC would be the easiest. But if you have never configured a Linux system before you are in for a long project (or at least long hours). Since you sound like you are at a university or technical college you might be able to borrow a machine already configured for terminal mode or get somebody else to coach you through the process.

Write code in "C", compile with gcc and then you can string your modules together with shell scripts.

Also see if you can scare up a copy of "Embedded Linux" by Hollabaugh. One of many books on the subject. Good in that it follows a project in a documentary fashion with enough details for you to figure stuff out on your own.

Rob Young snipped-for-privacy@ieee.nospamplease.org (can you figure out the correct address?)

An OS loads and executes programs and manages resources such as I/O, memory and a file system. Using a programmed microcontroller you can mimic this by having an "OS" program that steps through a list of "tasks" and calls the appropriate "program" for each step. The main change you need to make to your existing program is to replace the main program, which is calling the functions directly, with a program that reads the addresses of the functions from a list of tasks (also stored in flash memory), calling them indirectly. You will also need a standardized method for programs to communicate with each other. In a PC this is done by reading and writing files, but you have no external storage, so set aside a few registers to serve as your "file system".

Before you start, do some reading about real OS's to get more ideas and to help justify your claim that this is a minimal OS. Also, write down a procedure so that someone unfamiliar with the system could efficiently install or remove programs without breaking the OS.

-- Joe Legris

There is a uCos port for a real time kernel from Nathan Brown as freeware at