Datasheet

Chapter 1: Windows Embedded CE
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512 MB or more in system memory; this assumption is used in measuring the application performance
needed to meet certain user requirements.
In a nutshell, when developing applications for the desktop computer, the developer can make a general
assumption about the target hardware needed for running the application.
Application for Embedded Device
When developing applications for embedded devices, the developer must study and understand all the
hardware features available, and how the end user will interact with and use the device.
Many embedded devices do not have a display monitor. For those built with display, the screen size is
very small, with low resolution. This is true of such devices as the Windows Mobile smartphone, GPS
navigation devices, and portable media players. Most embedded devices are not designed with
keyboard and mouse to capture user input, and they use a limited number of special function keys to
process user input.
To minimize cost, most embedded devices are built with slower processors and less system memory than
desktop computers.
Thus when developing applications for embedded devices, the developer must consider the limited user
interface and limited system memory as well as the slower processor. In addition to developing efficient
code to maximize the user ’ s experience, the developer also has to take great care to avoid memory leaks.
Many of these embedded devices are on constantly once they go into service; examples are the Windows
Mobile smartphone, security monitoring systems, and network appliances. Even a very small amount
of memory leakage will accumulate over time and become a serious flaw in the device.
Embedded Devices and Software
A desktop application that consumes 30 to 50 MB of system memory is not considered to be using a lot
of memory, when the whole system has 1 GB or more. But an embedded device may have only 64 MB of
system memory to be shared between RAM and the file system. An application that consumes more than
1 MB of memory in this scenario is considered to be using a very big chunk of memory. But there also are
embedded devices equipped with high performance processors and huge amounts of system memory in
the industrial automation and aerospace industries.
In summary, we cannot classify embedded devices based on processor speed, memory resources, or
product footprint. An embedded device is designed with embedded software to provide a set of
designated primary functions, and will perform these primary function throughout its useful life.
The Windows Embedded Family
The Windows Embedded CE, Windows XP Embedded, and Windows Embedded Point of Service
operating systems are products of Microsoft ’ s Windows Embedded product group. Developers new to
CE may be thinking it ’ s a scaled - down version of the Windows desktop OS. But while CE shares some
common development tools with the desktop Windows OS, the CE kernel is distinctively different from
the desktop Windows OS.
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