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Zephyr Operating System
Zephyr is an open-source and lightweight real-time operating system designed to work with embedded systems and the Internet of Things(IoT). Wind River System originated it and is further managed by the Linux Foundation. It is famous for its scalability, modularity and security features, making it easier to work with various applications. It can work well with most devices, from small sensors to complex IoT devices. It is written in C programming language and was initially released in 2016. The latest version of Zephyr is Zephyr 3.7.0. It contains all the necessary components that are used for developing a fledge application such as Kernel, device drivers, file system, firmware updates, etc.
Zephyr is commonly used to create applications for IoT, wearable devices, medical devices, industrial automation, or any other device which requires low-power, reliable and real-time operations. Due to its features, it is ideal for home devices, environmental sensors, and much more. IoT gateways, smart watches, mice, wind turbines, blood glucose monitors, etc, are some live example that uses Zephyr OS.
Architecture of Zephyr Operating System
Following are the main components of the Zephyr OS architecture−
Kernel
Kernel is the heart of the Zephyr operating system. It is responsible for providing real-time operating functionality such as thread management, schedulers, synchronisation, communication, memory management, timers, etc. It also handles task management and resource allocation. It divides all its services into modules so that we can exclude or include them according to the needs of the embedded system.
Hardware Abstraction Layer
The Hardware abstraction layer is used to abstract the underlying hardware, which allows Zephyr to support multiple platforms and architectures with minimal changes in the application. It provides an interface for low-level functions such as clock control, peripheral access and much more.
OS Services
OS Services support various services such as device drivers, networking stack, file system, power management, security, etc., so that applications can easily access all the services of the os. It is generally present above the kernel.
Application Layer
It is the top layer, which is present above kernel and OS services. It is the layer where the user can implement application logic, user-defined tasks, or customise functions. Here, developers can configure OS components.
Features of Zephyr Operating System
Following are some important features of the Zephyr operating system which we must know about before using it−
Real-Time Capabilities: The sole purpose of designing Zephyr OS is to work with real-time applications seamlessly. It also provides various algorithms to handle real-time scheduling, time-sensitive tasks, deadline scheduling, etc, to make sure that all the assigned tasks are executed in the given period without any delay.
Lightweight: Zephyr supports modular design, due to which developers have the authority to include only the necessary components which make the OS light in weight and provide high performance.
Scalability: Due to the modular design of Zephyr OS, it can easily run on most of the hardware, starting from the simple microcontroller to complex and powerful systems.
Hardware support: Zephyr OS is supported by a wide range of hardware such as ARM, Intel x86, ARC, RISC-V, etc.
Support preemptive multitasking: Zephyr OS supports preemptive multitasking, which means a task can be interrupted and resumed to complete important tasks.
Support drivers and peripherals: Zephyr OS supports a wide range of device drivers for peripherals such as I2C, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, SPI, etc.
Moemory Protection: Zephyr OS provide various features to protect memory, including memory isolation and privilege separation. It always makes sure that the applications are protected from faults and vulnerabilities, which enhances the overall performance of the system.
Secuirty: Zephyr OS supports stack protection, memory protection, boot protection, etc., to provide good security for IoT developments.
Open Source: Zephyr OS is open source and supports a large community, which continuously enhances it.
Network: Zephyr OS has an in-built networking stack which supports various types of network protocols, such as IPv4, IPv6, Bluetooth, HTTP, etc., to communicate with devices.
Benifits of Zephyr Operating System
Following are the benefits of Zephyr operating system−
It can handle time-sensitive tasks very effectively and give quick responses to its applications.
It is lightweight and use low resources.
It provides good support to its extensive peripheral devices.
It is open source and has a large community which helps in handling bugs, improvements, and regular updates.
It provides a rich set of APIs for embedded development, networking, file system, power management, etc.
Limitations of Zephyr Operating System
Following are the limitation of Zephyr operating system−
Zephyr OS supports limited graphics and multimedia libraries.
It is designed for low-level environments, so it lacks middleware and high-level libraries.
It depends more on third-party libraries.
It is more challenging to learn and use because it is more complex than other TOSs.
It is designed for constraints and is not suitable for high throughput applications.