Comments on Embedded Operating Systems for the Cyclone V

Arguably this is the wrong question to start with ...

The correct way to analyze your system is;

1. What are my real-time requirements?

2. Will/Can those real-time requirements be met by a hardware or software solution?

3. Who will be maintaining this system?

4. Do I need to use an FPGA?

The answer to (4) may be a result of (1+2), i.e., the real-time requirements can be met in hardware by an FPGA. At that point, your operating system becomes non-real-time control software, and support of this software is (in my opinion) simpler via Linux.

If your analysis indicates that a microcontroller can meet your real-time requirements, then uCOS-II/III is a nice solution (its very well documented).

The Cyclone SoC devices are very complex beasts. When it comes to software support, its critical (to your sanity) to select an operating system where the majority of the work has already been done for you, and the maintenance on that software will continue without you. That means you should try to run U-Boot and Linux. The source code for U-Boot and Linux is currently being mainlined, and is actively supported by major players like Denx (the maintainers of U-Boot) and Altera's SoC developers (via RocketBoards.org).

Cheers,

Dave