Bsquare has announced a Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 board support package (BSP) for the Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP35x evaluation module (EVM). The BSP will support Windows CE's integrated Silverlight technology and TI's integrated PowerVR SGX graphics accelerators, says Bsquare.

Bsquare already offers a BSP for TI's OMAP35x EVM (see later in this story for background on the hardware), supporting the existing Windows CE 6.0 R2. At today's Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in Boston, however, Microsoft announced Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3, a key feature of which is said to be an out-of-browser, native code implementation" of Microsoft's Silverlight technology, allowing developers to "dramatically improve user interface capabilities."

Bsquare has responded by saying it will modify its TI OMAP35x EVM BSP to optimize it for Silverlight usage. In particular, the company notes, the BSP will ship with OpenGL ES 2.0 technology, taking advantage of the PowerVR SGX graphics accelerator found on TI's OMAP3530 processor.

Adobe's Flash Lite will presumably also be supported, since this alternative multimedia framework has not only been distributed to device manufacturers by Bsquare itself, but now ships with Windows CE 6.0 R3, according to Microsoft. Bsquare says its BSP will also support the new version of Internet Explorer found in R3, plus Microsoft's newly included PDF viewer.

Raj Khera, Bsquare's vice president of products, stated, "With Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 and the TI OMAP3 platform as building blocks, OEMs gain a significant time-to-market advantage. Using familiar development tools and leveraging the high-performance graphics and advanced multimedia support the new BSP enables, OEMs and ODMs can create highly differentiated devices that feature compelling experiences."

Background

The TI OMAP35x EVM, designed by Mistral Solutions and marketed by TI, supports the chipmaker's Cortex A8-based OMAP3530, a top model in the OMAP35x product line. The OMAP35x processors are based on a 600MHz Cortex-A8 core, with integrated peripherals, and target embedded applications and consumer electronics devices. (For more information, see our earlier coverage, here.)

The EVM, pictured below, includes not only an OMAP3530 processor module, but also a main board measuring 7 by 4.25 inches. The combination provides 128MB of RAM, 256MB of flash storage, and a 3.7-inch touchscreen display available in 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 resolutions, says Mistral.

The top of TI's OMAP35x EVM
(Click to enlarge)

The bottom of the OMAP35x EVM, shown with an Econ e-CAM32_OMAP35x camera module on board
(Click to enlarge)
"Real world" interfaces on the OMAP35x EVM include the following, according to TI:

• USB 2.0
  
• TV-out with both composite and S-Video
  
• Audio line in and headset out
  
• SD/SDIO slot
  
• 10/100Mbps Ethernet
  
• Keypad
  
• I2C
  
• 2 x UART ports
  
• JTAG

Meanwhile, the following additional interfaces are said to be available via the device's expansion connector:

• Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
  
• I2C (2)
  
• UART (3)
  
• MMC/SD (2)
  
• 16-bit GPMC (general-purpose memory controller)
  
• 12-bit digital video in for camera
  
• 4-bit digital video out for display
  
• GPIOs
  
• Embedded trace macrocell interface

Further information

According to Bsquare, its Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 BSP for the OMAP35x EVM will be available for free during the fourth quarter. The current Windows CE 6.0 R2 BSP may be downloaded from the company's website, here.

A demonstration of the new BSP running on the OMAP35x EVM with a Silverlight-based point-of-sale application is available to ESC Boston attendees at Microsoft's ESC Boston booth (#400), Bsquare says.

In related news, another Silverlight-based user interface (UI) for Windows CE is said to have been shown off during the Windows CE 6.0 R3 launch demo, and will also be showcased at Microsoft's booth. A seven-inch tablet CID (consumer internet device) capable of browsing stored multimedia content wirelessly will be shown off by Infragistics, which designed its UI. For more information on the Infragistics UI components for Silverlight, see the company's website, here.

For more information on the OMAP35x EVM, see the Mistral Solutions website, here.

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