LINX Interprocess Communications Services for Complex Distributed Systems
From telecom infrastructure equipment and automobiles, to medical instruments and industrial control systems, today’s distributed systems are running increasingly sophisticated programs spread across more and more processors, operating systems and interconnects. One of the greatest challenges in developing applications for these distributed systems is creating the overarching communications framework needed to integrate platform components and provide services to applications throughput the network.
Enea’s LINX provides a best-in-class COTS interprocess communications (IPC) solution for complex distributed systems. Utilizing direct message passing, this flexible, transparent IPC suite works with multiple operating systems, supports control and data plane applications over both reliable and unreliable media, and delivers higher performance than competitive IPC technologies such as TIPC (Transparent Interprocess Communication). LINX is also the only IPC technology that scales from DSPs and microcontrollers to 64-bit CPUs, and supports any distributed system topology, from a single processor on a single blade, to large networks with complex cluster topologies deployed on hundreds of processors in a multi-rack system.
Transparent, Scalable IPC Services
Complex distributed systems often combine a variety of standard and proprietary technologies to coordinate communications between application processes. The specific mix of IPC technologies depends on the target operating systems, where the processes physically reside (i.e., the same processor, different processors, or different operating systems), and the physical media used to connect processes (i.e., shared memory, Gigabit Ethernet, RapidIO). This dependence on the underlying OS, processor, and interconnect makes these hybrid-IPC systems difficult to partition and develop, and even more difficult to reconfigure and scale.
Enea’s LINX provides transparent system-wide IPC services that enable application processes distributed across multiple operating systems, processors, and interconnects to communicate in a seamless fashion, as if they were running on the same CPU under the same operating system. LINX IPC services are independent of the underlying hardware, operating system, physical interconnect, and network topology. This consistency and transparency makes distributed applications easy to partition and develop, enables them to be reconfigured and scaled with few if any changes to the application code, and makes it easier to integrate software components from other suppliers. It also increases overall system availability and makes systems easier to debug and maintain over time.
Seamless Linux/RTOS Connection
LINX’s transparency makes it ideal for creating software platform solutions that combine multiple operating systems running on multiple CPUs and DSPs. This versatile platform gives equipment makers the freedom to select any OS or processor combination best suited to their application. Some network equipment providers, for example, may elect to use Linux on one set of blades to host high-level management and supervisory control applications, while using an RTOS like OSE or OSEck on other blades to host real-time control and DSP-based media processing applications.
Best in Class Performance
LINX provides a high-performance IPC solution that delivers lower latency and higher throughput than competitive IPC solutions such as TIPC. This high performance level enables LINX to be used system wide for both intra-node (within the same CPU) and internode (between CPUs) interprocess communications, thereby simplifying system design and increasing reliability.
Highly Scaleable
Unlike competitive IPC solutions, LINX provides a small footprint that enables it to run on DSPs as well as high-performance 32-/64-bit CPUs. LINX also utilizes an innovative address model that, coupled with its small footprint, makes it highly scaleable and enables it to support any distributed system topology, from simple DSP nodes to large networks with complex cluster topologies (i.e., clusters connected by bridges and gateways).
Business Benefits
Reduced Time to Market for Multiple Product Generations
Using a single system-wide IPC to link application processes and platform software components significantly reduces time to market, not only for initial product development and integration, but for future upgrades over multiple generations of product. Not only is a single IPC method easier to learn, it makes systems more scalable, enabling designers to reconfigure their applications, add/delete nodes, and relocate software components without having to modify the application code. This consistency, coupled with LINX’s transparency, also makes applications and system software easier to migrate to new hardware, enabling equipment makers to reuse software across multiple generations of product.
Increased Availability
LINX enhances distributed system availability by providing supervision and failure reporting for designated connections. LINX also provides built-in support for redundant links, both for physical CPU interconnects and logical connections between endpoints.
Lower Life-Cycle Maintenance Costs
Using a single system-wide IPC method also makes systems easier to debug and maintain throughout the life of the system. Application code that uses a single IPC method is easier to read and understand, reduces complexity, and makes it easier for equipment makers and support teams to fix problems and perform upgrades.
Standard, Open Source – Easy Access to Best-of-Breed Third Party Technology
As equipment makers gravitate towards COTS technology in order to reduce cost and time to market, they are insisting on standard, open interfaces that make COTS technology easy to access and integrate. LINX provides a standard system-wide IPC framework that makes it easy for equipment makers to develop platform software and applications utilizing best-of-breed components from multiple vendors. LINX is also open source, further simplifying multi-vendor integration and making this best-of-breed technology available to the broader embedded systems community.