Contiki

This article is about the embedded operating system. For other uses, see Contiki (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Kontiki.

Contiki

Screenshot of the VNC server running on the Atmel AVR port of Contiki.
Company / developer	Adam Dunkels
Working state	Current
Source model	Open source
Latest stable release	2.5 / September 8, 2011; 2 months ago (2011-09-08)
Default user interface	CTK
License	BSD License
Official website	http://www.sics.se/contiki/

Contiki is a small, open source, highly portable multitasking computer operating system developed for use on a number of memory-constrained networked systems ranging from 8-bit computers to embedded systems on microcontrollers, including sensor network motes. The name Contiki comes from Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki raft.

Despite providing multitasking and a built-in TCP/IP stack, Contiki only needs a few kilobytes of code and a few hundred bytes of RAM. A full system, complete with a graphical user interface, needs about 30 kilobytes of RAM.^{[citation needed]}

The basic kernel and most of the core functions were developed by Adam Dunkels at the Networked Embedded Systems group at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science.

Design

Contiki is designed for embedded systems with small amounts of memory. A typical Contiki configuration consumes 2 kilobytes of RAM and 40 kilobytes of ROM.

Contiki consists of an event-driven kernel on top of which application programs are dynamically loaded and unloaded at runtime. Contiki processes use light-weight protothreads that provide a linear, thread-like programming style on top of the event-driven kernel.

Platforms

Contiki runs on a variety of platforms ranging from embedded microcontrollers such as the TI MSP430 and the Atmel AVR to old home computers. Code footprint is on the order of kilobytes and memory usage can be configured to be as low as tens of bytes.

Features

Screenshot of the C64 port of Contiki.

Contiki supports per-process optional preemptive multi-threading, inter-process communication using message passing through events, as well as an optional GUI subsystem with either direct graphic support for locally connected terminals or networked virtual display with VNC or over Telnet.

A full installation of Contiki includes the following features:

• Multitasking kernel
• Optional per-application pre-emptive multithreading
• Protothreads
• TCP/IP networking, including IPv6
• Windowing system and GUI
• Networked remote display using Virtual Network Computing
• A web browser (claimed to be the world's smallest)
• Personal web server
• Simple telnet client
• Screensaver

Ports

The Contiki operating system has been or is being ported to the following systems:

• Computers:
  • Apple II family^[1]
  • Atari 8-bit^[1]
  • Atari ST
  • Atari Portfolio
  • Casio Pocket Viewer
  • Commodore PET^[1]
  • Commodore VIC-20^[1]
  • Commodore 64^[1]
  • Commodore 128^[1]
  • Oric^[1]
  • PC-6001
  • Sharp Wizard
  • x86-based Unix-like systems, on top of GTK+ as well as directly using the X Window System^[2]

• Video game consoles:
  • PC Engine
  • Nintendo Entertainment System^[1]
  • Atari Jaguar

• Handheld game consoles:
  • Game Boy
  • Game Boy Advance
  • GP32

• Microcontrollers:
  • Atmel AVR
  • LPC2103
  • TI MSP430
  • TI CC2430

See also

Free software portal

• BeRTOS
• SymbOS
• TinyOS
• Wheels (operating system)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} cc65 based development
2. ^ Running Contiki under Windows

External links

• Official website
• C64WEB.COM A web site run from a unmodified 1982 Built Commodore 64
• Inofficial Website for historic ports of the 1.x version
• The news about IPv6 stack
• Minimal Contiki OS for LPC2103
• Contiki 2.5 config file and disk image generator