New Azure-RTOS for STM32 MCU and MPU webinar Q&A - Part 2

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Following our New Azure-RTOS webinar for STM32 MCU and MPU, we are posting below questions and answers received during webcast.

Webinar link

https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/about/events/events.html/new-azure-rtos-and-stm32-mcus-and-mpus.html

Azure-RTOS integration for STM32H7 beta release:

https://community.st.com/s/question/0D53W00000S6aWoSAJ/azure-rtos-integration-in-the-stm32cube-ecosystem-beta-delivery-on-github

Questions posted below are as they were received during webcast.

Does this offering include a port of the Azure iot SDK to allow for device-to-cloud and cloud-to-device communication?

St supports stm32 connectivity to Azure cloud services through dedicated software packages (x-cube-Azure and fp-cld-Azure1), currently independent from the Azure RTOS integration effort.

Reason for moving from freeRTOS to Azure ?

Integrating Azure RTOS in the stm32cube ecosystem is the next step to further increase its quality level. Azure RTOS brings better performance, a richly featured and consistent sw solution, full industry certifications, and an overall whole new reliability and quality level honed and proven by many successful years in the embedded market, including the most stringent one such as industrial or medical.

Do you provide safety certification for sil or for medical applications?

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as iec 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil d.

the corresponding safety artifacts and manuals are not distributed by st for free. stm32 users interested in getting them shall get a commercial license from Microsoft directly

Will it be possible to use Azure RTOS on stm32 for safety critical applications without additional cost? thanks

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as iec 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil d.

the corresponding safety artifacts and manuals are not distributed by st for free. stm32 users interested in getting them shall get a commercial license from Microsoft directly

Do you plan to move to threadx for using touchgfx?

Touchgfx is os independent application software. as far as application templates and examples are concerned, yes, touchgfx will add support to threadx.

Will freeRTOS still be able from stm32cubemx? or only from github?

FreeRTOS will remain available for graphical configuration and project/code generation for all already available stm32 series. freeRTOS availability for new series will however come through github only.

Is there a plan to offer secure iot connection (e.g. iot hub) with Azure RTOS?

This question is related to Microsoft Azure roadmap, which is under Microsoft's full control

Will Azure RTOS support stm32mp1 microprocessors?

Stm32mp1 support is not in immediate plans. st will study market feedbacks during the upcoming period

Is there an improvement between the previus file system and the one coming with Azure?

Yes, Azure RTOS filex comes with more features and performance than fatfs, and combining it with Azure RTOS levelx will enable advanced use cases not currently available in stm32cube, such as full support of nand flash memories (wear leveling, power fail-safe...).

In a nutshell - what are the advantages of Azure RTOS over free RTOS?

Integrating Azure RTOS in the stm32cube ecosystem is the next step to further increase its quality level. Azure RTOS brings better performance, a complete and consistent sw solution, full industry certifications, and an overall whole new reliability and quality level honed and proven by many successful years in the embedded market, including for the most stringent applications such as aerospace or medical.

Please can you explain more about the industry certifications? are the RTOS functions available as precompiled objects or as source code?

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as iec 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil d.

the corresponding safety artifacts and manuals are not distributed by st for free. stm32 users interested in getting them shall get a commercial license from Microsoft directly

Can we use Azure RTOS with other st32 mcu. for example stm32f1, stm32l0

Yes, stm32 users are granted full production rights for any stm32 series, for free.

Who provides support for Azure RTOS and middleware? st or Microsoft or express logic?

St will provide technical support as usual for any software package featuring Azure RTOS as it will become a full part of stm32cube. overall Azure RTOS support is provided by Microsoft.

In the future will Azure RTOS include software for linking to the Azure cloud for remote device monitoring?

This question is related to Microsoft Azure roadmap, which is under Microsoft's full control

If i want to use threadx on a medical device. shall i buy an additional license from Microsoft?

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as iec 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil d.

the corresponding safety artifacts and manuals are not distributed by st for free. stm32 users interested in getting them shall get a commercial license from Microsoft directly

Will tracex also be supported?

Tracex will not be part of st's offer, but any stm32 user can get it from Microsoft and use it for his project.

How to get access to Azure safety documentation for product safety cerification?

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as iec 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil d.

the corresponding safety artifacts and manuals are not distributed by st for free. stm32 users interested in getting them shall get a commercial license from Microsoft directly

Is there an intention to provide a graphical configuration environment like with renesas ra?

Yes, Azure RTOS will be enabled within the stm32cubemx software tool for most existing stm32 series, and for all upcoming stm32 series.

When usbx and filex will replace legacy middleware?

Azure RTOS middleware will become st's primary focus for most existing series as per the schedule shown during the webinar, and will become st's primary middleware offer from the get-go for all upcoming stm32 series.

Will zephyr RTOS be supported?

St is currently making sure stm32 series are enabled in the zephyr framework, but currently there is no plan to integrate it into the stm32cube environment.

How many years of support is Microsoft guaranteed to support Azure RTOS? e.g. security bugfixes and new features for ip / tls stacks ?

Microsoft will ensure a full maintenance of Azure RTOS in the foreseeable future.

Is Microsoft planning any updates, and how will they be integrated?

Microsoft will ensure a full maintenance of Azure RTOS in the foreseeable future.

It was said that the Azure RTOS could be used for safety application up to sil 4. is there any certification for the Azure RTOS?

Azure RTOS is pre-certified for many industrial and medical standards, such as IEC 61508 sil4, iec 62304 class c and iso 26262 asil D.

Will be the threadx free for lifetime? what is if the st - microsodt deal will end?

In the event of a change of licensing terms regarding Azure RTOS usage on stm32 series for further versions, stm32 users will be granted the license and rights applicable to the version of Azure RTOS (at the time they acquired it) for lifetime, no matter what.

Is there any guarantee that Azure RTOS will be free of charge forever when using stm32?

In the event of a change of licensing terms regarding Azure RTOS usage on stm32 series for further versions, stm32 users will be granted the license and rights applicable to the version of Azure RTOS (at the time they acquired it) for lifetime, no matter what.

What about emwin graphical library support ? will this solution still be available for a while ?

Stemwin is still part of stm32 graphic software, available for free for stm32 product users

How can i migrate from freeRTOS to Azure RTOS threadx?

With FreeRTOS adaptation layer https://github.com/STMicroelectronics/x-cube-azrtos-h7/tree/main/Middlewares/ST/threadx/utility/rtos_compatibility_layers/FreeRTOS