Base 6: Frequently Asked Questions

Product Information

Q: What is Base 6?

A: Base 6 is the Wind River internal code name for the next generation VxWorks operating system and associated tools technologies.  Externally, Base 6 will ship as VxWorks 6.0, and WIND®POWER IDE 2.x tools.  We will not carry forward the Tornado branding with the delivery of Base 6.

Q: Why are we not carrying the Tornado name forward?

A: Although Tornado has strong industry brand awareness, Tornado represents a difficult branding challenge.  Tornado was used to refer to (a) tools, (b) the umbrella term for VxWorks and Tools, and (c) application-specific packages such as Tornado for Car Infotainment, Tornado for Home Gateways, etc.  Moving forward, we are looking to create a tools umbrella name that is consistently branded across all our development tools:  WIND®POWER xx (xx = ICE, IDE, etc.).

Q: How does Base 6 differ from Platform 7?

A: In 2002, there was an internal R&D effort to define the technical characteristics of the next generation OS.  This effort was code named “Platform 7” (P7).  In late 2002 / early 2003, a cross-functional team (consisting of core marketing, engineering, principal technologists, market development, field engineering, and sales) validated the P7 characteristics by visiting 17 strategic accounts representing several market verticals.  These customers positively validated the key feature characteristics of P7.  However, customers expressed strongly that easy migration and technology re-use were key requirements for adoption.  Subsequently, the product team stepped back and re-evaluated the implementation alternatives to meet this critical requirement.  As P7 was largely a new, revolutionary technical design, the team determined that implementing the next generation as a technical evolution of VxWorks 5.5 was the most efficient way to support migration and technology re-use.  Thus, P7 was renamed to Base 6 to distinguish the effort from the previous P7 effort.

Q: How does Base 6 fit into the Wind River product portfolio?

A: Base 6 is the OS and Tools offering follow-on to Tornado 2.2 / VxWorks 5.5.  As such, it is a broad set of technologies that will be available through certain Wind River PLATFORMS and the VxWorks Developer’s Toolkit under ELM, and as stand-alone technologies under PUF.  While Base 6 provides memory protection capabilities and advanced tools features, it is distinctly separate from PLATFORM SC DO-178B and PLATFORM SC ARINC653, in that those platforms address specific market requirements for the commercial and defense aerospace markets.

Q: What problems does Base 6 solve for our customers?

A: Base 6 will provide an operating system with optional memory protection, supporting seamless migration and re-use of VxWorks-based IP investment.  Base 6 tools will provide a world-class, open IDE, advanced debugging capabilities, and support for both GCC and Diab compiler technologies.  On the whole, these Base 6 technologies will result in higher Return on Investment for customers by providing shorter product development times, and more robust, higher quality products.

Q: What is Eclipse?

A: Eclipse is an open, extensible framework for building integrated development environments (IDEs). It provides the basic infrastructure tool vendors can use for building their own products. The use of Eclipse promotes industry standards and ensures seamless integration of 3rd party tools. For more information about Eclipse, visit www.eclipse.org

Q: What are the benefits of basing WIND®POWER IDE on Eclipse?

A: There are four primary benefits:

• More innovation at a faster pace because we can focus on areas of key value and spend less time integrating tools components
• Promotes vendor selection and customer choice
• Seamless integration of 3rd party vendor and in-house tools
• Reduces training costs due to the standard Eclipse interface

Q: How different will WIND®POWER IDE be from Tornado and SNiFF?

A: The GUI design is much more modern and there will be small differences in the look and feel of buttons, the use of colors and the name or placement of menus to improve usability and clarity of the product. The features and capabilities that Tornado and SNiFF+ are known for will either remain the same or will be improved. WIND POWER IDE is a big step forward in the evolution of a combined Tornado and SNiFF+ product.

Q: How will VxWorks 6.0 help me compete better against Green Hills?

A: To help our customers protect their investment in Wind River products, the Base 6 RTOS will support seamless migration and technology reuse (by default, Base 6 will build identically to VxWorks 5.5).

Base 6 also provides a viable memory protection capability, provided as incremental functionality beyond the Base 6 kernel.  Three primary features new to VxWorks support this memory protection capability:

1. Error Detection and Reporting – VxWorks 6.0 will be the only commercial RTOS product delivering this feature-rich set of basic memory protection capabilities – task and ISR stack overrun/underrun protection, text segment write protection, null pointer protection, heap block memory ownership tracking and protection, error records, and persistent memory storage for error records –supported by a customizable error handling policy.
2. Real Time Process (RTP) Model – RTPs provide the memory protection that isolates applications from the kernel, and from each other.  RTPs are based on an industry-familiar Unix process model, so the time to ramp-up and understand RTPs should  be minimized.  Conceptually, RTPs are the equivalent of Protection Domains in VxWorks AE, but for adoption purposes, the technical implementation is based on the Unix programming model.
3. Inter-process communication – Complementing the existing VxWorks function call model, this capability provides a common IPC mechanism for runtime integration of all applications and middleware.  This feature is designed for future multi-core and multi-processor messaging.

Q: How will the new Base 6 Wind Power Tools help me compete better against Green Hills?

A: The new WindPower IDE provides a modern, highly capable and easy-to-use development environment for embedded developers.   Instead of reinventing the wheel by developing proprietary tool infrastructure Wind River is adopting an open and extensible framework based on industry standards (Eclipse) and devoting R&D dollars to improve the best features from our existing Tornado and SNiFF+ products that provide value to our customers: Editor, Project Facility, Build, Target Manager, Code Analysis and the Debugger. Thus, Wind River is providing more innovative product capabilities at a faster pace.

The Unified Multiple Context Debugger (UMXD) consolidates existing Wind River debugger solutions: VisionClick and SingleStep.  The UMXD will allow multiple, simultaneous debugging sessions to cores, processors, boards, processes (RTPs, tasks), over multiple connections (target agent, JTAG).   All of this capability will be seamlessly integrated with the Eclipse-based WindPower IDE.

On the whole, the combined OS and Tools capabilities being created in the Base 6 project will provide the foundation for Wind River Platforms, Wind River Services, and the entire arsenal of Wind River capabilities.

Q: Where does Base 6 fall short of Green Hills?

A: Natively with VxWorks 6.0 we will not be able to make any claims towards:

• Guaranteed memory and CPU availability
• Denial of Service protection (requires resource guarantees)
• Full POSIX conformance to POSIX real time profiles PSE 51 and 52 (though, Green Hills can’t claim this capability today either).
• ARINC653 scheduling capabilities

(Wind River Services might be able to provide these capabilities under a CSP).

For WindPower Tools, we’ll provide a detailed competitive analysis when we get closer to the final product.

Q: What is the upgrade policy for Base 6?

A: Customers ELM are entitled to Base 6 as part of the enterprise license model subscription.  The policy for customers under PUF is still being considered, though there likely will be a charge for PUF customers to upgrade to Base 6 technologies.

Q: Will we be confronted with revenue recognition issues?

A: Possibly.  These issues are being actively examined and discussed both internally and with our external auditors.    If any existing customer needs to understand the pricing and upgrade policy for VxWorks, please indicate that these issues are currently under consideration.

Q: What about VxWorks AE?

A: VxWorks AE continues to exist primarily to fill a product-positioning gap around memory protection.   For customers needing a broad VxWorks-based technology solution, our recommended approach is to sell VxWorks 5.5, with a migration path to Base 6.  For customers with a commercial/defense aerospace requirement, our Platform for Safety Critical solutions may satisfy the requirements around memory protection.  VxWorks AE officially will enter the retirement phase sometime after Base 6 FCS; the retirement date is TBD.  Existing VxWorks AE customers may be entitled to an upgrade to Base 6 technology for little or no charge; this policy is under consideration.

Roadmap Dates

Q: Why can’t we move B6 FCS into CY04?

A: The plan of record roadmap dates represents a great deal of up-front analysis and planning.  The philosophical approach of the Base 6 project team is to ensure that when we state dates as a Plan of Record, that it is our commitment to the field and to our customers that we will deliver to those dates.  At this time, we have high confidence that we can deliver on Q1 CY05.  We currently do not have solid analysis supporting delivery in Q4 CY04.

Q: Are you doing anything to improve the dates?

A: Yes.  The Base 6 team is actively addressing ways in which we can pull in the FCS dates.  At this point, we are striving to only improve on the current Plan of Record dates.  We will communicate improved dates if they become available.

Q: Is the TAR date the first time customers will be able to test-drive the technology?

A: No.  The TAR date represents when the TAR CDs will become available.  The TAR image should be available several weeks in advance of the March 2004 date.  With the TAR image, field engineering should be able to begin delivering the TAR and demonstrating the TAR capabilities appropriately to interested customers.

Q: What could we do to address customer concerns about the date?

A: There are several ways to address this concern.  First, since the Base 6 kernel is functionally identical to VxWorks 5.5, customers today can begin to create applications based on T2.2/VxWorks 5.5, or on a PLATFORM based on VxWorks 5.5.  Then, the migration to the Base 6 kernel should be as simple as a recompile and load into the Base 6 kernel or Base 6-based Platform.  We are planning to deliver documents addressing VxWorks 5.5 design considerations for easy migration to Base 6 RTPs, and migration documentation for moving applications from the Base 6 kernel to Base 6 RTPs.

The Technology Access Release (March 2004) will provide customers hands-on access to Base 6, allowing them to evaluate the tools, as well as the VxWorks 6.0 programming model, protection model, message passing, and other memory protection features.  The TAR should provide a sense of confidence that we are indeed building what we are promising, and will demonstrate the memory protection model and tools capabilities nicely.

The Beta release (August 2004) marks the date when customers can take the functionally complete Base 6 for the purposes of full product evaluation, planning and design.

Additionally, we are able to demonstrate today (to strategic customers) the Base 6 technology in its early stages.  Demoable today are: RTPs, Error Detection and Reporting, Wind Kernel, Message Passing, the Eclipse-based IDE technology, the new UMXD debugger, and VxSim.  These were, in fact, already broadly demoed internally in Alameda on August 7, 2003.

Technology Access Release

Q: What is the Technology Access Release (TAR) Program?

A: The TAR is an early non-functionally complete release of the Base 6 technology to customers, prospects and partners, with the following objectives:

• Freeze OS decision-making and shift momentum and attention to VxWorks 6.0
• Create confidence in Wind River by making our pre-alpha technology openly available for evaluation.
• Provide real customer feedback to the B6 product team in time to address real adoption show-stoppers
• Generate sales leads
• Enable customers to begin pre-development planning

Q: What will the Technology Access Release demonstrate?

A: The TAR will demonstrate major features of the Base 6 OS technology and tools:

• Migration
  • Run existing VxWorks 5.5 BSPs, drivers, and applications in the Base 6 kernel with a recompile
  • Extend application functionality in RTPs
  • Migrate applications into RTPs
• Memory Protection / Fault containment
  • Real Time Process model
  • Error Detection and Reporting
  • Inter-Process Communication
• Tools
  • WindPower IDE
  • UMXD
  • Compilers
• Other TAR capabilities
  • Windows 2000 Pro and XP host
  • PowerPC Architecture (82xx, 74xx), Pentium 2

Q: Can I begin recruiting customers to participate in the TAR program?

A: Yes.  Please use the roadmap and sales materials provided to encourage customers to participate in the TAR evaluation program.  Please notify Leo Samson (leo.samson@windriver.com, 510-740-4541) of customers expressing an interest in participating in the TAR program.

Q: Can customers begin developing products based on the TAR release?

A: Yes.  While the B6 TAR cannot be used for deployment in a commercial product, customers can use it for pre-development purposes.  This means that they can begin to understand how they might partition their applications within the Real Time Process memory protection model, begin developing those applications, and in general leverage the capabilities provided in the TAR.  We will, however, require those customers to upgrade to VxWorks 6.0 FCS version before they ship software in commercial products.

Additionally, Wind River Services can be engaged as early as the TAR release to help a customer design and implement products that will eventually be based on the FCS version of Base 6.

Q: How will the field support TAR customers locally?

A: We have launched the Base 6 “Commandos” (the B6 Commando team consists of about two-dozen field engineers representing most geographies and market verticals), who will serve as a beachhead for local expertise and deep technical knowledge about Base 6.  The Base 6 Commandos will help train and support local field engineers in the Base 6 TAR.  The Base 6 team is creating a TAR training program to be delivered internally in advance of the TAR.   Chris Parker and the Super-Geo heads support the Commando program.

Q: How stable will the TAR release be?

A: The Base 6 team’s goal is to have the code fairly stabilized.  The code will have gone through unit, functional, system, and out-of-box testing.  However, the code will still exhibit bugs as it is in pre-alpha state, but any bugs should be clearly documented.  This is an expectation that will be set properly with customers.

Q: Will customer feedback from the TAR influence the final shipping product?

A: Yes, we will address issues blocking broad adoption.  For less serious issues, we may or may not be able to accommodate the feedback into the FCS of Base 6.

Q: When will Base 6 MSPs become available?

A: Our goal as a team is minimize the time lag between Base 6 and associated MSPs, with a maximum time lag not to exceed one quarter.  The Base 6 team is engaging with the MSP teams to reduce the time lag between the Base 6 FCS and the introduction of Base 6-based MSPs.  Early planning discussions are in progress, and the concept of a TAR for certain MSPs is being considered (e.g., PCI).  Minimally, the MSP teams will take the Base 6 TAR release and begin building early Platform demonstrations. Ideally, the MSP engineering teams will be involved prior to the TAR in order to further reduce the learning curve and risk.

Q: What about partner products?

A: We are actively identifying and engaging partners based on when we need their capabilities to be available.  For example, we are in deep discussions with RTI to ensure the scope tools are RTP-aware and usable with Base 6.  We are also currently exposing Base 6 to key semiconductor partners and board vendors.

Migration

Q: How easy is it to migrate applications from VxWorks 5.5 to VxWorks 6.0?

A: By default, the VxWorks 6.0 kernel will build as VxWorks 5.5.  This means that existing VxWorks 5.5 BSPs, drivers, and applications should work in the VxWorks 6.0 kernel with a recompile.

Q: Is seamless migration true without exception?

A: No.  There are some known areas of discontinuity.  VxVMI will not be carried forward into VxWorks 6.0 because those capabilities (and more) are being built into VxWorks 6.0.  Also, we are now using the WIND®NET IP stack, which is the successor to the IP stack built into VxWorks 5.5; some compatibility issues should be expected here.  In general, if a customer wants to take advantage of the advanced memory protection features in VxWorks 6.0, some work will be needed at the BSP level.

Q: How do customers migrate applications from VxWorks 5.4 to VxWorks 6.0?

A: Base 6 does not support seamless migration from versions of VxWorks prior to 5.5.  The team realizes that there exists many legacy customers who will face this migration challenge, and the team is currently analyzing how to ease the migration pain for those customers and thus allow them to maximally leverage their VxWorks-based intellectual property investment on VxWorks 6.0.

Q: How do customers migrate applications from VxWorks AE to VxWorks 6.0?

A: The migration path for these customers is not seamless.  If these customers based their BSP on an existing VxWorks 5.4 BSP, the BSP migration should be relatively painless.  However, if the customer built their BSP with the T3 tools, work will be required to move this BSP to VxWorks 6.0.  Migration of applications built on VxWorks AE Protection Domains will not be straightforward, and the team is currently analyzing ways to ease this transition as well.

Q: How do customers migrate from Tornado to WIND®POWER IDE?

A: We'll provide tools and documentation to help customers migrate from Tornado and SNiFF+ to WIND®POWER IDE. Customers will be able to import existing projects and workspaces and transfer their builds and kernel configurations automatically in most cases. In case of heavy customization by the customer where an automated import is not 100% feasible, migration documentation will explain how to best map Tornado and SNiFF+ concepts to WIND®POWER IDE.

Q: How do customers migrate from SNiFF+ to WIND®POWER IDE?

A: Same answer as above.