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QNX AWARDED PATENT FOR INNOVATION IN DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING

QNX Software Systems Ltd announced it has been awarded a patent for its distributed processing architecture, a critical element of the QNX Neutrino realtime operating system (RTOS).

Co-invented by Peter van der Veen, operating system architect, and Dan Dodge, CEO of QNX Software Systems, the technology covered under the new patent can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of embedded computing systems.

Thousands of companies worldwide rely on QNX technology to power mission- and life-critical applications where system failure is not an option. Applications taking advantage of the extreme reliability and performance of the QNX RTOS include the CRS-1 core router from Cisco Systems; automotive-grade infotainment devices from Audi, Acura and DaimlerChrysler; and many precision-demanding medical instruments and devices.

"As embedded devices become more intelligent, multiprocessor architectures are becoming the rule, rather than the exception. At QNX, we anticipated this trend, which is why we became the first RTOS vendor to support transparent distributed processing," said Dodge. "As the patent attests, we are still the only vendor in our market to offer such advanced technology. This gives QNX customers the unique ability to create low-cost, highly scalable, fault- tolerant designs -- from multi-core CPUs to massive Internet routers that harness the power of hundreds of processors."

Transparent Access

In a conventional network, embedded devices are like so many silos, with little or no ability to leverage one another's resources -- a situation that can lead to costly replication of peripherals, memory, and protocol stacks on each device. But with QNX's patented distributed kernel technology, applications on any device can transparently access the hardware and software resources of any other connected device, without extra programming.

"Applications don't have to do anything special to leverage the power of QNX Neutrino's distributed processing," said van der Veen. "In fact, virtually any remote resource such as a network connection, graphics display, or flash memory can be accessed as if it were running on the local CPU."

Besides eliminating unnecessary hardware, the location transparency provided by QNX's distributed kernel technology makes fault-resilient, load balancing systems much easier to design and build. As a result, developers today can create systems that scale seamlessly on demand. In addition, when a new device is plugged into a network, applications on existing devices can automatically discover and access the new system's resources, without having to be recoded or redesigned.