ThreadX

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ThreadX
Website	ThreadX
Company/ developer	Express Logic, Inc.
OS family	Real-time operating systems
Marketing target	Real-time embedded systems
Kernel type	Picokernel
License	Royalty-free
Working state	Current

ThreadX, developed and marketed by Express Logic, Inc. of San Diego, California, USA, is a real-time operating system (RTOS). Similar RTOSes are available from other vendors such as VxWorks, Nucleus RTOS, OSE, QNX, LynxOS, etc. The author of ThreadX (as well as Nucleus) is William Lamie, who is the President and CEO of Express Logic, Inc.

The name ThreadX is derived from the fact that threads are used as the executable modules and the letter “X” represents switching, i.e., it switches threads. ThreadX can be seen as the "QThreads" of SystemC implemented in preemptive fashion.

Like most RTOSes, ThreadX uses a multitasking kernel with preemptive scheduling, fast interrupt response, memory management, interthread communication, mutual exclusion, event notification, and thread synchronization features.

Major distinguishing characteristics of ThreadX include priority inheritance, preemption-threshold, efficient timer management, picokernel design, event-chaining, fast software timers, and compact size. ThreadX is distributed using a marketing model in which source code is provided and licenses are royalty-free.

ThreadX is generally used in real-time embedded systems, especially in deeply embedded systems. Developing embedded systems using ThreadX is usually done on a host machine running Linux or Microsoft Windows, using cross-compiling target software to run on various target processor architectures. Several ThreadX-aware development tools are available, such as Wind River Workbench, ARM RealView, Green Hills Software's MULTI, Metrowerks CodeWarrior, IAR C-SPY, Lauterbach TRACE32, and visionCLICK.

Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers, digital cameras, and many of its laser printers use ThreadX.^{[citation needed]} It was used in the recent Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Deep Impact mission.^{[citation needed]} ThreadX is widely used in a variety of consumer electronics, medical devices, data networking applications, and SoC development.