POSIX-compliant systems

All the embedded systems analyzed so far represent the ideal solutions for classic embedded systems designed with a single set of tasks in mind, where features such as memory protection and task separation are not interesting enough to invest system resources in. Riot OS provides a subset of POSIX API calls, mostly to access the TCP/IP features, with the purpose of smoothing the learning curve experienced by developers when taking their first steps in developing software for embedded platforms.

Due to the remarkable progress in the last decade of microcontroller-based embedded systems, we have seen that it is not impossible to develop general-purpose, universal, software development platforms, offering standard APIs to run standalone, self-contained applications. Models for this kind of approach to multithreading systems exist in other worlds, and are applied to build operating systems for types of devices other than microcontroller-based embedded systems. Despite...