KUKA Extends Virtualization Product Line

KUKA Real-Time Products has launched a fully-certified new software package that combine Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows with a real-time operating system, RTOS, on a single or multi-core processor.

 

Extending the KUKA virtualization product line, these packages allow Windows to run with popular RTOSes including VxWorks, Windows CE, QNX and On Time RTOS-32. KUKA virtualization product line includes VxWin that combines Windows with VxWorks and CeWin that combines Windows with WinCE (Windows CE).

 

Officials explain that the combination of a general purpose operating system with a real-time operating system that can maximize the integration of industrial and commercial systems with front office operations which mostly feature Microsoft Windows.

 

Maximization of integration eventually facilitates the fast exchange of useful information and data from instruments and machines used in manufacturing. The addition of an RTOS to Windows in industrial and commercial systems in other applications provides deterministic execution of critical functions. This optimizes productivity and enables equipment and system manufacturers to reduce product cost and eliminate additional hardware through the use of a single processor.

 

KUKA’s software packages can easily run on either single-core or multi-core processors. This capability allows the system designers to migrate existing products to new hardware featuring multi-core processors to take advantage of faster processing speeds.

 

KUKA virtualization solution can also combine the OSes without affecting performance. Because KUKA does not modify either the Windows or the RTOS, all the characteristics and features of each OS are operational. Also, the real-time operation system is not affected by any interruptions in Windows. The company informs that the KUKA solutions can run on any manufacturer’s processor featuring the x86 architecture.

 

“Our customers typically look first for an industry standard RTOS that meets their criteria for all the critical items i.e., performance, cost, corporate stability, customer base, and an established developer community,” notes Rainer Gallus, KUKA sales manager for Real-Time Systems. “We endorse that strategy and have focused our development around the major operating systems in the global market.”  

 

KUKA will demonstrate its new software packages at an industry show. The new products are available for customer evaluation through the KUKA sales channel or downloadable from the company Web site.