Getting Started with eCosTM
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# Chapter 2. Overview of the release

The Embedded Cygnus Operating System (eCosTM) software is a set of tools and a run-time environment for developing embedded real-time applications. eCos is a configurable, open source system that allows developers to build a run-time system that closely matches the needs of their application.

eCos is aimed at embedded software developers with tight memory requirements who want a portable framework for developing their applications.

This chapter outlines the features of eCos version 1.2.1. If you want to start programming eCos immediately, see Part II in Getting Started with eCosTM and Part III in Getting Started with eCosTM. A more complete list of the contents of this release can be found in Chapter 2.

# Hardware abstraction

eCos includes a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) that hides the specific features of each CPU and platform so that the kernel and other run-time components can be implemented in a portable fashion.

The eCos HAL has now been ported to five architectures: Matsushita MN10300, Toshiba TX39, PowerPC, SPARClite, and ARM7. It has also been ported to one synthetic target, Linux i386. Notes on porting the HAL to new platforms are provided in the eCos Reference Manual, appendix The eCos Hardware Abstraction Layer, section Kernel porting notes.

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