Operating system for embedded computers

• US 6,138,271 A
• Filed: 06/26/1996
• Issued: 10/24/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Allen-Bradley Company (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Technologies, LLC (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Keeley, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Banankhah, Majid A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAO, SUE X
• Application Number:
  US08/669,739
• Time in Patent Office: 1,581 Days
• Field of Search: 395/710, 395/705, 395/701, 395/712, 395/702, 395/703, 707/10, 717/5, 717/3, 717/2, 717/10, 717/1
• US Class Current: 717/140
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading

Abstract

An operating system particularly designed for application programs to be used on embedded computers in appliances and the like is constructed in a modular basis. The application program is scanned for calls to the operating system and the particular modules of the operating system required for the application program are collected into an operating system kernel which may be linked and loaded with the application system into the embedded application.

Claims

1. A program for producing a memory image file for an embedded computer that may execute an application program developed on a development computer system to run on a standard full featured operating system, where the application program makes standard operating system calls, the embedded computer having less memory and fewer hardware components than the development computer system and being unable to support the standard full featured operating system, the program comprising:

a) a modular operating system mirroring the functions of the full-featured operating system in a plurality of source code operating system modules invokable by the operating system calls from the application program, the source code operating system modules including those providing functions required to interface an application program to the hardware components;

b) a scanner program receiving the application program and scanning it for the operating system calls to the full-featured operating system to produce list of the source code operating system modules required by the application program when run on the embedded computer; and

c) a compiler compiling the application program and the source code operating system modules on the list, together, to produce a memory image file that fits within the limited memory of the embedded computer that provides a sufficient operating system less than the full featured operating system for the application program invokable by standard operating system calls.

2. The program of claim 1 wherein the full-featured operating system is compiled and requires as compiled a first amount of memory and wherein the source code operating system modules on the list compile to a second amount of memory smaller than the first amount of memory.

3. The program of claim 1 wherein the source code operating system modules provide functions to interface the application program to different hardware components using a single standard operating system call.

4. The program of claim 1 wherein the source code operating system modules are divided into portions preceded by conditional compiler directives so that they are compiled only if the directive is true and wherein the scanner sets the directives so that only portions of each source code operating system module may be compiled into the memory image file.