QNX ( or ) is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market.

The product was originally developed in the early 1980s by Canadian company Quantum Software Systems, founded March 30, 1980, and later renamed QNX Software Systems.

, it is used in a variety of devices including automobiles,

Due to its microkernel architecture QNX is also a distributed operating system. Dan Dodge and Peter van der Veen hold based on the QNX operating system's distributed processing features known commercially as Transparent Distributed Processing. This allows the QNX kernels on separate devices to access each other's system services using effectively the same communication mechanism as is used to access local services.

Releases

{| class="wikitable"

|+ QNX RTOS history

! Version

! Date

! Notes

|-

|

| 1981

| QUNIX Founded.

|-

| Beta

| 1983

| As QNX Beta

|-

| 1.0

| 1984

|

|-

| 2.0

| 1987

| Elements of 4.3BSD like TCP/IP and PPP merged into QNX 2.0.

|-

| 2.21

| 1989

| QNX 2.21

|-

| 4.0

| 1990

| QNX 4.0

|-

| 4.1

| 1994

| Elements of 4.4BSD into QNX 4.1

|-

| 4.2

| 1995

| QNX 4.2

|-

| 4.22

| 1995

| QNX 4.22

|-

| 4.24

| 1995

| QNX/Neutrino 1.0 is forked from QNX 4.24

|-

| 4.25

| 1997

| QNX 4.25 continues after fork with QNX/Neutrino 1.0.

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ QNX/Neutrino microkernel history (forked from QNX 4.24 in 1996)

! Version

! Date

! Notes

|-

| 1.0

| 1996

| QNX/Neutrino 1.0 as forked from QNX 4.24

|-

| 2.0

| 1998

| QNX/Neutrino 2.0

|-

| 2.10

| 1999

| QNX/Neutrino 2.10 (QRTP)

|-

| 6

| January 18, 2001

| QNX RTOS 6

|-

| 6.1.0

| 2001

| QNX RTOS 6

|-

| 6.1.0 (patch A)

| September 28, 2001

|

|-

| 6.2

| June 4, 2002

| QNX 6.2 (Momentics)

|-

| 6.2 (patch A)

| October 18, 2002

| QNX 6.2

|-

| 6.2.1

| February 18, 2003

| QNX 6.2.1 (Momentics)

|-

| 6.3

| June 3, 2004

| QNX 6.3

|-

|6.3.0 SP1

|

|

|-

|6.3.0 SP2

|

|

|-

|6.3.0 SP3/<br/>OS 6.3.2

|

|

|-

|6.3.2

| August 16, 2006

|

|-

| 6.4.0

| October 30, 2008

| QNX Neutrino RTOS 6.4.0

|-

| 6.4.1

| May 2009

| QNX Neutrino RTOS 6.4.1

|-

| 6.5.0

| July 2010

| QNX Neutrino RTOS 6.5.0 is forked to produce BBX,<br />as announced on October 18, 2011, and later previewed,<br />named "BlackBerry 10 OS" on May 1, 2012.

|-

| 6.5 SP1

| July 11, 2012

| QNX Neutrino RTOS 6.5 SP1

|-

| 6.6

| February 28, 2014

| QNX 6.6

|-

| 7.0

| January 4, 2017

| QNX SDP 7.0, first version with 64-bit support

|-

| 7.1

| July 23, 2020

| QNX SDP 7.1

|-

| 8.0

| December 2023

| QNX SDP 8.0

|}

Uses

The Netpliance i-Opener uses a version of QNX as the primary operating system.

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer designed by BlackBerry uses a version of QNX as the primary operating system. The BlackBerry 10 operating system is also based on QNX.

QNX is also used in car infotainment systems with many major car makers offering variants that include an embedded QNX architecture. It is supported by popular SSL/TLS libraries such as wolfSSL.

Since the introduction of its "Safe Kernel 1.0" in 2010, QNX was projected and used subsequently in automated drive or ADAS systems for automotive projects that require a functional safety certified RTOS. QNX provides this with its QNX OS for Safety products.

QNX Neutrino (2001) has been ported to a number of platforms and now runs on practically any modern central processing unit (CPU) family that is used in the embedded market. This includes the PowerPC, x86, MIPS, SH-4, and the closely interrelated group of ARM, StrongARM, and XScale.

QNX software is now embedded in over 275 million vehicles worldwide, including most leading OEMs and Tier 1s, such as BMW, Bosch, Continental, Dongfeng Motor, Geely, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, and more.

Certifications

QNX OS for Safety and QNX Hypervisor for Safety have been certified to comply with the requirements of:

  • Automotive Safety Integrity Level D, the most onerous safety level defined by ISO 26262 for software used within road vehicles.
  • Systematic Capability level C and Safety Integrity Level 3 defined by IEC 61508.

QNX OS for Safety has additionally been certified to comply with the requirements of:

  • Class C of IEC 62304, the most onerous level defined by IEC 62304 for software use within medical devices.

Licensing

On January 6, 2025, QNX made its software development platform available for non-commercial use.

QNX offers a license for noncommercial and academic users. In January 2024, BlackBerry introduced QNX Everywhere to make QNX more accessible to Hobbyists. QNX Everywhere was made publicly accessible in early 2024.

Community

  • OpenQNX is a QNX Community Portal established and run independently. An IRC channel and Newsgroups access via web is available. Diverse industries are represented by the developers on the site.

BlackBerry QNX Partners

BlackBerry QNX has worked with a network of partner organizations to provide complementary technologies. These important relationships have ability to provide the foundational software, middleware, and services behind critical embedded systems.

See also

  • Comparison of operating systems
  • Android Auto
  • Android Automotive
  • Automotive Grade Linux
  • CarPlay
  • Ford Sync
  • HarmonyOS NEXT
  • OpenHarmony
  • Windows Embedded Automotive

References

Further reading

  • QNX User Community