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FreeRTOS vs TI-RTOS?

george dorian
Intellectual 940 points


Hello all,

I’ve been learning FreeRTOS and TI-RTOS for Tiva C series on-and-off for a few years now. I still don’t know which one is best for me.  I was wondering what more experienced engineers think.  Here are some of my concerns.

General pros and cons of each.

As I understand; FreeRTOS is ROMed into the Tiva chips (so less code memory used), but TI-RTOS is loaded with each build (so you can load the latest version).

Which has better support?

Which is more straight forward when adding Ethernet and USB?

  • 0
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points

    Hello George

    george dorian said:
    As I understand; FreeRTOS is ROMed into the Tiva chips (so less code memory used)

    FreeRTOS is not ROM-ed in. In fact no RTOS is ROM-ed in...

    Now you are asking one very clear question: Should I be driving a Ferrari or should I be driving a Honda. The answer cannot be very clear because it depends on what you expect from the car..... You will startle the sales guy by asking "General pros and cons of the make and model v/s the other"

    Regards

    Amit

  • 0
    Guru 92251 points

    george dorian said:
    As I understand; FreeRTOS is ROMed into the Tiva chips (so less code memory used)

    Some of the now obsolete Stellaris devices, such as the LM3S9B96, had the SafeRTOS™ preemptive real-time kernel in ROM. I am not aware of any Tiva devices which have a RTOS in ROM.

  • 0
    Expert 1995 points

    No Tiva chip have RTOS ROMed.

    In ROM is present part (or whole?) TivaWare library.

    best regards

    MAx

  • 0 in reply to Massimiliano Cialdi
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello Max,

    Chester and me have both confirmed, no "ROM-ed" RTOS

    Regards
    Amit
  • 0 in reply to Massimiliano Cialdi
    Guru 92251 points

    mastupristi said:
    In ROM is present part (or whole?) TivaWare library.

    The Tiva™ C Series TM4C129x ROM USER’S GUIDE lists which TivaWare functions are available in ROM.

    I haven't performed a complete check of the functions in ROM .vs. the TivaWare library, but I believe the ROM and flash based TivaWare library started with the same set of functions. However, the flash based TivaWare library may add new APIs. e.g. TivaWare 2.1.3.156 added a new SysCtlVCOGet API which doesn't exist in the ROM version. So I think the flash based TivaWare library should be considered a super-set of the functions in ROM.

  • 0
    Intellectual 940 points
    Hello all,
    thanks for your replies!
    I already feel that I have a much better grasp of the big picture.
    I assume FreeRTOS is the Ferrari and TI-RTOS is the Honda. I assume its easer and cheaper driving a Honda? I want to implement a web managed device with USB. I did see a Web demo program with TI-RTOS. Would TI-RTOS good functionality or should I consider FreeRTOS for that. I understand that the middleware (TCI/IP stack and USB stack) are free for TI-RTOS, but I need to pay for FreeRTOS middleware. Please confirm.
    Thanks George
  • 0
    Intellectual 940 points
    Is there a CCS manual? I can't seem to find one. Just videos, wikys, and blogs. I'm looking for an actual manual for rev6.
    thanks George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    Guru 26105 points

    Hi,

    Start here:

    There are separate manuals for compiler and assembler (ARM), also to be found from above page; don't have at hand now the links, but you will find them.

    Operating instructions also there.

  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello George,

    Cost is just a part of the equation: support is another part. Availability of examples, yet another.

    Regards
    Amit
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    Guru 92251 points

    george dorian said:
    I'm looking for an actual manual for rev6.

    Does the list of Application notes and User guides listed on http://www.ti.com/tool/CCSTUDIO#Technical Documents contain the information you need?

    There is also the help in CCS.

  • 0 in reply to Chester Gillon
    Intellectual 940 points
    Hello Chester,
    Thanks for helping me!
    I looked at that link and the help menu form CCS before my last post. I feel that in both cases the information is not sequential, just random bits and pieces, so is not efficient. Also, much of the files on the IT web site is out of date. I’m looking for a classical user manual for CCS that starts from the beginning and walks the reader through setting up a project, files, linking, configuration, etc. IAR has good documentation like that, does one exist for CCS?
    Thanks George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    Guru 92251 points

    george dorian said:
    Also, much of the files on the IT web site is out of date.

    I see what you mean. I have just noticed that the http://www.ti.com/tool/CCSTUDIO page contains a link to a application note titled Simulation Fulfills Its Promise for Enhancing Debug and Analysis from 2004, even though starting with CCS v6 support for software simulation has been removed!

    george dorian said:
    I’m looking for a classical user manual for CCS that starts from the beginning and walks the reader through setting up a project, files, linking, configuration, etc. IAR has good documentation like that, does one exist for CCS?

    I did search, but couldn't find such a document. You might get a more informative answer if you ask the question on the Code Composer Forum forum.

  • 0
    Intellectual 940 points
    I found two pdf files tilted "TI-RTOS 2.20 User’s Guide" and "SYS/BIOS (TI-RTOS Kernel) v6.46 User's Guide". Both dated June 2016. I read the "about...", but only have a vague idea of the difference. Some clarification would be grateful. Also, should I read both (if so witch one first), or only one of them.
    Thanks again, George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello George

    I believe you should start evaluating the options by starting projects of increasing complexity in both environments. That will help benchmark performance, code size, ease of use.....

    Regards
    Amit
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    Guru 92251 points

    george dorian said:
    I read the "about...", but only have a vague idea of the difference.

    SYS/BIOS is the underlying real-time Kernel. TI-RTOS adds functionality on top of SYS-BIOS by adding device drivers and a network stack.

  • 0 in reply to Amit Ashara
    Intellectual 940 points
    Hello Amit,
    I'm grateful for your help. But I have more questions for you.
    Which one is the Ferrari and which is the Honda and why?
    I'm still trying to figure which (FreeRTOS or TI-RTOS) is the best path for me. I want to design TCP/IP managed devices (with USB). I've just started learning both (FreeRTOS or TI-RTOS) and, at this point, I feel that FreeRTOS is much more straight forward in both code and learning material. I know that TI-RTOS is bundled with serous middleware like TCP/IP stack and USB stack and is all free license. FreeRTOS is open and the middleware are all 3rd party (probably with license cost). How do I integrate TCP/IP and USB stacks for FreeRTOS when using CCS or IAR? I have run the FreeRTOS demo (for the TM4C123CNP board) successfully, but the empty project for TI-RTOS (in CCS) had build errors.
    Thanks George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello George

    Depends who looks at it. As you have already seen by means of your experiments, there are pros and cons for both. I would suggest TI RTOS errors be posted on the TI RTOS forum.

    Regards
    Amit
  • 0 in reply to Amit Ashara
    Intellectual 940 points
    I don't think I understand your reply.
    George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello George

    TI RTOS errors are to be posted on the TI RTOS forum.

    When it comes to comparison, everyone has an opinion. Long time back I had posted on google forum on VHDL v/s Verilog and I had seen every possible response for folks preferring one language to another and some even coming up with alternates.
  • 0 in reply to Amit Ashara
    Intellectual 940 points
    Are your saying that there is a forum just for TI-RTOS and FreeRtos? I could not find it. Could you please give me the link?
    Thanks George
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    TI__Guru**** 244400 points
    Hello George

    TI RTOS: e2e.ti.com/.../355

    FreeRTOS has its own mailing list (TI does not manage it)
  • 0 in reply to george dorian
    Guru 27665 points

    Depending on your view of your future plans George, one point to consider in your deliberations besides the direct technical merits.

    FreeRTOS (and it's cousin SafeRTOS) run on multiple cores and on multiple variants of the same core. TI-RTOS is limited to TI cores and variants.

    There are both direct and indirect advantages to this.

    Robert