New Features in On Time RTOS-32 4.0

In addition to the features listed here, On Time RTOS-32 4.0 also supports communication with USB devices through its new component RTUSB-32.

RTTarget-32

• Team Licensing
  We have extended our per-person licensing model used with previous versions of On Time RTOS-32 to teams. If you need to license On Time RTOS-32 for several persons working in a team, new discounts of 50% for libraries and even 100% for source code can now be applied for each additional team member.
• HTML Help Online Documentation
  The documentation for On Time RTOS-32 has been restructured. All programming manuals and reference manuals are installed as a Microsoft HTML Help files collection with table of content, index, and full text search capability.
• Visual Studio Help/MSDN Integration
  The On Time RTOS-32 online help files can be integrated with the Visual Studio MSDN Library, allowing keyword look-up within Visual Studio to open and display On Time RTOS-32 help files.
• Visual Studio.NET and Visual C++ 7.0/7.1/8.0 Support
  Visual Studio 6.0, .NET, .NET 2003, 2005, and Visual C++ Express Edition are fully supported by On Time RTOS-32, including remote debugger integration. For command line development, Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1, and 8.0 are supported.
• Host - Target Communication via Parallel Ports
  As an alternative to debugging and downloading over RS232, parallel ports are now supported using Parallel LapLink Cables. Any available parallel port on the target and host can be used. EPP or ECP capabilities are not required. The download speed over parallel ports depends on the speeds of host and target computers and is typically 5 to 10 times faster than over RS232 (i.e. 50k to 100k bytes per second of compressed data).
• High Level Interrupt Handling API with Shared Interrupt Support
  The new function RTInstallSharedIRQHandler supports the installation of hardware interrupt handlers completely written in C/C++. In addition, it allows up to 32 PCI devices to share a single IRQ.
• Memory Mapped Files
  Win32 API functions CreateFileMapping(), MapViewOfFile(), etc. are now supported (although their use only makes sense in conjunction with RTFiles-32). Memory mapped files can be used to create a very large virtual address space backed by disk files. Two new demo programs are shipped with RTTarget-32. A database demo manages a database file of several hundred megabytes mapped into the target's virtual address space. While the program accesses the mapped address space, the file's data is swapped in on demand. A virtual memory heap demo shows how an application can use a heap of up to 2 gigabytes size located in virtual memory, even if only a fraction of the required RAM is installed.
  The real-time performance of an application using memory mapped files is not negatively affected. Application code or data not located in a memory mapped file is never swapped by the system. Disk swapping operations can always be preempted by high priority threads.
• RAM/ROM File System Supports File Creation and Modification
  RTTarget-32's RAM/ROM file system has been enhanced to fully support file create and write access to RAM files. Applications can modify files included in an image with "Locate File...", using Win32 or C/C++ run-time system functions such as fopen(), fread(), etc. Additional files can be created. The file's data is stored in RAM on the application's heap. The file data is maintained until the files are deleted or the application terminates.
• Decompression Code Smaller and 40% Faster
  The decompression code has been recoded in assembler. Boot time is reduced significantly for many applications.

RTKernel-32

• Win32 Critical Sections Faster by a Factor of 5
  Functions EnterCriticalSection() and LeaveCriticalSection() have been redesigned and are now written in assembler. Because many applications and the C/C++ run-time systems make heavy use of critical sections, this enhancement can have a dramatic impact on overall application performance.
• New RTK...Until Operations
  The following intertask communication functions have been added: RTKWaitUntil, RTKGetUntil, RTKPutUntil, RTKPutFrontUntil, RTKReceiveUntil, and RTKSendUntil. Unlike their RTK...Timed() counterparts which time out after a given period of time, these functions are called with an absolute time as a timeout.
• High Resolution Timer above 4GHz Support
  High resolution timer hardware (including the clock cycle counter register of Pentium CPUs) with very high frequencies is now supported. Thus, RTKernel-32 is ready for the next generation of high speed CPUs.
• High Resolution Timer API with 64 Bit Support
  For compilers with a native 64 bit integer type (e.g., Microsoft Visual C++'s __int64 type), time intervals can now be measured with 64 bits resolution. In addition to seconds, milli- and microseconds, API functions to measure time intervals with a nanosecond resolution have been added.
• High Level Interrupt Handling API with Shared Interrupt Support
  The new function RTInstallSharedIRQHandler supports up to 32 PCI devices to share a single IRQ.
• New Supplemental Module RTProf
  RTKernel-32's new profiler can help optimize application performance.

RTFiles-32

• DMA Transfer Mode
  IDE disks are automatically operated in Ultra DMA or Multiword DMA mode, if supported by the disk and host controller.
• Long File Name Support
  Long file name support has been added to RTFiles-32.
• Unicode Support
  Through its new code page and UTF-8 support, RTFiles-32 supports the full range of Unicode characters in file names.
• Extended File Size Support
  RTFiles-32 now supports files with a size up to 1 terabyte.
• New Function RTFCheckDisk
  New native API function RTFCheckDisk can detect and automatically repair the following common file system problems:
  • Master and backup FAT mismatch
  • Invalid characters in file names
  • Invalid file attribute combinations
  • Invalid FAT entries
  • File size information in directory and FAT mismatch
  • File chain crosslinks
  • Lost clusters
  • Orphaned long file names
  Each check can be enabled or disabled. Optionally, the user can be prompted before each fix is applied.
• New Function RTFCompactDir
  RTFCompactDir can remove no longer required directory entries, speeding up subsequent directory searches.
• New Buffer Cache Management Strategy
  The algorithm to select cached sector buffers to discard has been redesigned. It is now up to 50% faster than in previous versions and avoids cache thrashing when the cache is populated with many dirty buffers. The cache efficiency has also been improved.
• IDE Driver Supports Disks above 128G Size
  The latest ATA-6 specification for accessing IDE disks with more than 128G bytes capacity is supported.
• IDE Driver Supports Controller Read/Write Cache Management
  The IDE driver will now enable the read lookahead and delayed write caches of modern IDE disks. The write cache is flushed at program termination. The disk's write cache can optionally be disabled.
• M-Systems' DiskOnChip Millennium 2000 Plus Support
  The latest M-Systems driver is integrated, supporting the new DiskOnChip Millennium 2000 Plus flash disks.
• Supports ISO 9660 File Systems
  RTFiles-32 4.0 supports the standard format used for data CD-ROMs and DVDs. Extensions to the ISO 9660 standard such as 9660-Relaxed or Joliet are supported. Most UDF volumes also contain an ISO 9660 directory tree and are thus also supported.

RTIP-32

• Fully Integrated with On Time RTOS-32
  RTIP-32 now resides in the same directory tree as all other On Time RTOS-32 components. All required libraries are shipped precompiled. Many examples are included with all required source files and build scripts. RTIP-32 4.0 also participates in On Time RTOS-32 maintenance releases and patches.
• WinSock Source Code Compatibility
  If only the Berkeley socket API is being used, application programs can be written to be compiled for On Time RTOS-32 or for Win32. Most RTIP-32 demos shipped with RTIP-32 4.0 can be compiled for Windows or On Time RTOS-32 without source code modifications.
• Standard On Time Licensing Terms
  RTIP-32 is now offered under the same licensing terms as all other On Time RTOS-32 components (that is, licensed per person or team for an unlimited number of projects, no run-time royalties).
• Available as Low-Cost Library-Only Version
  It is no longer required to purchase the RTIP-32 source code, although the source code continues to be available as an optional add-on. The source code of all RTIP-32 Ethernet drivers is always included in the product.
• New Ethernet Driver
  The number of drivers is continuously expanded. Some of the new drivers are: STMicroelectronics STE10/100A, DEC/Intel 21x4x (Tulip), VIA VT6105L (Rhine III), ASIX AX88172 and AX88772 USB-Ethernet-Bridge (RTUSB-32 required), Davicom DM9102A, National Semiconductor DP83815, Intel 8254x (Gigabit Ethernet).
• Availability of an SNTP Client
  SNTP, the Simple Network Time Protocol, is available as an add-on for RTIP-32 4.0.
• Availability of an SMB Client and SMB Server
  SMB is the protocol used by Microsoft Windows to access files over a network. The SMB Client allows an On Time RTOS-32 embedded system to access files located on a network share published by another computer on the network. The SMB Server can be used to publish network directories such that other computers on the network can access files on them.

RTPEG-32

• Unicode Font Pages
  Reduced Fonts are no longer reencoded. Therefore, an application can select an arbitrary set of character ranges from a Unicode font to reduce its size to the actually required characters, yet maintain compatibility with the Unicode standard.
• Based on Swell Software's PEG Version 1.8
  The latest release from Swell Software has been merged into RTPEG-32, providing many improvements.
• Commandline Tool for Multilingual String Table Maintenance
  Multilingual applications can now be built with a separate ASCII or Unicode text file for each language. The new utility program MkStrTab.exe can read these files and build all required string tables to be linked into the application.
• PNG Bitmap Format Support
  In addition to BMP, GIF, and JPG, the PNG format is now also supported by the PegImageConvert program. PNG images can also be converted into the RTPEG-32 bitmap format at run-time.
• ZLIB Compression and Decompression Library
  RTPEG-32 now contains a general purpose data compression and decompression library for buffer-to-buffer compression/expansion. The format of compressed data is compatible with RFCs 1950 (zlib format), 1951 (deflate format), and 1952 (gzip format). The compression library can be used for PNG bitmaps and any other application data.
• Unicode Support in Library-Only Version
  The Unicode libraries of RTPEG-32 are now included in the library-only version of the product. Purchasing the source code is no longer required to support Unicode.

Upgrade 3.0 -> 4.0 Issues

In general, On Time RTOS-32 4.0 is compatible with version 3.0. This section discusses a few issues to consider when a project is migrated to version 4.0:

• Watcom C/C++ Support Discontinued
  Watcom libraries are no longer shipped with On Time RTOS-32. If you nevertheless plan to use Watcom C/C++ 10.5, 10.6, or 11.0, you need to purchase the On Time RTOS-32 source code and build the required libraries.
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2.x and 4.x Support Discontinued
  The Microsoft libraries shipped with On Time RTOS-32 have been compiled with MS Visual C++ 5.0 and are therefore not compatible with older Visual C++ versions. If you nevertheless plan to use an older Visual C++ compiler, you need to purchase the On Time RTOS-32 source code and build the required libraries.
• RTLoc Option -g Disabled by Default
  By default, RTLoc will no longer generate RTD32 compatible debug symbol tables (Borland format). For Borland compilers or when RTD32 is not used, generating symbol tables is not required. Microsoft Visual C++ users who wish to use RTD32 instead of the Visual Studio debugger must add RTLoc command line switch -g+.
• RTKernel-32 Flag RF_WIN32CS_MUTEX
  Due to the new implementation of Critical Sections, flag RF_WIN32CS_MUTEX is no longer supported. Win32 Critical Section now always implement the same semantics as under Windows.
• RTKernel-32 Default Memory Driver
  The default memory driver for RTKernel-32 in library Drvrt32.lib has been changed from Memw32 to Memstch for best compatibility, improved speed, and memory efficiency. If your application requires memory driver Memw32, then you must add library Memw32.lib to the linker commandline.
• RTIP-32 Drivers
  Drivers for discontinued or obsolete Ethernet controllers have been removed from RTIP-32 4.0. Please see the RTIP-32 page for an up-to-date list of supported Ethernet controllers.
• RTIP-32 Add-On NFS
  The NFS add-on for RTIP-32 has been discontinued. However, the new SMB Client and SMB Server add-ons are available as powerful replacements for NFS.