What’s Happening
At OCX 2026, the Eclipse Foundation highlighted the growing role of open source in embedded and IoT development, with Eclipse ThreadX and RISC-V at the center of the conversation.
Frederic Desbiens, project lead for Eclipse ThreadX, framed the opportunity clearly: embedded systems are becoming more complex, more connected, and more software-defined. As devices add more sensors, real-time processing, and AI capabilities, organizations need software stacks that are fast, predictable, safe, and easier to control over the long term.
The Bigger Picture
ThreadX: The Safety Certification Advantage Is Real
ThreadX stands out because it combines three things that are difficult to find together: open source availability, real-time performance, and safety certification.
Desbiens emphasized that ThreadX has been designed since 1997 for size, speed, and low-latency behavior. That matters in embedded environments where timing is not just a performance issue. In medical devices, industrial systems, automotive components, and IoT gateways, delayed processing can create real-world risk.
The embedded RTOS market has several strong options. FreeRTOS is intentionally simple, while Zephyr has a broad ecosystem and a wide feature set. ThreadX sits between those models. It is not trying to be the smallest possible RTOS or the broadest possible platform. Its value is in being “just right” for organizations that need deterministic behavior, safety-critical support, and enough functionality without unnecessary complexity.
For ITDMs and engineering leaders, that distinction matters. Safety certification from proprietary vendors often brings long-term licensing and support costs. ThreadX gives organizations another option: an open source RTOS with certification value already attached. That allows more spending to move toward product engineering rather than ongoing software licensing.
Open Source Changes the Maintenance Conversation
A key point from the discussion was that open source is not only about lower cost. It is about developer freedom and long-term control. In embedded and IoT markets, products often need to operate for many years. That makes lifecycle management, security updates, and supply chain stability especially important. Desbiens argued that when companies rely entirely on proprietary technology, they may end up paying for licenses and support without gaining much product differentiation.
ThreadX changes that model. As long as there is a community and user base around the project, the software can continue to evolve. That gives device manufacturers more control over their own roadmap and reduces dependence on any single vendor’s product strategy. This becomes even more powerful when paired with open hardware.
RISC-V: More Control Over the Hardware Layer
Desbiens described RISC-V as a major opportunity for developers and device manufacturers because it allows hardware to be tailored more closely to specific use cases.
In embedded systems, overbuilding hardware can waste battery life, increase cost, and add unnecessary complexity. Underbuilding creates performance and reliability constraints. RISC-V gives manufacturers a path to design around the exact workload, especially in IoT environments where devices may need to run for years with minimal physical access.
The combination of RISC-V, OpenHW Foundation processor cores, and ThreadX creates a more complete open stack. Device makers can begin to think about autonomy from the processor level through the operating system layer, and that has practical implications. Instead of waiting for a semiconductor vendor to build the exact chip variation they need, manufacturers can work from open processor designs and focus engineering effort on the parts of the product that actually differentiate them.
RISC-V Adoption Is Accelerating
Desbiens described RISC-V adoption as accelerating, especially as open hardware lowers the barrier to entry for chip design.
The instruction set itself is only one part of the story. The bigger shift comes from having open processor designs that companies can use, test, and adapt. Hardware remains more expensive and complex than software, but open cores reduce the starting cost and make experimentation more realistic for more organizations.
That could expand who participates in silicon innovation. Desbiens noted that even regions without a traditional semiconductor manufacturing base can participate in design, because many chip companies are fabless and rely on external foundries for production. In that sense, RISC-V is not just a technical shift. It is a market access shift.
What This Means for Developers
For embedded developers, the ThreadX and RISC-V combination points toward more flexibility across the stack. Developers can build closer to the actual requirements of the device, whether that means lower power consumption, predictable timing, smaller footprints, or safety-critical behavior. They also gain more control over long-term maintainability because the underlying software and hardware foundations are open.
That does not make embedded development easy. Desbiens was clear that embedded and hardware development still require deep technical skill. Developers need to understand registers, pins, verification, processor behavior, and real-time constraints. This is not the same as building web applications where frameworks can hide much of the complexity. Open source, however, can make the ecosystem more accessible by improving documentation, tooling, reusable IP, and education.
What This Means for ITDMs
For technology decision-makers, the strategic value is supply chain control. An open RTOS paired with open processor designs gives manufacturers more options. It can reduce dependence on proprietary silicon roadmaps, long-term licensing models, and vendor-specific support structures.
That matters for organizations building devices with long expected lifespans. In industrial IoT, medical systems, transportation, and smart infrastructure, stability over ten, twenty, or even thirty years can be just as important as near-term feature velocity.
ThreadX and RISC-V also support broader digital sovereignty goals. They give manufacturers more visibility and control across the stack, from hardware design to embedded software execution.
Looking Ahead
Open Hardware Starts to Look More Like Open Software
One of Desbiens’ most interesting points was that hardware is beginning to look more like software. In software, developers already reuse massive amounts of open source IP rather than building everything from scratch. Desbiens expects a similar pattern to take hold in hardware. General-purpose processor cores will become more mature and reusable, while innovation shifts toward specialized accelerators and workload-specific designs. That includes AI accelerators, quantum-resistant cryptography, and other domain-specific capabilities.
Education Will Shape the Long-Term Market
The discussion also raised a quieter but important point: education. A forthcoming Elsevier textbook on system-on-chip design using OpenHW Foundation technology could help introduce the next generation of chip designers to open architectures from the start. That matters because the tools students learn often shape the technologies they use later in their careers.
If future chip engineers learn on open RISC-V cores and open hardware design flows, the long-term market could shift in ways that are difficult for proprietary incumbents to reverse.
Final Take
The ThreadX and RISC-V story is ultimately about control. ThreadX gives embedded teams an open source RTOS with real-time performance and safety certification. RISC-V and OpenHW Foundation cores give device makers more freedom at the processor layer. Together, they point toward a more open, flexible, and resilient embedded stack. For organizations building long-lived devices, that combination could become increasingly hard to ignore.
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