Choosing the right heap scheme in FreeRTOS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Choosing the Right Heap Scheme in FreeRTOS

📖 Scenario: You are working on a small embedded device using FreeRTOS. You need to manage memory allocation efficiently for your tasks. FreeRTOS offers different heap schemes to choose from, each with its own way of handling memory.In this project, you will write simple code snippets to select and configure the heap scheme that best fits your device's needs.

🎯 Goal: Build a small FreeRTOS configuration that sets up the heap scheme using configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME and demonstrates how to allocate memory using the chosen heap scheme.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a macro configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME with a specific heap scheme number

Define a small memory block array for heap usage

Write a function to allocate memory using pvPortMalloc

Print the result of the allocation to verify success

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Embedded devices often have limited memory. Choosing the right heap scheme in FreeRTOS helps manage memory safely and efficiently for real-time tasks.

💼 Career

Embedded software engineers must configure FreeRTOS memory management to ensure system stability and performance in devices like IoT sensors, wearables, and industrial controllers.

1

Set the heap scheme macro

Define the macro configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME and set it to 4 to select heap_4 scheme in FreeRTOS.

FreeRTOS

# Define the heap scheme macro
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The heap scheme number 4 corresponds to heap_4, which is a commonly used thread-safe heap scheme.

2

Create a heap memory array

Create a global array called ucHeap of type uint8_t with size 1024 bytes to be used as heap memory.

FreeRTOS

#define configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME 4

// Create the heap memory array
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This array will act as the heap memory pool for FreeRTOS allocations.

3

Write a function to allocate memory

Write a function called allocate_memory that takes a size_t size parameter and returns a void*. Inside, call pvPortMalloc(size) and return its result.

FreeRTOS

#define configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME 4

uint8_t ucHeap[1024];

// Write allocate_memory function
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This function wraps the FreeRTOS memory allocation call.

4

Print the allocation result

In the main function, call allocate_memory(100) and store the result in a pointer called ptr. Then print "Allocation success" if ptr is not NULL, otherwise print "Allocation failed".

FreeRTOS

#define configFRTOS_MEMORY_SCHEME 4

uint8_t ucHeap[1024];

void* allocate_memory(size_t size) {
    return pvPortMalloc(size);
}

int main(void) {
    // Call allocate_memory and print result
    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

This step shows how to check if memory allocation worked and print a message.