Jeff Schaffer
QNX Software Systems
6320 Canoga Avenue, Suite 1500
Woodland Hills , CA 91367
818-227-5105
jpschaffer@qnx.com

Hosted by Dr. Albert M. K. Cheng

Abstract
Choosing an operating system is one of the most critical decisions in any software project, for it influences the overall design of the project, its schedule, and potentially its eventual runtime capabilities and stability. This talk will present information on the QNX operating system, explaining the differences between its microkernel architecture and other operating system architectures, including how this effects areas such as reliability and processor scaling (through SMP and distributed computing). Issues such as inter-process communication, scheduling algorithms, priority inversion, real-time recovery from process failure, and the decoupling of hardware drivers from the operating system will also be discussed.

Speakers' Biography
Jeff Schaffer is a Senior Applications Engineer with QNX Software Systems, and has worked with the QNX operating system for 17 years as a customer of the company, a consultant specializing in the operating system, and as an employee. He has over 25 years of experience in the computer industry, with emphasis on operating systems, system design, and high speed database technology. He has gained experience throughout his career in medical, industrial, semiconductor, security, consumer electronics, telecom, and automotive computing. Mr. Schaffer received his BS (Engineering) and MS (Computer Science) degrees from UCLA.