QNX

Known for building the world's most reliable operating system for mission-critical applications, QNX Software Systems celebrates its 25th birthday this month. For the past 25 years, QNX has become a big part of everyday life - from powering television broadcast systems to controlling train systems all over the world. People encounter QNX every day when they:

• Use the Internet - The QNX® Neutrino® RTOS forms the software foundation for the Cisco CRS-1, the world's highest-capacity Internet router.

• Turn on a light - QNX controls power-generating systems worldwide, from hydroelectric plants to nuclear power facilities.

• Call for help - By leveraging QNX's unmatched reliability, 9-1-1 call systems deliver emergency assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nonstop.

• Take a train - From subway cars to high-speed trains, QNX-based systems go the distance, controlling locomotives, coordinating railway traffic, and even dispensing tickets.

• Go to college - Thousands of students and professors in post-secondary institutions are using QNX to build humanoid robots, map global weather changes, analyze the human genome, and discover new planets.

• Watch TV - From manufacturing TV sets to automating television broadcasts, QNX brings the world to your living room.

• Eat a chocolate bar - QNX aids the chocolate-making process and improves production at the chocolate mixing stage. QNX powers the system that monitors and controls the process for Caramilk, Crunchie and other Cadbury chocolate.

• Mail a letter - QNX-based mail-sorting machines push the performance envelope, processing up to 40,000 letters per hour.

• Drive to work - Using QNX, road-traffic control systems respond to traffic patterns in realtime, resulting in fewer traffic jams and shorter waits at intersections.

• Fly in an airplane - QNX powers air traffic control systems at airports worldwide.

• Drink a beer - QNX powers automated bottle inspection systems that use high-speed mechanical handling technology and patented illumination systems to single out defective closures for everything from motor oil and beer to peanut butter.

• Buy a book - Bookstores throughout North America rely on QNX-based point-of-sale systems to deliver fast, highly personalized service to their customers.

• Play a slot machine - QNX powers an intercasino system that connects statewide gaming machines with a central computer. The system, which can pay out multi-million-dollar winnings, must perform a host of complex functions with zero tolerance for error.

• Beat rush-hour traffic - Using QNX-based XM satellite receivers, motorists tap into realtime traffic alerts, allowing them to avoid traffic jams, accidents, and road closures.

• Wash your car - No-touch car-wash systems based on QNX quickly analyze your car's size and shape to aim the wash nozzles exactly where they're needed.

• Eat safely prepared food - QNX powers a system that applies DNA "fingerprinting" techniques to identify bacteria and determine whether food is contaminated or safe.

• Charge purchases to your credit card - QNX powers the VISA transaction control system.

• Turn on the air conditioning - QNX powers a system that regulates and chills water used in industrial-strength air conditioning systems for large apartment buildings.

• Visit the doctor - QNX brings reliability and performance to a variety of diagnostic equipment, including electrocardiograph (ECG) machines, angiography systems, bone density analyzers, as well as body composition analyzers that help treat obesity.

• Improve your eyesight - Using a QNX-based LASIK system, doctors are reducing the complications associated with laser vision-correction surgery.

• Make a call from your car - QNX hands-free mobile phone systems are making huge inroads in the automotive marketplace, with deployments in cars by Acura, Honda, Chrysler, Mercedes, and others.

• Watch an action movie - QNX powers motion-controlled special effects systems, designed for extreme safety and accuracy in creating and modifying special effects and stunts.

• Take a cruise - QNX powers the nautical navigation and radar systems in cruise liners, allowing crews to navigate with ease through bad weather, fog, and narrow estuaries.

• Drive over a bridge - QNX helps reduce drawbridge congestion by powering an automated bridge raising system. Raising such an incredible mass in such a short time frame requires flawless and clockwork functioning of all the bridge's devices and systems, leaving no room for any malfunctions.

• Undergo surgery - QNX powers a device that precisely measures a patient's level of awareness during surgery. The system helps identify whether the patient is prepared for surgery, making sure a patient is neither under- nor over-sedated.

• About QNX Software Systems

• With millions of installations worldwide, QNX Software Systems is the global leader in realtime, microkernel operating system technology. Companies like Cisco, Daimler-Chrysler, Lockheed Martin, Panasonic, Siemens, and General Electric rely on QNX technology to build ultra-reliable systems for the networking, automotive, medical, military, and industrial automation markets. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.