VxWorks is one of the most widely used commercial real-time operating systems (RTOS) in aerospace, defense, and industrial control. Its reliability and performance have powered systems like the Mars Pathfinder, Patriot missile system, and F-16 fighter jet. With the release of VxWorks 7.0, Wind River introduced a modular architecture that separates the kernel, networking stack, and file system, while also adding support for 64-bit PowerPC processors.
One such processor, the NXP T2080, is a high-performance, low-power PowerPC-based quad-core, eight-thread processor with the latest AltiVec SIMD engine. Delivering up to 172 GFLOPS, the T2080 is ideal for radar, aerospace, networking, and defense applications. This blog explores how VxWorks 7.0 was successfully adapted to the T2080, focusing on bootloader integration, kernel adaptation, device tree usage, and driver development.
Why Adapt VxWorks 7.0 for the T2080? #
The demand for real-time, high-throughput computing in radar and avionics systems requires robust software–hardware integration. By building a general-purpose processing card based on the T2080, engineers achieved:
- High performance for signal processing
- Strong real-time responsiveness
- Energy-efficient multi-threaded computing
- Compatibility with VxWorks 7.0’s modular BSP and driver framework
Bootloader Development with U-Boot #
Before an embedded OS can run, it requires a bootloader. For VxWorks 6.x, Wind River provided bootrom. Starting with VxWorks 7, U-Boot is now recommended due to its flexibility and hardware debugging capabilities.
U-Boot Development Highlights: #
- Environment: Built under Ubuntu Linux using VMware virtualization.
- Cross-compilation: Toolchains provided by NXP’s Yocto SDK were used to compile U-Boot for PowerPC.
- Startup Modes: Supported multiple boot modes, including NOR Flash, SPI Flash, and eMMC.
- Customization: BSP-level modifications (board files, headers, defconfigs) ensured T2080-specific hardware initialization.
This step ensured a stable boot process, enabling the VxWorks 7.0 kernel to load correctly.
Kernel Adaptation and Configuration #
VxWorks 7 introduced significant changes compared to older releases:
- Separation of BSP, architecture, and driver code
- Introduction of PSL (Platform Support Library)
- Transition to VxBus GEN2 with Device Tree (DTS) support
To configure the kernel, developers used Wind River Workbench 4.0, creating both:
- VSB (VxWorks Source Build): Provides compiled libraries
- VIP (VxWorks Image Project): Builds the system image and device tree
Developers could then add or remove components, rebuild the image, and deploy to the T2080 board.
Device Tree Integration #
In VxWorks 7, the device tree replaces much of the static BSP hardware configuration:
- Hardware details (CPU, memory, buses, peripherals) are stored in
.dtsfiles - Compiled into binary
.dtbformat - Passed by U-Boot to the kernel at boot
- Allows hardware–software separation: hardware changes no longer require kernel recompilation
This approach made VxWorks more modular, portable, and aligned with Linux-based embedded development practices.
Driver Development #
While VxWorks ships with many drivers, certain interfaces of the T2080 (like SRIO) required custom driver development:
- Built using DKM (Downloadable Kernel Module) projects
- Followed VxBus GEN2 driver model
- Integrated with the device tree to define hardware resources
- Debugged and validated in real time for radar and data-intensive workloads
This ensured all board-level features were fully supported by the RTOS.
Conclusion #
Adapting VxWorks 7.0 to the NXP T2080 PowerPC processor demonstrates how modern RTOS platforms evolve to support high-performance, real-time applications. By leveraging U-Boot, modular kernel design, device trees, and custom driver development, engineers created a robust environment capable of meeting the demanding requirements of aerospace and defense systems.
This work not only provides a blueprint for adapting VxWorks to other PowerPC platforms but also highlights the importance of modular RTOS design in next-generation embedded systems.