RIOT OS: Towards an OS for the Internet of Things

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is characterized by heterogeneous devices. They range from very lightweight sensors powered by 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) to devices equipped with more powerful, but energy-efficient 32-bit processors. Neither a traditional operating system (OS) currently running on Internet hosts, nor typical OS for sensor networks are capable to fulfill the diverse requirements of such a wide range of devices. To leverage the IoT, redundant development should be avoided and maintenance costs should be reduced. In this paper we revisit the requirements for an OS in the IoT. We introduce RIOT OS, an OS that explicitly considers devices with minimal resources but eases development across a wide range of devices. RIOT OS allows for standard C and C++ programming, provides multi-threading as well as real-time capabilities, and needs only a minimum of 1.5 kB of RAM.