Highlights:

  • Real-time Ubuntu is specifically designed to power critical systems, including medical devices and factory automation equipment, requiring a high level of reliability.
  • The collaboration leverages Intel’s Core processor line, offering various features to support time-sensitive workloads.

Canonical Ltd. and Intel Corp. have jointly announced a technical collaboration centered around an enterprise-focused release of Ubuntu, known as Real-time Ubuntu, which was introduced earlier this year.

Real-time Ubuntu is specifically designed to power critical systems, including medical devices and factory automation equipment, requiring high reliability. As part of this collaboration, Canonical has made Real-Time Ubuntu generally available on Intel Core CPUs.

Cindy Goldberg, Vice President of Silicon Alliances at Canonical, stated, “Canonical’s collaboration with Intel allows us to provide a reliable and secure framework for developers and manufacturers, ensuring the longevity and success of their devices in the field.”

The time required to complete a computing task in a standard operating system differs depending on the circumstances. In some instances, a calculation that takes two seconds may take three seconds in others. This is not a problem for most duties but can be a significant obstacle in certain situations.

There are situations in which it is crucial for a digital system to execute a task within a specified time frame. For instance, if a robot arm takes up a box in the incorrect direction, the robot’s onboard computer may have two seconds to devise a solution to prevent the box from falling. It is challenging for conventional operating systems to guarantee that the task will always be completed in less than two seconds.

The real-time version of Ubuntu, developed with Intel’s support, addresses this challenge with a feature called PREEMPT_RT, effectively transforming Ubuntu into a specialized real-time operating system (RTOS).

The critical aspect of an RTOS is ensuring that essential computing tasks are consistently executed within the same time frame without any unexpected delays. This is facilitated by a computing technique known as preemption, which enables Ubuntu’s real-time version to disrupt its existing workload and prioritize immediately a more urgent computing job, avoiding unforeseen computing delays.

The collaboration leverages Intel’s Core processor line, offering various features to support time-sensitive workloads. Notably, Intel’s Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) technology significantly empowers Real-time Ubuntu to meet the requirements of latency-sensitive workloads.

TCC provides priority access to cache, memory, and networking resources for time-sensitive workloads, minimizing disruptions to tasks that must be interrupted to accommodate more critical ones.

Canonical and Intel also partner with hardware manufacturers to ensure easy access to devices that support Real-time Ubuntu. Organizations opting for these devices will receive software updates for up to ten years, enhancing the longevity and supportability of the real-time computing solutions.