EIEIKerne

EIEIKerne is a family of open-source kernels designed for embedded and real-time systems. It emphasizes modularity, portability, and deterministic performance, and is developed by the European Institute for Embedded Intelligence (EIEI) and a broad community of contributors. The project positions itself as a microkernel-based platform that can run service components in user space while providing strong isolation and a minimal privileged core.

Architecture and design: EIEIKerne uses a microkernel core that handles inter-process communication, scheduling, and low-level resource management. Drivers and system services run in user space, communicating with the kernel via well-defined IPC channels. The kernel provides a capability-based security model, memory protection, and deterministic scheduling suitable for safety- and time-critical applications. It targets multiple architectures, including ARM, RISC-V, and x86, and supports optional virtualization interfaces.

Features: modular build and configuration, POSIX-like API compatibility, a device-driver model that allows hot-plugging and reconfiguration, and trace and debugging facilities. Real-time scheduling options include fixed-priority preemption and deadline-based policies. The project also emphasizes energy efficiency and small memory footprints for embedded use.

Applications and governance: EIEIKerne has seen use in automotive control units, industrial automation, and edge computing devices. It is released under an open-source license, with governance by a community-led process and regular releases. Documentation, toolchains, and examples are provided through its official repository and website.

See also: Microkernel, RTOS, seL4, L4 family, Operating system kernel development.