RT-Thread, the real-time operating system (RTOS) for Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, has released its latest version, RT-Thread 5.0. Developed by a community of Chinese developers since 2006, the system is now available for nearly 200 plates, chips, and microcontrollers based on architectures such as X86, ARM, MIPS, C-Sky, XTensa, Arc, and RISC-V.
RT-Thread 5.0’s minimalist version, RT-Thread Nano, requires only 3KB Flash and 1.2 KB RAM, making it suitable for IoT devices with limited resources. Additionally, a full-functioning version supporting package control, configurators, network stacks, packages with the implementation of the graphic interface, voice control systems, DBMS, network services, and engines for scripts is also available.
The platform supports a wide range of architectures, including popular microcontrollers like ARM Cortex-M0/M0+/M3/M4/M7/M23/M33 and manufacturers such as ST, Winner Micro, Mindmotion, Realtek, Infineon, Gigadevic, Nordic, and Nuvoton.
RT-Thread 5.0 also features an expanded modular architecture that allows developers to create an environment suitable for systems with limited resources. The platform supports various standard interfaces for application development, such as Posix, CMSIS, and C++ API.
The platform also includes a flexible power management system that enables automatic conversion of the device into sleep mode and dynamic control of voltage and frequency depending on the load, as well as support for diverse standard interfaces for developing programs. Additionally, the platform has built-in virtual FS and drivers for FS such as Fat, UFFS, NFSV3, Romfs, and Ramfs.
RT-Thread 5.0 includes protocols for TCP/IP, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Nb-Iot, 2G/3G/4G, HTTP, MQTT, and LWM2M. Furthermore, it has a system of remote delivery and installation of updates, supporting encryption and verification by digital signature, renewal of interrupted installations, recovery after failure, rollback of changes etc. to solve difficulties for developers.
RT-Thread 5.0’s code is written in the language of Si and distributed under Apache 2.0 license. For Arudino support, RT-Thread also develops the layer RTduino .