T-Engine

The T-Engine is a project to develop a standardised, open, real time computing system and development environment. The aim of this project is to make it easier and cheaper to create embedded computers in everyday objects, a paradigm described as the "ubiquitous computing", which can easily connect to networks. The T-Engine Forum has been developing this system, and it has been heavily based on previous work by the related TRON Project.

Architecture

The T-Engine has standardised hardware (T-Engine board) as well as real-time operating system (T-Kernel). Unlike TRON the hardware has also become standardised for: "service call specifications for the OS, various hardware and software interfaces, and object format specifications" ^{[http://www.personal-media.co.jp/te/en/tekit.html]} . However it must be noted that the microprocessor architecture for the T-Engine has not been fixed. The development environment has also become standardised around the GNU development environment.To clarify the objective of the T-Engine specifications, we have set up the T-Engine reference system model consisting of a target system and a development environment system. The target system is where the developed software runs. The development environment system is where developers build the software. In embedded systems, the target system and the development environment are usually different. The layered design of these systems defines specifications for each layer. Figure 1 Shows a model of this architecture.

Target system’s layered architecture

In the T-Engine target system’s layered architecture, each set of hardware specifications includes• functional specifications describing circuit operations, and• physical specifications defining the sizes and positions of connectors and other components.

The hardware layer handles system specifications separately for development and products, but the development and product systems share the standardized functional specifications. This sharing assures that the same software works on both systems. We strictly define functional specifications for peripheral hardware, but, for reasons mentionedpreviously, we leave them unspecified for the CPU to expedite the adaptation of T-Engine on application systems.

Physical specifications for the development and product systems might not be the same. For development systems, we strictly define and standardize the board size, connector type and position, electrical properties, and other characteristics. This enhances the reusability of expansion boards. On the other hand, our approach permits and actually recommends installing product systems based on different physical specifications, provided that the systems satisfy the functional specifications.

The software layer contains standard sets of specifications. Following these specifications ensures that software is suited to run on hardware satisfying T-Engine’s functional specifications. Unlike the hardware specifications, the development and product systems share the software specifications— except for a debug support function, which only the development system supports. We further divide the software layer into the following four layers:

• Monitor : This software enables basic operations on T-Engine hardware, including functions that run application software, load it into memory, and read from and write to memory. This layer defines a standard specification called T-Monitor.

• Kernel :This is the real-time kernel of the T-Engine system architecture, as defined in the T-Kernel specifications.

• Middleware : This layer provides services to application software with user-defined system calls, application tasks, and libraries offered by T-Kernel. The T-Format specification standardizes formats for middleware source and execution code.

• Application : This layer enables applications based on the T-Engine architecture. As in the middleware layer, T-Format defines the code formats for application software.

Development environment system’s layered architecture

The hardware layer for the development environment includes several types of hardware— the in-circuit emulator, for example— for hardware emulation and testing. The T-Engine architecture does not specifically define hardware specifications except for the interface between the hardware and the target system, and the interface with higher-level development environments.

The software layer includes a development environment layer and an operating system or kernel layer. The development environment software includes compilers, linkers, assemblers, and front-end systems for cross debuggers. T-Builder is the standard development environment specification for these systems and components. T-Builder’s specifications conform to those of GNU development systems. For development, a programmer could use any operating system or kernel that T-Builder (the standard development environment) can run on the system. In our present reference implementation, we use a Unix-based operating system.Target system’s Standard Hardware

The T-Engine platform is mainly suited for real-time embedded systems in ubiquitous computing environments. In addition, these systems are suitable for an extensive range of applications. To cover such a vast application range, the four established sets of hardware platform specifications shown in Figure 2 handle different sizes, power levels, and processing capabilities.

 T-EngineThe standard T-Engine platform ( 75 mm _ 120 mm board size ) is suited for mobile information appliances such as next-generation mobile phones and electronic- book readers. Suitable devices would have a graphic display and an input device, providing an advanced user interface; run on a battery; and have a wireless communication function. Standard T-Engine: Outline of CPU Board Specification • 32-bit CPU with MMU• 16MB/32MB RAM (increase possible with expansion board)• 4MB Flash memory (increase possible with expansion board)• Serial I/O - 384 kbit/s or more possible • PCMCIA - Type II, 1 slot• USB Host - Type A connector, 1 channel• eTRON chip I/F SIM card connector)• LCD panel I/F• Sound CODEC - Input 1 channel, output 2 channels• Extension bus I/F• Calendar clock  µT-EngineThe µT-Engine is a standard platform for computers embedded in such units as home appliances and in measuring equipment. Its board size is 60 × 85 mm, and it does not necessarily need a memory management unit (MMU). We apply the same specifications used for T-Engine to the expansion connector to enable the sharing of hardware components between both engines. Unlike T-Engine, a graphic display is not required because µT-Engine devices would use a simple user interface.μT-Engine: Outline of CPU Board Specification • 32-bit CPU• 2MB/4MB RAM (increase possible with expansion board)• 4MB Flash memory (increase possible with expansion board)• Serial I/O - 384 kbit/s or more possible• MMC card, 1 slot• eTRON chip I/F (SIM card connector)• Expansion bus I/F• Calendar clock  nT-EngineThe nT-Engine is an inexpensive, coin-sized hardware platform intended for such nodes as lighting fixtures, sensors, and window controllers. It consists of a processor core, network interface, and peripheral functions. A hardware library integrates the necessary peripheral functions. This platform serves as a processor core, combining functions to create a target system.

 pT-EngineThe pT-Engine is a chip-shaped platform with a sensor function and a wireless or optical communication function. Only several millimeters in size, pT-Engine fits into a large variety of unpowered objects, including clothing, desks, chairs, paintings (hanging on walls), dishes, and drug bottles. Rather than just a simple radio frequency identification (RFID) device, pT-Engine is also a computer with processing capability. For example, this chip could attach to a wine bottle in transit to monitor and record temperature and vibration data for quality assurance. To run on unpowered objects, the chip might use electromagnetic energy from a communication medium or power generated by microelectro-mechanical systems using micropulsation.

T-Kernel Design Concept

T-Kernel is the standard real-time operating system for (standard) T-Engine and µT-Engine. Neither nT-Engine nor pT-Engine uses T-Kernel or its equivalents because both platforms have extremely small amounts of computing resources.

For nearly 20 years, the TRON Project has focused on constructing a ubiquitous computing environment. During the course of the project, it had published Industrial TRON (ITRON), which are open specifications for a real-time kernel in computing nodes and the ancestor of T-Kernel. The ITRON-based, real-time embedded kernel has a large number of applications, including mobile phones, engine control systems in automobiles, digital cameras, and fax machines. It has become a platform for a wide range of middleware, device drivers, and applications. These applications can run on the standard T-Engine and µT-Engine with slight modifications.

As described previously, the T-Engine Project seeks to apply a real-time embedded kernel to a large variety of systems. Even for just T-Engine and µT-Engine, applications range from a small, single-purpose embedded unit to a large-scale server system. T-Kernel is so scalable that it can cover—with single kernel architecture—a wide array of systems. These systems range from lightweight, compact realtime systems that operate under severe cost and resource restrictions (light systems) to advanced server-oriented systems equipped with a virtual memory unit (advanced systems).

The T-Kernel design concept provides two advantages: It helps individual software applications implement common functions for the increasingly popular large server systems and small embedded systems. It can also manage small embedded systems in their initial development phase, before they evolve into larger systems.

Mobile phones in Japan offer a good example of these two advantages. Initially, mobile phones only had a phone function, but during the past couple of years, they have begun offering many other functions such as Web browsers, games, and personal information management. The T-Kernel design concept is useful in dealing with such rapid changes in scale. For this reason, we designed a real-time kernel based on unified, scalable specifications, instead of designing different operating systems for light and advanced systems. To give T-Kernel high scalability, we introduced the concept of a subsystem. This subsystem permits kernel extension and the construction of both light and advanced systems on the same kernel. T-Kernel Extension is the extended portion of an operating system created with this subsystem. The T-Kernel Extension provides

• a virtual memory using an MMU;• a process management function to modularize programs such as those for resource management;• an event management function to process information entered using a keyboard and mouse, and to monitor device conditions; and• a file management function.

T-Kernel alone permits the construction of lightweight and compact conventional realtime systems, whereas T-Kernel and T-Kernel Extension combined can realize advanced systems. T-Kernel also has a function not provided in ordinary real-time kernels: the dynamic management of kernel objects such as tasks and semaphores to facilitate the addition of miscellaneous middleware and device drivers.

Hardware

There are four different types of T-Engine hardware:

*standard T-Engine
*micro T-Engine
*nano T-Engine
*pico T-Engineone of more typeits a it product used as a mutiple user .work as a data transferring device

oftware

*μT-Kernel

T-Kernel

The T-Kernel has been described as an ITRON-specification OS ^{[http://www-wa0.personal-media.co.jp/pmc/archive/te/te_faq_e.pdf]} .

T-ENGINE FOR UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING

Ubiquitous computing (one person, many computers) is the third era in computing. It follows the mainframe era (one computer, many people) and the PC era (one person, one computer). It is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. As opposed to the desktop paradigm, in which a single user consciously engages a single device for a specialized purpose, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems simultaneously, in the course of ordinary activities, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so.

Following the popularity of the Internet-enabled mobile phones, the number of devices connected to the network will increase rapidly. The days of ubiquitous computing environment when the surrounding environment is increasingly embedded with computers and connected to a network, is becoming realized.

To make a ubiquitous computing environment a reality, there are two important points to note here. First, it is important to ensure network security at the user side. In a ubiquitous computing environment, various devices other than portable information devices such as mobiles phones and PDAs , will be connected to the network from houses and buildings. Some examples of these uses are: controlling home equipment from outside via the network, sending private information or electronic tickets, etc. It is therefore necessary to ensure network security so that tapping, falsification and/or the disguising of identity by others can be prevented.Second, it is necessary to develop products efficiently in a short period of time. There is a problem with individually developed real-time operating systems and/or middleware that are compatible with the different kinds of CPU hardware available for embedded systems. In order to respond to product functionality upgrades, development time is prolonged, and development costs increase as debugging time increases. All of these are becoming a big problem among manufacturers. The T-Engine Project aims at building a common development platform that can be used to solve these problems. For security guarantees, the T-Engine hardware, OS, middleware are compatible with the security architecture of a new TRON subproject called eTRON, which has been adopted as the security platform for a networked environment. The eTRON chip will be installed in the T-Engine hardware so that all devices using eTRON will be able to transmit information safely across open networks such as the Internet.

Japan is well on its way towards bringing ubiquitous computing (one person, many computers) home to its people. IP-enabled devices and networks now pervade virtually every sphere of human activity in Japan: in homes and workplaces, in open public spaces and even in cars.Considered to be the latest phase in digital technology, pervasive or ubiquitous computing is run on the highly sophisticated T-Engine platform, making it easier and cheaper to create embedded computers in everyday objects, which can in turn be connected to networks. T-Engine is the standard real-time OS designed to work with the TCP / IP protocol stack (IPv6). The new IPv6-compatible TCP/IP stack, "KASAGO for T-Engine was developed by Elmic Systems, and forms the middleware that supports Internet connectivity via high-performance, high-reliability TCP/IP and IPv6, and has been designed, developed and refined specifically for embedded devices. T-Engine technologies are rapidly gaining an entry into a variety of environments, from homes to automobiles. They are a complete end-to-end solution allowing for easy distribution of software resources, while ensuring standardized hardware and tamper-proof network security.

[The Role Playing]

 Networked Road Navigation

"Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project in Ginza" utilizes an up-to-date ubiquitous ID technologies to provide fun and convenient information. By walking around the Ginza streets holding a special information terminal "Ubiquitous Communicator (UC)", we will be able to browse various multimedia contents such as route guidance to the destination including underground streets, or information related to the current location automatically displayed. Some information can also be accessed with mobile phones. Navitime is a commercial mobile phone-based navigation service used by 1.82 million citizens in Japan for route guidance information, traffic information and parking information. Navitime runs on GPS mobile phones, and is influencing the way people navigate in and around the intricate web of urban roads, including when they travel by car. In many Japanese cities , hundreds of electronic tags and road sensors have been embedded in the pavement, sidewalks, and street furniture, providing information to tourists about historical sites and to wheelchair users about obstacles. When entire cities are “tagged,”robots can be equipped with ucode readers and make deliveries of food or medicine.

 Networked Home Appliances

Many Japanese home appliances are also fitted with pervasive computing features. For instance, some appliance manufacturers have launched microwave ovens that download cooking recipes direct from the manufacturer's server! Rice cookers have microchips embedded in them for effective control of the heating sequence, although these appliances are not strictly 'network-connected', but these have been in use since long.Examples of Internet-enabled home appliances are: WLAN digital camera (SANYO) ,Air-con and oven (Panasonic), Internet Refrigerator (Toshiba), "CoCoon" HDD/DVD recorder (Sony)…. The Toyota Dream House PAPI - the brain child of Toyota Home - is an intelligent home embedded with T-Engine boards and designed to have an interface with other Toyota technologies. PAPI comes packed with advanced technologies including high-definition digital video formats with surround sound, high-capacity DVD players, and wide screen display technologies. Its intelligent home theater senses human occupants in the house and adjusts the lighting and sound based on their locations and pre-set preferences. The Ubiquitous Communicator makes changes as needed to any devices in the room, such as the heating, ventilation or air conditioning.

External links

* [http://www.t-engine.org/ T-Engine Forum]
* [http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/mags/pc/2005/02/b2004.pdf IEEE Computer Society article (PDF)]
* [http://www.personal-media.co.jp/te/en/tekit.html Personal Media Corporation: introduction to T-Engine]
* [http://www.onghu.com/te TE@Onghu: T-Engine/ T-Kernel Information in English]
* [http://www.onghu.com/tebbs/ TE@Onghu T-Engine Developer Forum/ BBS]
*[e-mail]