eCos (embedded Configurable operating system) is an open source, royalty-free, real-time operating system intended for embedded systems and applications. The highly configurable nature of eCos allows the operating system to be customised to precise application requirements, delivering the best possible run-time performance and an optimised hardware resource footprint. A thriving net community has grown up around the operating system ensuring on-going technical innovation and wide platform support.

eCos was designed for devices with memory footprints in the tens to hundreds of kilobytes, or with real-time requirements. It can be used on hardware that doesn t have enough Random Access Memory to support embedded Linux, which currently requires a minimum of about 2 MB of RAM, not including application and service requirements.

eCos runs on a wide variety of hardware platforms, including ARM architecture, CalmRISC, FR-V, Hitachi H8, IA-32, Motorola 68000, Matsushita AM3x, MIPS architecture, NEC V8xx, PowerPC, SPARC, SuperH and Nios II.

Included with the eCos distribution is RedBoot, an open source application software that uses the eCos Hardware Abstraction Layer to provide bootstrap firmware for embedded systems.

===Commercial Distribution===

eCosPro is a commercial distribution of eCos and RedBoot provided by eCosCentric

= History =

eCos was initially developed by Cygnus Solutions which was later bought by Red Hat. In early 2002, Red Hat ceased development of eCos and laid off the staff that were working on the project who then formed their own company, eCosCentric, in order to continue development and provide commercial support for eCos. In January 2004, at the request of the eCos developers, Red Hat agreed to transfer its eCos copyrights to the Free Software Foundation. The transfer was finally executed in October 2005.

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