Operating system (OS) abstraction layer

• US 7,506,340 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2003
• Issued: 03/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: MacKenzie, James, Hergenhan, Scott, Gazda, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): An; Meng-Ai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Seye; Abdou K
• Application Number:
  US10/648,155
• Publication Number:
  US 20040123306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,030 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 709/217, 455/419
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45537 Provision of facilities of other operating environments, e.g. WINE I/O emulation G06F13/105

Abstract

An operating environment is capable of being abstracted to a plurality of operating systems. An operating environment is provided which is common to all the different operating systems. A plurality of operating system abstraction layers are provided. Each abstraction layer designed to abstract the operating environment to at least one targeted operating system.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising:

a system processor further comprising;

an operating system abstraction layer further comprising;

an operating environment, the operating environment operating independent of underlying operating systems or hardware structure, and wherein the operating environment hides underlying operating systems from its client applications;

an Operating System Adaptive Port Interface (OS API) configured to map operating environment entities to the underlying operating system (OS) wherein client software components access the operating environment via the OS API using a global header file;

a plurality of operating system (OS) independent modules configured to perform operations that are not related to a target operating system said operating system independent modules either providing all functionality without the OS, or utilizing OS dependent constructs via the OS API; and

a plurality of operating system dependent modules configured to perform operations that are related to the target operating system wherein a separate implementation appears for each target operating system;

wherein the abstraction layer utilizes a naming convention to specify which modules are OS dependent and which are OS independent; and

wherein the abstraction layer comprises a plurality of OS constructs, the plurality of OS constructs further comprising;

a Thread, said thread including an independent path of execution;

a Process, said process including an independent path of execution with its own protected address space;

a Thread Group, said Thread Group including a grouping of threads, managed collectively to synchronize their execution;

a Mutex, said Mutex including a Thread synchronization element providing mutual exclusion to shared resources; and

an Event, said Event including a Thread synchronization element, allowing threads to coordinate execution.

2. The wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the abstraction layer further comprises:

a plurality of internal components that are accessed via an OS independent internal interface not published in the OS API, said internal components providing common services for other OS constructs; and

a plurality of standard OS components that are accessed via the OS API.

3. The wireless communication device of claim 2 wherein the abstraction layer further comprises a plurality of OS modules, the plurality of OS modules comprising:

a Mutex module, said Mutex module configured to implement a Mutex;

an Event module, said Event module configured to implement an Event;

a Thread module, said Thread module configured to implement a Thread;

a Message module, said Message module configured to implement basic Message allocation and deallocation services;

a Generic List module, said Generic List module implementing a generic link list, including a list iterator;

a Message Queue module, said Message Queue module configured to implement a Message Queue and provide interprocess communications (IPC) capabilities;

a Memory Management Module, said Memory Management Module configured to provide all memory management capabilities.