Evolution of FedEx Package Trackers
The "SuperTracker" was the principal input device for COSMOS II. This hand-held device was programmed in Forth using the chipFORTH™ interactive cross-development system from FORTH, Inc. The SuperTracker was based on a Hitachi 6303 eight-bit microcontroller with limited resources, but chipFORTH enabled FedEx to pack a lot of functionality in this device, so that its capabilities were unsurpassed by the other available tools at that time. FedEx continued to upgrade the device, adding more and more valuable features.
Electronic package tracking is perhaps the most important operational activity in any courier business today. So in this highly competitive market it was significant that Federal Express' COSMOS II Package Tracking System won the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge award for technical excellence in 1990.
In 1995, FedEx started planning for their next generation of hand-held tracking devices, and selected the Motorola 68307 for their "Enhanced SuperTracker" (EST). Having decided on the hardware, it was time once again to review the software options. The upgrade team initially was inclined to use C, but a more careful review and prototyping cycle showed that chipFORTH was a superior choice. Although the new 32-bit hardware offered much larger memory resources, FedEx realized how quickly popular real-time executives consume memory resources and restrict the functionality of the device.
chipFORTH was a superior choice for FedEx because its small kernel size left a lot of room for the application and — most importantly — data storage. The kernel itself is reconfigurable, and its size can be optimized based on the requirements of the application. The application code is written and compiled on a PC host and then downloaded to the target. chipFORTH offers interactive debugging from the PC host, while the code executes on the target, through an interactive link between the PC and background debug mode (BDM) of the 68307 microcontroller. No emulators or other hardware or software tools are required.
In 1998, FedEx upgraded their development system further to FORTH, Inc.'s SwiftX™ cross-development system. SwiftX features optimizing code generation technology that reduces the size of target programs while at the same time improving run-time performance by a factor of four. SwiftX's Windows-based development environment offers improved testing and debugging facilities.
