| Interview: Adding deterministic, real-time control to XP Embedded using INtime |
(Oct. 3, 2003)
Microsoft spoke with Kim Hartman, Director of Sales and Marketing at TenAsys Corp., about how that company's INtime software adds deterministic, real-time capabilities to Microsoft's Windows XP Embedded and other Windows platforms.
Microsoft: Let's start from the beginning. How does a customer know whether or not they require a deterministic operating system? What sort of prescriptive guidance can you offer?
Kim: Picture yourself well down the path into the beta trials of your new Windows XP Embedded-based product, when your new potential customer points out that your application program seems to behave differently depending on something as seemingly irrelevant as a mouse click, opening the DVD-ROM drive, or just by hooking up to the network. They can't seem to reproduce it all the time, but have experienced it just the same. In some cases it could be merely an inconvenience, or in others, a total disaster. For the most part they all point to the same issue, lack of hard real-time determinism.
Say this new system controls the tightly orchestrated movement of thousands of parcels being sorted on a myriad of conveyor belts. Imagine what happens when an actuator responsible for moving an item from its feeder belt to a sorting bin fires late, or not at all. The result would most likely be a mishandled parcel that's sent to the wrong destination, or bounced onto the floor. In either case it results in an unacceptable situation for the potential customer as well as you the supplier.
Having discarded redundant computer hardware, your new product costs you less than half of its predecessor. You've integrated the back office servers to keep track of all material movements as well as integrated training right into the work station itself. The savings are enormous and the features are unlimited when using Windows XP Embedded, but there's no chance you'll sell any of these unless the system works.
In the past, your systems worked dependably and reliably because you used two computers to handle the tasks, one with Windows and the other a real-time operating system (RTOS). Now with the costs of goods drastically reduced, you're confident the solution is near, and it is. Running faster processors won't make Window XP Embedded more deterministic. What you need is your trusty RTOS back on the hardware, but how?
Microsoft: What is your solution for this market?
Kim: TenAsys offers a product called INtime, a real-time extension to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT. INtime software can be added to any standard Windows PC platform to enable fully deterministic control, regardless of its complexity. Our technology allows customers to write hard real-time applications while making use of all standard Windows features and applications.
Microsoft: What are the benefits of INtime?
Kim: INtime is a completely unique real-time extension used with Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT, which is really a separate RTOS in itself. Capitalizing on the advanced capabilities of the PC platform in ways that no one else can, using INtime is just like having two computer systems, running on one platform. Your determinism problems are managed with precision and protection using industry-hardened RTOS technology. INtime with Windows operating systems is the best of both worlds.
Microsoft: What is INtime's background?
Kim: INtime's kernel is derived from the grandfather of all RTOSs, iRMX from Intel. Having been in use prior to MS-DOS, no other RTOS technology has been tested and refined to operate PC hardware with higher precision and protection. Upon generating the system, INtime resides in its own virtual machine protected from anything going on associated with the Windows operating system. As a fully protected operating system itself, your INtime-based real-time application also runs fully protected from all other processes as well.
I know of no other solution that provides this level of protection and reliability in addressing deterministic control issues with Windows XP systems, and none that is as extensible as INtime. Using INtime, you are free to add up to 8000 objects to your real-time application. This can allow for the most sophisticated and taxing system conceivable, all with higher priority than anything occurring on the Windows side. INtime features numerous dedicated real-time interfaces including a TCP/IP stack, USB, a wide variety of industrial control interfaces, and COM drivers. The operating system supports 256 levels of priority, round-robin scheduling, and interrupt support, all as services accessible from your user-mode real-time code.
Microsoft: Can developers use Microsoft Visual Studio to write applications targeting INtime?
Kim: Sure! You can develop all your real-time applications with your standard Visual Studio 6.0 or Visual Studio.NET integrated development environment (IDE). You can write real-time applications accessing complete control using our INtime application programming interfaces (API) or a Microsoft Win32 subset. And you can also write Windows applications that access real-time objects through our Windows-to-INtime connection (NTX) DLL. Use our INtex (INtime Explorer) and INscope real-time performance analyzer to monitor and measure your applications hard real-time performance.
Don't attempt to try to fix your timing issues in a custom driver or in kernel mode extensions. Using INtime will provide your applications a user-mode execution environment with absolute determinism and rock solid reliability.
About TenAsys
TenAsys Corporation is a software company exclusively focused on real-time operating systems technology for x86-based platforms. TenAsys RTOS products, which include iRMX, iRMX for Windows, and INtime, have been in use for over 23 years in hundreds of mission-critical applications throughout the world.
More information on INtime and TenAsys can be obtained by visiting the company website.
Copyright © 2003 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved. This article was initially published on Microsoft's MSDN website. Reproduced by WindowsForDevices.com with permission.
Related stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.
Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.
Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.
Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.
Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.
Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.
Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.
Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.
|
|
|
|
|
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of
Service and Privacy Policy.
Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008
Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is
prohibited. Windows is a trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and is used by WindowsForDevices under license from owner. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. WindowsForDevices is an independent publication not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation.
news feed