Annasoft Gets A Jump Start On PLKs.

Annasoft Systems announced a version of its Jump Start Platform Library Kit (PLK) for Windows CE platforms based on Intel's StrongARM SA-1100 RISC processor and SA-1101 companion chip.

According to Richard Eppel, president of Annasoft, "[The company] also offers Windows CE integration services for designers who want to outsource the CE adaptation process and focus their engineering resources on creating application code."

The library kit includes pre-configured OEM Adaptation Layer (OAL) software, a Windows CE boot loader, a suite of drivers, a source code, and a build tree for creating an image that is ready to run using Microsoft Platform Builder v.2.11. The kit simplifies the integration of Windows CE with StrongARM platforms by eliminating the need for OAL adaptation and streamlining the driver development process. It also includes a CPLD that serves as an Ethernet/Flash loader for the Multi-Media Reference Design and a graphical user interface (BuildManager) for the Windows CE development environment that makes it easy to interact with the build tree.

"[Windows CE was intended] to be adapted to different microprocessors and hardware platforms," Eppel continued. "We now have a family of [the new product] that makes it easy to integrate Windows CE with a range of hardware platforms, including those based on the StrongARM architecture."

The PLK provides an out-of-the-box solution for the Brutus evaluation board, including a Kyocera LCD driver, a Dynapro touchscreen driver, a serial driver for the serial UART debug port, a PCMCIA driver, and a keyboard driver. The PLK also provides an out-of-the-box solution for the Multi-Medial/Sidekick Reference Design, including a VGA/CRT display driver, keyboard/mouse driver, serial port driver, PCMCIA driver, and a CPLD that acts as an Ethernet/Flash loader. To reduce development time and cost, the PLK provides a build tree for Microsoft's Platform Builder, together with a GUI (BuildManager) that makes it easy to interact with this build tree. The PLK's drivers, available with source code, can also be modified for other StrongARM platforms.

The build tree is configured such that the driver DLLs (Dynamically Loadable Libraries) are placed in the Platform Builder subdirectories, the platform and project files are modified, and the registries and binary image builder are ready to go. All the developer needs to do is copy the build tree into the platform and public directories of Platform Builder and create a shortcut to the board-specific image. Once this is done, developers can begin downloading and debugging the application. They can also add or remove drivers from the build tree as needed. Development system requirements for the StrongARM SA-1100 Jump Start PLK include Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 (SP3), Microsoft Visual Studio v6.0, Microsoft Windows Platform Builder v2.11, and the ARM Software Developers Toolkit v2.11 (optional for the Multimedia Reference Design). The Jump Start v2.ll PLK costs $4,995 and is available immediately.