RTX-Enabled and RTSS Applications

RTX-Enabled Windows Applications

RTX provides developers with the ability for RTX enabled windows applications (.exe) to communicate with RTSS applications (.rtss) through a provided set of inter-process communication (IPC) calls. RTX-enabled applications have the ability to use all of the Win32 functionality that Microsoft provides. The Win32 functionality is usually used for the user interface or non-real-time-critical pieces within a design. The sample directory includes samples such as RtxDemo and RTX latency display to should how RTX enabled windows applications and RTSS applications can interact.

RTSS Applications

RTSS applications provide real-time functionality on a Windows operating system. RTSS applications are able to communicate with RTX-enabled Windows applications through inter-process communication (IPC). RTSS applications should be used for all time critical processing. The sample directory includes a number of samples such as RtxDemo and RTX latency display to should how RTX enabled windows applications and RTSS applications can interact.

NOTE: RTSS applications require a valid license to be built and run. If a valid license does not exist, the RTSS will be considered an Evaluation, and can only be run on Evaluation runtimes. You license an RTSS application by stamping it with the StampTool utility.

RTX-Enabled Windows Device Drivers

RTX provides developers the ability for RTX-enabled device drivers (.sys) to communicate with RTSS applications (.rtss) through a provided set of (IPC) calls.

NOTE: These IPCs are not the same IPCs that are used when communicating with an RTX-enabled Windows application Real-time API (RTAPI). These API calls are part of the Real-Time Kernel API (RTKAPI).

Some designs call for application components that act as device drivers to other application components, or board vendors may want to provide real-time device drivers for their boards that can be used by a variety of real-time and non-real-time applications. The device driver designer can use either DLLs or real-time IPC mechanisms to connect drivers and applications together. The real-time IPC offers the most flexible option because Win32 and RTSS processes can both access a common real-time driver using the same interface, even at the same time. The DriverLib in the RTX Program Example guide includes an RTX library for device drivers based on real-time IPC that provides a traditional device driver interface (e.g., open, close, read, write, and control) to either Win32 or RTSS applications.