Microboxsys Embedded Systems

Resources

A Windows XP workstation is one of the most widely used development platforms and is often used as the host platform for cross development tools. One of the drawbacks of Windows is that it is not that easy to

test the target code on the PC itself
To write simple Win32 GUI prograns in straight C.

Part of the Microboxsys Embedded Edge concept concerns reproducig the embedded environment of a small MCU on a PC under windows XP. This is done in two ways :

By using the embedded BIOS
By using Win32 memory mapped IO/shared memory

These two areas are the two biggest (in)compatibility aspects between a win32 program and an embedded MCU. If it is possible to make STDIO library access and POINTER IO transparent then it is possible to port the software by just recompiling it.

We also provide the source code to some simple windows GUI programs for accessing this shared memory area. These programs use a simple microboxsys GUI engine written completely in standard C. This works directly with the Win32 API and defines all window objects in runtime without the use of C++, Object fameworks or resource editors.