wRTOS-Enabled Windows Applications
wRTOS provides developers with the ability for wRTOS-enabled Windows applications (.exe) to communicate with RTSS applications (.rtss) through a provided set of inter-process communication (IPC) calls. wRTOS-enabled applications can use Microsoft's Windows 32 functionality. The Win32 functionality is usually used for the user interface or non-real-time-critical pieces within a design. See the IPCLatency and WindowswRTOSUsingSTL samples for examples of how RTSS applications communicate with Windows.
wRTOS-Enabled Windows Kernel Drivers
wRTOS provides developers with the ability for wRTOS enabled Windows kernel drivers (.sys) to communicate with RTSS applications (.rtss) through a provided set of inter-process communication (IPC) calls. wRTOS-enabled drivers can use all the functionality that Microsoft WDK provides.
RTSS Applications
RTSS applications provide real-time functionality on a Windows operating system. RTSS applications can communicate with wRTOS-enabled Windows applications through inter-process communication (IPC). RTSS applications should be used for all time critical processing. See the IPCLatency and WindowswRTOSUsingSTL samples for examples of how RTSS applications communicate with Windows.
Note: RTSS applications require a valid license to be built and run. If a valid license does not exist, the RTSS process will not run. You license an RTSS application by stamping it with the StampTool utility.
wRTOS-Enabled Windows Device Drivers
wRTOS provides developers the ability for wRTOS-enabled device drivers (.sys) to communicate with RTSS applications (.rtss) through a provided set of (IPC) calls.
Note: These IPCs are not the same as those used when communicating with a wRTOS-enabled Windows application's 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 various 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 access a common real-time driver using the same interface, even simultaneously.
