RE: [ECOS] USB host mode support?

["Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe at larwe dot com>]

Hi Tim,

>I think as more embedded systems grow there will be a need for host mode
>USB.  At this time I'm going to try a do a host mode version.  Do you see
>any big issues in porting BSD or Linux implementation to eCOS?

I'm curious to know what kind of USB peripherals you think will be 
important to support in embedded systems. It would be pretty easy to add 
generic HID support, but almost every other device you can think of is 
proprietary. There are some generic chipsets e.g. for ATA interfaces and 
scanners, but often the implementation is customized so a vanilla driver 
won't work properly. Basically you're buying into the whole minefield of 
maintaining a general-purpose operating system, when consumers call you and 
say "My new widget no worky when I plug it in". So at that point it makes 
perfect sense (to me to cross over to a GP OS like Linux, as Bart said.

As another BTW, although eCos doesn't explicitly support dynamic loading, 
it is possible to implement it with some magic. I have a (grossly 
imperfect) module-loader as a work-in-progress. The reason I need one is 
because we wish to allow developers to write add-on modules for our product 
without wiping the whole OS out of flash. I seem to recall someone (Grant 
Edwards?) writing about a similar need on the list some weeks ago.

=== Lewin A.R.W. Edwards (Embedded Engineer)
Work: http://www.digi-frame.com/
Personal: http://www.zws.com/ and http://www.larwe.com/

"Und setzet ihr nicht das Leben ein,
Nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein."