According to Bsquare, version 1.8 of its Windows CE 6.0 R3 BSP -- first released last September -- stamps out several dozen minor bugs. Among these, a problem with the USB On-The-Go driver has been fixed; a problem with the SDHC driver that caused some cards to fail has been corrected; and various problems with code relating to the real-time clock have been eliminated.

Now, according to the company, the BSP also provides some new features. For example, it includes virtual rotated frame buffer support, includes faster PowerVR graphics components, and adds support for power management via suspend mode, Bsquare says. It's said the 1.8 release also offers a "preview" of what will apparently become a more detailed DVFS (dynamic voltage and frequency scaling) subsystem.

Bsquare says some of the BSP's new features -- suspend mode, for example -- are only supported on TI's EVM2 (TMDSEVM3530), which was released last September. Release 6.14.00 is the last that will be tested and supported on the original EVM (TMDXEVM3503), the company adds. (See below for background on the EVM and EVM2.)

Background

TI's OMAP3530 is the top model in the company's OMAP35x product line (below). Announced in February 2008, with shipments occurring that July, the OMAP3530 offered the same 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 core as its siblings, and included both the OMAP3525's TMS320C64x DSP/video accelerator capability, enabling 720p video, and the OMAP3515's OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics engine, based on Imagination Technologies' SGX 2D/3D graphics processor. (The low-end OMAP3503 part lacks either of these enhancements.)

TI's OMAP35x product line

The OMAP3530 has found widespread use in consumer electronics and embedded devices. It has also been incorporated in Digi-Key's BeagleBoard open-platform development board, which has become the basis of various devices.

A block diagram for TI's OMAP3530 Rev E
(Click to enlarge)

Last September, TI began shipping its OMAP3530 Rev E, which clocks the ARM Cortex-A8 core at 720MHz instead of 600MHz. The SoC's TMS320C64x+ DSP (digital signal processor) moves from 430MHz to 520MHz, the chipmaker adds.

Concurrent with this, TI upgraded the Mistral-produced OMAP35x EVM from the original TMDXEVM3503 model to the TMDSEVM3530 EVM2 pictured below. As well as providing the upgraded ARM core and DSP, the new board added S-Video, component, and composite inputs, as well as an S-Video output, says the company.

The TMDSEVM35350 EVM2 for the OMAP35x
(Click to enlarge)

According to Mistral, the TMDS3530EVM also added a high-speed USB EHCI (embedded host controller interface) port. In addition, the newer board, which measures 5.65 x 3 inches, is available with a WL1271 module that adds 802.11b/g/n wireless networking.

Bsquare, meanwhile, first offered a Windows CE 6.0 R2 BSP for the OMAP3530, but said it would support Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 not long after that OS upgrade was announced last fall. A key feature of R3 was said to be an "out-of-browser, native code implementation" of Microsoft's Silverlight technology, allowing developers to "dramatically improve user interface capabilities."

Bsquare repsonded by optimizing its updated BSP for Silverlight usage. In particular, the BSP supports OpenGL ES 2.0 technology, taking advantage of the Powervr SGX graphics accelerator found on the OMAP3530.

Further information

Version 1.8 of Bsquare's Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 BSP is downloadable free from TI's website, here.

More information on the OMAP35x EVM2 may be found on the Mistral Solutions website, here.

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