Data Sheet

VxWorksSBCSupport
toVxWorks5.5willrunintheVxWorks6.x
kernel,withonlyarecompilationrequired.
Bydefault,theVxWorks6.xkernelbuildsas
thatofVxWorks5.5.
VxWorks6.xalsoprovidesincreasedsup-
portforopenstandards.Thispromotes
compatibilitybetweentheoperatingsystem
andopen-sourceapplications,withthese
improvements:
• IncreasedPOSIXcompliancefacilitates
easierportingofopen-sourceandthird-
partysoftwaretoVxWorks
• Standardprocess-basedmodelreduces
thelearningcurveforprogrammingnew
applicationsonVxWorks6.x
• SupportforIPv6enablesdevelopmentof
thenextgenerationofnetworkeddevices
• Standardsockets-basedandmodular
messagechannelsprovideacommon
communicationsinterface
State-of-the-Art Memory Protection
VxWorks6.xenablesmanufacturersto
increasedevicereliabilitythroughMMU-
basedmemoryprotection.VxWorks
introducesprocess-based,user-mode
applicationexecutioninadditiontotradi-
tionalkernel-modeexecution.Thekernelis
protectedfromuser-modeapplicationsrun-
ninginVxWorksreal-timeprocesses.These
arealsoprotectedfromeachother.
WhileVxWorks6.xprovidesMMU-enabled
memoryprotection,itcontinuestousethe
non-overlappedaddressspaceusedinall
earlierversionsofVxWorks.Thenon-over-
lappedmemorymodelpromotesbackward
compatibilitywithlegacyVxWorkscodeand
provideshighdeterminismwithlowlatency.
Error Management
WindRiverprovidesanerrormanage-
mentframeworktohelpcustomersisolate,
diagnose,andcorrecterrorconditions
encounteredduringdevelopmentandtest-
ing.Withinthisframework,customerscan
managefailures,minimizingtheneedto
reproducethefailureinordertodiagnose
thedevice.Theerrormanagementframe-
workincludeserrordetectionandreporting
technology,providesafoundationfor
debuggingdevicesoftwareoutofthebox,
andisextensibletoenablecustomersto
designreliabledevices.
Generic Hardware Support
Differinghardwareplatformsaresup-
portedunderVxWorksviaaboardsupport
package(BSP).TheBSPcontainsasetof
functionsisolatingtheoperatingsystem
fromlowlevelhardwarespecifics,suchas
timers/interruptstructure/VMEinterface
plusdriverstoisolateperipheraldevices
suchasnetwork/serial/USBandothers.
VxWorksBSPshaveafixedinterfaceand
styledefinedbyWindRiverSystems(WRS),
whichcanbeverifiedbyhardwarevendors
usingaValidationTestSuite(VTS)supplied
byWindRiver.Thisapproachallowswide
hardwareplatformsupportwhilegivinga
guaranteeofseamlessoperationwiththe
operatingsystem.ThepreciseBSPdefinition
isalignedtoeachparticular(major)operat-
ingsystemversion,forexampleVxWorks
5.x,VxWorks6.x,VxWorksAE653.
BSPsdeliveredbyGEfortherequiredhard-
warefamilyareseparateitemsfromthe
mainoperatingsystem,whichispurchased
directfromWindRiverandshipswithafull
IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironment(IDE).
BSP and ESP
AGEBSPisengineeredfor“vanilla”stan-
dardusageandfunctionalitywithVxWorks,
includingout-of-the-boxoperation.An
enhancedsupportpackage(ESP)provides
functionalextensionstotheBSP,allowing
driversandapplicationsaccesstohard-
warefunctionalitynotincludedwithinthe
standardBSPdefinitionsmadebytheoper-
atingsystemvendor.
BSPsoperateviaWindRiver-definedinter-
faces.TheESPnecessarilyoperatesvia
GE-definedinterfaces.Thediagrambelow
illustratestheBSP/ESPconcept,andtypical
pathsfromtheoperatingsystemandappli-
cationtohardwarefunctionalblocksvia
theBSPandESP.[BITandBCSareDeployed
Testfirmwares.]
GE Intelligent Platforms
Maintenance Agreements
BSPsandESPsforeachSBCfamilyare
suppliedbyGEunderaMaintenanceAgree-
ment,renewableannuallyifdesired,which
providesexpertsupportandthedistribu-
tionofregularupdates.Thisallowsusersto
beconstantlyup-to-datewithchangesto
accommodatenewhardwarerevisions(e.g.
tocombatdeviceobsolescence),oroper-
atingsystemschangesoriginatingfrom
WindRiverthatmayimpacttheBSPorESP,
togetherwithnewfeaturesandanysolu-
tionsforbugsreportedfromthefield.
Userswhohavealreadycompletedapplica-
tiontestingandhavefrozenforproduction
neednotimplementanysoftwareupgrades
receivedunlessaparticularissueisdeemed
important,butthesemaystillbeuseful
regardingplannedtechnologyrefreshesor
workonnewprojects.
Thepartnumbersfor‘BSPonly’main-
tenance,or‘BSP/ESP’maintenance,are
givenintable1below,withentriesper
hardwarefamily.Note:anESPZincludes
extramulti-processingoptions;anESPC
includesextracommunications-orientated
WindML
LED/Parallel etc. Drvs
Fast Sync/Asyne
Serial PPP
Raw VGA Lib
Sync Ports
SBC Onboard Graphics
USB Ports
VME Interface
DMA Engine
BCS
BIT
Initialization
Std Drivers
VME Functions
Low Level Flash
TrueFFS drv
Bootrom
Backplane Protocol
File.Net/Console
USB Protocol
TrueFFS
File System
User / System
Flash
Basic I/O
Devices
VxWorks
Kernel
APPLICATIONWorkbench IDE
APPLICATION
HARDWARE
ESP
Tools &
Applications
BSP
WRS core O/S
Host
WRS Layers
Memory / Bridge
/ PCI Architecture