‘electronicaUSA with ESC’: Kuka shows real-time extension for Windows XP

San Francisco, CA—Kuka Controls GmbH is exhibiting the latest version of its CeWin real-time extension platform at “electronicaUSA with Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) 2004,” Mar. 29-April 1, at the Moscone Convention Center.

San Francisco, CA— Kuka Controls GmbH recently launched the latest version of its CeWin real-time extension platform. This progressive software allows Microsoft Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded to reside concurrently on one CPU. The company reports that using Windows CE .NET as the real-time backend of Windows XP Embedded eliminates the shortcomings and capitalizes on the advantages of each operating system. Kuka is exhibiting CeWin electronicaUSA with Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) 2004,” Mar. 29-April 1, at the Moscone Convention Center.

Kuka explains that simultaneous use of two operating systems doesn’t lead to any restrictions in real-time capability. Presently, processor performance is sufficient enough to carry a second operating system without reducing functionality. At the same time, users benefit from ease-of-use, many visualization capabilities, and numerous applications resulting from using Windows XP Embedded.

Using only one PC component provides further advantages. ‘The operational and cost saving benefits are substantial,’ says Gerd Lammers, Kuka’s sales and marketing director. “Customers appreciate the resulting reductions in cost, size and weight of hardware systems used in various applications, as well as increased reliability.’

In addition, CeWin version 3.1 has several new features, such as supporting Windows CE .NET 4.2. It also has an additional Shared Memory area that enables a quicker and easier data exchange between the two operating systems. An event-system has been added to facilitate full syn-chronization of Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE .NET. CeWin also includes an integrated Web-server for administrating the system.

To enhance system reliability, Windows CE .NET is notified when an event occurs, such as a faulty driver that causes an XP system exception, and then real-time capability and latencies remain unchanged.

“CeWin combines powerful and robust features of Windows XP Embedded and the real-time capabilities of Windows CE .NET deployed on a single computing platform,’ says Scott Horn, director of Microsoft’s Embedded Devices Group. ‘The Windows Embedded family of operating systems offers Kuka the flexibility to combine the components it needs to provide maximum functionality to its users.’

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news [email protected]