Real-Time Systems

Real-Time Systems is a German technology company that develops and sells the RTS Hypervisor, a bare-metal hypervisor designed to run deterministic real-time operating systems (RTOS) alongside general-purpose operating systems on a single x86 hardware platform. Founded in 2006 as a spin-off of the robotics and automation group KUKA, the company is headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany, and describes itself as a global manufacturer of hypervisor technology specializing in real-time virtualization. The core value proposition of the RTS Hypervisor is hardware consolidation without sacrificing real-time behavior. Because the hypervisor uses a privileged mode that lets operating systems run in real time, it avoids the latency overhead normally associated with virtualization; the company states that native real-time capability stays at 100% and that real-time operating systems can run with no added latency (0.00 μs). This allows customers to combine real-time control workloads with less critical applications — such as human-machine interfaces, IoT connectivity, or Industry 4.0 software — on one multicore or multiprocessor system instead of separate boxes. Real-Time Systems markets the RTS Hypervisor as ready to use out-of-the-box, installable and configurable by users without detailed hardware knowledge and without a costly implementation project or customization by the vendor's engineers. The company emphasizes reduced hardware costs, energy consumption, cabling, and physical footprint, better use of multicore capacity, and increased reliability (MTBF) through fewer hardware components. The hypervisor is positioned as hardware-independent, working with COTS and proprietary operating systems and running on hardware ranging from low-power modules to multi-socket servers. The company targets embedded and industrial markets where real time matters — the official site notes that about half of all embedded systems developers have applications in which real time plays an important role. Real-Time Systems sells worldwide and supports customers through direct inquiries and technical documentation such as FAQs and solution briefs. It remains a privately held company and continues to focus on real-time virtualization technology for embedded, IoT, and Industry 4.0 use cases.

Real-Time Systems was founded in 2006 as a spin-off of KUKA, the German robotics and automation group. The company was established to commercialize hypervisor technology focused on real-time virtualization, a niche that sits between traditional embedded real-time operating systems and general-purpose server virtualization. From its headquarters in Ravensburg, Germany, it grew into a global manufacturer of hypervisor technology, selling to embedded and industrial customers worldwide. The company's central product, the RTS Hypervisor, was developed around a bare-metal architecture with a privileged mode that allows guest operating systems to run in real time. This design avoids the latency overhead that conventional virtualization layers introduce, preserving deterministic behavior for real-time workloads. Over time, the product was positioned to run on any x86 processor, from low-power modules to multi-socket servers, and to work with both commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and proprietary operating systems. As industrial and embedded systems increasingly converged with IoT and Industry 4.0 connectivity, Real-Time Systems marketed the RTS Hypervisor as a way to consolidate real-time control and less critical applications — such as HMI, connectivity, and data processing — onto a single hardware platform. The company emphasizes out-of-the-box usability, allowing users to install and configure the hypervisor without detailed hardware knowledge or vendor customization projects, which reduces non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs. By the 2020s, Real-Time Systems described its hypervisor as proven in thousands of systems worldwide and continued to serve a broad set of industries where real time is essential. The company remains privately held and headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany, and maintains a direct sales and support model through its official website, technical FAQs, and solution briefs.

• 2006

  Founded as a spin-off of KUKA.

• Developed and commercialized the RTS Hypervisor for real-time virtualization on x86 platforms.

• RTS Hypervisor reported as proven in thousands of systems worldwide.

Real-time virtualization specialist enabling hardware consolidation of deterministic RTOS and general-purpose operating systems on a single x86 platform without added latency.

• RTS Hypervisor

  Bare-metal hypervisor that runs deterministic real-time operating systems alongside general-purpose operating systems on a single x86 hardware platform, with no added latency (0.00 μs) for real-time workloads.

1. 1Startseite - Real-Time Systemsreal-time-systems.com
2. 2About us - Real-Time Systemsreal-time-systems.com
3. 3Products - Real-Time Systemsreal-time-systems.com
4. 4RTS Hypervisor - Real-Time Systemsreal-time-systems.com
5. 5Real-Time Systems GmbH - Wikidatawikidata.org