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Create or Modify a BSP (Compact 2013)

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3/26/2014

To run Windows Embedded Compact 2013 on your device, you must create a customized board support package (BSP) for that device.

Prerequisites to Run Windows Embedded Compact on a Device

Before you build a BSP for your device, make sure that your device meets the following minimum requirements to support Windows Embedded Compact:

  • A CPU that supports one of the following instruction set architectures: x86-based or ARMv7T2.
  • A memory management unit (MMU) capable of handling 4 GB of 32-bit virtual memory.
  • At least 1 MB of contiguous physical SDRAM.
  • SDRAM that is accessible on byte, word, or dword boundaries.
  • An internal timer for scheduling.
  • Memory architecture must support little endian binary execution.

Note

There are no required peripherals, power considerations, or I/O mechanisms.

Select an Existing BSP to Build a New BSP

The easiest way to develop a BSP for a new piece of hardware is to start with an existing BSP and make any required modifications to the code. You should select a BSP that:

  • Uses a CPU from the same CPU architecture as the one on your device.
  • Has board-level hardware characteristics that are similar to your device, such as a system timer, real-time clock (RTC), and cache.
  • Has similar networking and communications capabilities as your device.
  • Has a similar user interface as the one on your device; for example, a touch panel, display, or keyboard.

You can obtain an existing BSP to use as a starting point for a new BSP by using these methods:

  • Select a BSP Provided by Microsoft. Windows Embedded Compact provides several BSPs that support the ARM and x86-based CPU architectures. When you install Platform Builder, you can choose which CPU architecture to install. If you did not install any BSPs when you originally installed Platform Builder, you can reinstall Platform Builder to add them. To help you decide which BSP to use, see the ARM Microprocessor BSPs and x86 Microprocessor BSPs sections of the BSP reference documentation.
  • Import a BSP from a non-Microsoft company. Several independent hardware vendors have developed Windows Embedded Compact BSPs. For a list of BSPs, see Find Board Support Packages. For information about how to add a BSP into your installation of Platform Builder, see the Import a BSP section in Select an OS BSP or Design Template.
  • Migrate a BSP from a Previous Version of Windows Embedded Compact. If you want to start with a BSP from an earlier version of Windows Embedded Compact, we recommend that you first port the BSP to Compact 2013 before you adapt it to your hardware. For more information, see Port a BSP from Compact 7 to Compact 2013.

In This Section

  • Clone a BSP
    Provides steps for copying an existing BSP before you adapt it to your device.
  • Adapt a BSP
    Describes the functions that you may need to modify to adapt the cloned BSP to your device.
  • Build a BSP
    Provides steps for rebuilding just the BSP instead of rebuilding the entire OS design.

See Also

Concepts

BSP Development