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Start Here
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==========
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How does Xenomai deliver real-time?
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-----------------------------------
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Xenomai is a Free Software project in which engineers from a wide
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background collaborate to build a versatile real-time framework for
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the Linux(C) platform.
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There are two options:
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The main project goal is to help migrating industrial applications
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from proprietary real-time systems to Linux.
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[[cobalt]]
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- By supplementing Linux with a real-time co-kernel running
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side-by-side with it. This small extension named *Cobalt* is
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built into the Linux kernel, dealing with all time-critical
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activities, such as handling interrupts, and scheduling real-time
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threads. The Cobalt core has higher priority over the native kernel
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activities.
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+
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In this _dual kernel_ configuration, all the RTOS APIs Xenomai
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provides interface with the Cobalt core, and only those APIs are
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deemed real-time capable, including the subset of POSIX 1003.1c
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services implemented by Xenomai (aka _libcobalt_).
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.Xenomai 3 dual kernel configuration
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image::./figures/x3-cobalt-interfaces.png["Cobalt interfaces", align="center"]
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[NOTE]
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Cobalt is an evolution of the former
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link:Introducing_Xenomai_3#Motivation_for_a_major_evolution[Xenomai 2 architecture].
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[[mercury]]
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- By relying on the real-time capabilities of the native Linux kernel,
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forming the *Mercury* core. Often, applications will require the
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https://www.osadl.org/Realtime-Linux.projects-realtime-linux.0.html[PREEMPT-RT]
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extension to be enabled in the target kernel, for delivering real-time
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services.
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+
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However, this is not mandatory, it depends on the application
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requirements with respect to responsiveness and maximum jitter; some
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may even tolerate a certain percentage of deadline misses.
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+
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In this _single kernel_ configuration, all the non-POSIX RTOS APIs
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Xenomai provides are accurately emulated over the native threading
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library (preferably *NPTL*, but also supports *linuxthreads* for
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legacy setups).
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.Xenomai 3 single kernel configuration
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image::./figures/x3-mercury-interfaces.png["Mercury interfaces", align="center"]
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[NOTE]
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Xenomai 3 supports both the single and dual kernel configurations. The
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discontinued Xenomai 2 architecture only supported the dual kernel
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configuration.
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Xenomai license terms
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---------------------
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All Xenomai code running in kernel space is licensed under the terms
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of the Linux kernel license, i.e. GPL v2.
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Xenomai libraries linked to applications are licensed under the terms
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of the LGPL v2.1.
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For information regarding a particular software component, you should
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look at the COPYING file available in the directory containing the
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relevant source code.
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Preparation checklist
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---------------------
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Single or dual kernel configuration?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Assuming you know the target SoC and the application requirements
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with respect to real-time guarantees, you should define which of the
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single or dual kernel configurations best fits your needs. The
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following hints may help:
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- Does your application actually have real-time requirements, and how
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stringent are they? If migrating an application from an _embedded_
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RTOS to a Linux-based platform, the question may stand because unlike
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legacy RTOSes, Linux sees embedded and real-time characteristics as
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orthogonal issues. Some migrated applications may even be fine with only
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emulating the original RTOS API over a regular kernel and standard
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preemption (CONFIG_PREEMPT). Those may benefit from Xenomai 3 in
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single kernel configuration.
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+
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* For stringent real-time requirements, you should consider the
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availability of the hard real-time support for your target SoC
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architecture and Linux kernel version.
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** Embedded architecture support for Xenomai in dual kernel
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configuration can be viewed
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link:Embedded_Hardware[here]. This
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technology is based on a kernel patch which introduces a
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mechanism for diverting all critical events to a dual kernel
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extension, coupled to the host Linux kernel. This mechanism
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called the _Interrupt pipeline_ (aka _I-Pipe_) is described in
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details by this (slightly outdated)
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link:Life_With_Adeos[document]. All
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I-pipe patches available for various kernel releases can be
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fetched link:/downloads/ipipe/[at this site].
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** For a single kernel configuration, the list of target
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architectures supporting the full preemption features (aka
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_PREEMPT-RT_) is available
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https://www.osadl.org/Realtime-Linux.projects-realtime-linux.0.html[here].
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* How many CPU cores will be involved in real-time operations?
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** in a dual kernel configuration, the Xenomai co-kernel normally
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benefits from its simpler locking scheme when dealing with
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real-time activities concurrently on not more than four CPU
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cores.
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** Beyond four CPU cores running real-time activities, SMP
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scalability will be better with a single kernel configuration.
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[NOTE]
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The key issue is with the number of CPU cores *actually running
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real-time threads* and receiving interrupts from real-time sources,
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not with the overall number of cores on line on the target
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hardware. Because the Cobalt co-kernel does not share any lock with the
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regular Linux kernel when dealing with real-time activities, a 16-way
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server pinning such activities on not more than four of the available
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cores would still deliver good performances in a Cobalt-based dual
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kernel configuration.
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- Is any of those dual kernel pros critical to your case?
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* porting the Cobalt co-kernel to a new architecture is fairly
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simple.
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* it is decoupled from the development cycle of the mainline
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Linux kernel, thus allowing to pick the desired (or required)
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kernel version more freely.
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* it can simplify the worst-case analysis and keeps the results
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valid over update cycles of the mainline Linux kernel which
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hosts it.
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* it allows to fine-tune the non-real-time part for throughput
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without negative impact on the real-time job.
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* it does not require any tuning of the regular Linux system to
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guarantee short and bounded latencies for the real-time job.
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- Is any of those single kernel pros critical to your case?
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* the stock kernel drivers can be reused by real-time applications
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with no change (provided they don't create latency issues due to
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an unfortunate implementation). On the other hand, drivers need
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to be specifically implemented for running over a dual kernel
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configuration, i.e. over the in-kernel RTDM interface.
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* the programming model may be simpler than with a dual kernel
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configuration, since the kernel is deemed to enforce real-time
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behavior globally. This said, cautious application design and
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implementation must be a common rule regardless of the
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underlying real-time technology, as not all available services
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may be suited for real-time usage.
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* all standard utilities for monitoring the system operations can
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report about the real-time activities out of the box. On the
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other hand, a dual kernel system has to adapt such tools
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specifically for this purpose.
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Do you need non-POSIX real-time APIs?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Porting legacy non-POSIX applications to POSIX may not be the best
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option. Although there may be similarities, the semantics of
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traditional RTOS APIs may differ significantly from POSIX in many
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cases, which often makes the migration process quite painful and
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error-prone.
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Xenomai ships with emulators of traditional RTOS APIs, like
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VxWorks(TM) and pSOS(TM), both available in single and dual kernel
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configurations. Xenomai aims at accurately mimicking the original
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services with low overhead.
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However, maybe Xenomai does not provide an emulator yet for the API
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you are looking for, or some services are missing from the existing
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emulators, in which case you should consider raising the topic on the
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link:Mailing_Lists[e-mail discussion list]. Xenomai is based on
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generic building blocks for implementing RTOS APIs, so extending it is
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a documented option.
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Gathering the Linux kernel bits
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Depending on your requirements, you will need:
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- a Linux kernel ported to your target SoC or platform. If possible,
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prefer ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/[mainline kernel releases] over
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vendor-originated ones. Among other issues, kernel patches required
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for running hard real-time applications over single (PREEMPT_RT) or
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dual kernel (I-pipe) configurations are commonly based over mainline
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kernels.
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- for a dual kernel configuration, an
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link:/downloads/ipipe/[_I-pipe_ patch] fitting your
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target kernel. If you don't find any patch that matches exactly but
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feel lucky, you may try applying a patch issued against a kernel only
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differing by its sublevel release number, e.g. from 3.10.22 to
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3.10.20. However, even if it applies cleanly, some extra testing is
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required, and getting additional information from the
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link:Mailing_Lists[e-mail discussion list] may help.
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- for a single kernel configuration with hard real-time capabilities,
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a https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/[PREEMPT-RT
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patch] matching your target kernel.
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Getting the Xenomai sources
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Xenomai 3 is the current architecture, aimed at supporting both the
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single and dual kernel configurations.
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.Accessing the development tree of Xenomai 3.x
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**********************************************
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git://git.xenomai.org/xenomai-3.git +
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https://git.xenomai.org/xenomai-3.git +
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http://git.xenomai.org/xenomai-3.git
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**********************************************
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[NOTE]
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The Xenomai project issues a tarball for each official
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link:/downloads/xenomai/stable/[stable] or
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link:/downloads/xenomai/testing/[candidate] release. However,
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we recommend tracking our development and/or maintenance GIT trees, for
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getting the latest fixes.
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Using GIT
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^^^^^^^^^
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The Xenomai project uses http://git-scm.com/[GIT] for managing the
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source code repositories. There is no shortage of GIT crash courses,
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references, howtos, tips and comprehensive documentation available
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from the Internet. For the sake of conciseness, we will only mention
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two documentation hubs from which you should be able to find your way:
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- http://git-scm.com/documentation[The GIT project documentation hub].
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- https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/GitDocumentation[The GIT documentation wiki].
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In addition, let's mention a simple tutorial for bootstrapping with
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GIT and day-to-day usage:
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https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/gittutorial.html
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Building Xenomai from sources
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-----------------------------
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- link:Installing_Xenomai_3_X[This document]
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contains instructions for building and installing Xenomai 3.x.
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If something goes wrong
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-----------------------
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First and foremost, please make sure to have a look at the appropriate
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troubleshooting guide, whether you are using a
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link:Troubleshooting_A_Dual_Kernel_Configuration[dual]
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or a
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link:Troubleshooting_A_Single_Kernel_Configuration[single]
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kernel configuration.
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[TIP]
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If running any release from the discontinued Xenomai 2 series, or a
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Xenomai 3 release using the *Cobalt* real-time core, then you are
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running a dual kernel configuration. Xenomai 3 over the *Mercury*
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core stands for a single kernel configuration.
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If still out of luck, and if your favorite Internet search engine did
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not help finding a similar/same problem already solved for another
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user, then you should try raising the issue on the
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link:Mailing_Lists[main e-mail discussion list].
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.How to ask for help on the mailing list
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*******************************************************************
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To maximize your chances of receiving quick and accurate responses to
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your request for help, you really want to follow
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link:Asking_For_Help[these recommendations].
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*******************************************************************
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Embedded Linux distributions & Xenomai
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--------------------------------------
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- The Yocto-based http://www.denx.de/wiki/DULG/ELDK[Embedded Linux
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Development Kit] (aka _ELDK_) includes pre-built GNU cross-development
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tools and bootable root file systems for a variety of ARM(TM),
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PowerPC(TM) and MIPS(TM) embedded target systems. It also ships with a
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pre-built stable Xenomai release.
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Other readings
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--------------
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The following books and articles describe different aspects of the
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Xenomai technology:
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- http://www.denx.de/en/pub/News/Xum2009AbstractsAndPresentations/Xenomai_and_Realtime_Image_Processing_Control.pdf[Image
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processing with Xenomai 2 by Xerox UK], presented at the http://www.denx.de/en/News/XenomaiUserMeeting2009[Xenomai User Meeting '09].
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- http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596529680.do[Building Embedded
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Linux Systems, Second Edition]. This book dedicates a chapter
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explaining the dual kernel architecture of Xenomai 2.
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- http://xenomai.org/documentation/slides/Xenomai-OSMB-2007-01.pdf[Xenomai: the
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RTOS Chameleon for Linux], at Open Source Meets Business, Nürnberg,
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Germany, January 2007.
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- http://www.isde.uni-hannover.de/images/b/b3/ELROB_TechnicalPaper_RTS_University_of_Hannover.pdf[Semi-autonomous service robots] at the ELROB 2006. |
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Xenomai is about making various real-time operating system APIs
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available to Linux-based platforms. When the target Linux kernel
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cannot meet the requirements with respect to response time
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constraints, Xenomai can also supplement it for delivering stringent
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real-time guarantees based on an original co-kernel technology. |
