Software Platform (and the Software Platform Builder)

Use the following links to browse through the frequently asked questions relevant to this area of soft design.

What is a Device Stack?

The software platform is all about making hardware devices available to application code through abstract and generic software interfaces. To do this a stack of components is grown on top of the hardware devices, with each layer providing more generic functionality for accessing the device. Some stacks may be small - for example a hardware wrapper and a driver on top of it - while others may be more complex and provide truly hardware independent access to the device.

What are Contexts?

Contexts are the highest level of device stacks and provide the most abstract layers of functionality. Contexts provide standardized, hardware independent access to devices.

What is a Hardware Wrapper?

Hardware wrappers encapsulate devices which are hooked up to your processor, and provide information for the higher layers of the stack to access the device. Information such as the base address, interrupt assignment and any soft peripheral configuration is all stored in the hardware wrapper.

What is a Driver?

Drivers provide access to devices at a low abstraction level. Different devices have different drivers, and using a device at the driver level will require knowledge of that particular driver's interface. Drivers provide the link between hardware wrappers and contexts.

What is a Software Service?

A software service is a set of functionality – that is, types and functions – which is available to your application. Different services are brought into the software platform in different ways:

• System Services are always present in the software platform

• Automatic Services are brought into the software platform automatically, depending on what stacks have been created

• Manual Services are brought in manually by the user.

How can the clock frequency be changed for the embedded project, using the Software Platform Builder?

In the Software Services region of the Software Platform document (*.SwPlatform), click on the Software Platform Configuration service. Use the Processor Clock (Hz) property that appears listed in the window to the right to change the clock frequency as required.