VxWorks is helping power the next generation of wireless networks

You are probably wondering what an RTOS has to do with wireless networks. Well, a lot, actually.  VxWorks is used extensively in telecom/datacom infrastructure including 3G and next generation networks 4G, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WiMax. As you have likely heard, the current 3G networks are straining from the demand from new wireless smartphones such as the iPhone. Networking companies that build the infrastructure for these networks have clear marching orders - the next generation must handle more data and for more customers. We're hearing requirements for 10 to 20 times the current capabilities.

Given the high throughput and the need to react to signaling and rerouting instructions, real-time operating systems are common in this environment. VxWorks has been a platform of choice for networking companies because of its broad hardware support, multicore capabilities (both in Symmetric (SMP) and Asymmetric Multiprocessing (AMP) configurations), offload acceleration and advanced networking. Of note in our recent VxWorks 6.8 release, is updates to our mobile IP stack which is of interest to companies building next generation wireless infrastructure.

• Compression for  IP headers to efficiently use “over the air” bandwidth

• Includes RoHC (Robust Header Compression) RFCs 3095, 3096, 3843, 4815

• IPv4 and IPv6 implementations
• Support for mobile node, home agent, and foreign agent
• Comprehensive RFC support

It's exciting to be part of this transition to high speed mobile networks both as a consumer (of data) and a provider of software for the next generation.