RIOT (operating system)

{{infobox OS

| name = RIOT

| logo = File:Logo-RIOT.png

| logo caption = RIOT – The friendly OS for the IoT

| developer = Free University of Berlin
French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

| family = POSIX

| working state = Current

| source model = Open source

| released = {{Start date and age|2009|10|23|df=yes}}

| latest release version = 2024.10{{cite web | url=https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2024.10 | title=Release Release-2024.10 · RIOT-OS/RIOT | website=GitHub }}

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2024|11|29|df=yes}}

| latest preview version =

| latest preview date =

| repo =

| marketing target = Internet of things, Embedded systems

| programmed in =

| language = English

| update model =

| package manager =

| supported platforms = TI MSP430, ARM7, ARM Cortex-M0-M0+-M3-M4, Atmel AVR, MIPS32r2, RISC-V

| kernel type = Microkernel real-time

| license = LGPLv2

| preceded by = FireKernel

| website = {{URL|riot-os.org}}

}}

RIOT is a small operating system for networked, memory-constrained systems with a focus on low-power wireless Internet of things (IoT) devices. It is open-source software, released under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

Background

It was initially developed by Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg). RIOT's kernel is mostly inherited from FireKernel,{{cite book |last1=Will |first1=Heiko |last2=Schleiser |first2=Kaspar |last3=Schiller |first3=Jochen |date=October 2009 |chapter=A Real-Time Kernel for Wireless Sensor Networks Employed in Rescue Scenarios |title=Proceedings of the IEEE 34th Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) |pages=834–841 |publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |doi=10.1109/LCN.2009.5355049 |isbn=978-1-4244-4488-5 |s2cid=14806932}} which was originally developed for sensor networks. In 2015, one of the co-developers, Matthias Wählisch was awarded the Young Scientist Award of the Forum for Excellent Young Scientists for the contributions of his team to the open source operating system RIOT.{{Cite web|title=Matthias Wählisch receives Young Scientist Award|date=24 November 2015 |url=https://www.mi.fu-berlin.de/inf/groups/ag-tech/news/Matthias-Waehlisch-awarded.html|access-date=2023-02-06|language=en}} In 2016, the ED STIC Doctoral Prize 2017 of the University of Paris-Saclay was awarded to another co-founder, Oliver Hahm for his contribution to the project. {{Cite web |last=cokuntz |date=2020-01-11 |title=Sciences and Technologies of Information and Communication |url=http://www.universite-paris-saclay.fr/en/doctoral-schools/sciences-and-technologies-information-and-communication |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Université Paris-Saclay |language=en}}

Technical aspects

RIOT is based on a microkernel architecture.{{cite book |last1=Baccelli |first1=Emmanuel |last2=Hahm |first2=Oliver |last3=Günes |first3=Mesut |last4=Wählisch |first4=Matthias |last5=Schmidt |first5=Thomas |date=15 April 2013 |url=http://hal.inria.fr/docs/00/94/51/22/PDF/2013-riot_os.pdf |chapter=RIOT OS: Towards an OS for the Internet of Things |title=Proceedings of the 32nd IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM) |publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |access-date=2014-05-18}} In contrast to other operating systems with similarly low memory use (such as TinyOS or Contiki), RIOT allows application software programming with the programming languages C and C++, and Rust,{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Lup Yuen |date=2020-09-15 |title=Safer, Simpler Embedded Programs with Rust on RIOT |url=https://summit.riot-os.org/2020/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2020/09/s4-2-Lup-Yuen-Lee.pdf |website=RIOT Summit}} also by an experimental application programming interface (API).{{Cite web |title=Rust support for RIOT |url=https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/issues/9799 |issue=9799 |website=GitHub |language=en |access-date=2020-06-12}} It has full multithreading and real-time abilities.{{cite news |url=http://www.heise.de/developer/meldung/Sonderheft-iX-Developer-Embedded-Software-am-Kiosk-erhaeltlich-2112409.html |title=Betriebssysteme für eingebettete Systeme im Internet der Dinge: Freie Fahrt für Experimentierfreudige |work=iX Developer Magazine, Special Issue on Embedded Software |publisher=Heise.de |date=2014-02-14 |access-date=2014-05-18}} Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and successor Transport Layer Security (TLS) are supported by popular libraries such as wolfSSL.{{Cite web |url=https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/pull/6197 |title=wolfSSL Alpha examples by kaleb-himes: Pull Request #6197: RIOT-OS/RIOT |website=GitHub |language=en |access-date=2019-02-13}}

RIOT runs on processors of 8 bits (such as AVR Atmega), 16 bits (such as TI MSP430), and 32 bits (such as ARM Cortex).{{cite web |url=http://www.lembarque.com/avec-riot-linternet-des-objets-tient-son-os-temps-reel-open-source_001920 |title=Avec RIOT, l'Internet des objets tient son OS temps reel open source |last=Gauthier |first=François |publisher=L'Embarqué |date=2014-04-09 |access-date=2014-05-18}} A native port also enables RIOT to run as a Linux or macOS process, enabling use of standard developing and debugging tools such as GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), GNU Debugger, Valgrind, Wireshark, etc. RIOT is partly Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) compliant.

RIOT provides multiple network stacks,{{cite book |last1=Hahm |first1=Oliver |last2=Baccelli |first2=Emmanuel |last3=Petersen |first3=Hauke |last4=Wählisch |first4=Matthias |last5=Schmidt |first5=Thomas C. |date=15 April 2014 |url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2602399 |chapter=Demonstration abstract: Simply RIOT: Teaching and Experimental Research in the Internet of Things |title=Proceedings of the 13th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN) |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |pages=329–330 |isbn=9781479931460 |access-date=2014-05-18}} including IPv6, 6LoWPAN, or content centric networking and standard protocols such as RPL,{{cite news |last1=Brandt |first1=A. |last2=Hui |first2=J. |last3=Kelsey |first3=R. |last4=Levis |first4=P. |last5=Pister |first5=K. |last6=Struik |first6=R. |last7=Vasseur |first7=J. P. |last8=Alexander |first8=R. |editor1-last=Winter |editor1-first=T. |editor2-last=Thubert |editor2-first=P. |date=2012-03-01 |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6550 |title=RPL: IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks |work=IETF Request For Comments 6550 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) |issn=2070-1721 |access-date=2014-05-18}} User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and CoAP.