Hardware / Software Integration
Why Would I Need External Hardware?
External hardware is necessary in order for a computer system to “sense” or “interact” with the outside world. The hardware could be as simple as a a touch screen overlay to collect tactile input from the user, or a measurement instrument, such as a temperature sensor. Or the hardware could be as sophisticated as a motor drive subsystem for a machine tool.
Sometimes the choice of external hardware is already established, such as when upgrading the computer or software of an existing system. Other times, one must evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of several products, and choose the best product for the application. If a suitable product is not available commercially, one might need to create the hardware in-house.
In most cases, the hardware connects to the computer via one of the existing ports or busses, such as:
- RS-232C Serial Port
- RS-485 Multi-Drop via RS-232C Serial Port
- Parallel Port
- USB Port
- Ethernet Network Interface
- VME, ISA or PCI Bus (i.e. an internal “card”)
For most of these connections, one can write a “user-mode” driver that does not need to execute with kernel privileges. However, for some of the bus-level connections, a kernel-mode driver may be necessary.
How Can Foundation Software Technology Help?
Foundation Software Technology’s Principle Consultant, Christopher Johnson, has been working with computer hardware and software for over 25 years. He has experience with writing software to interface with many different types of instruments and devices, both in low-level assembly language, and in high-level languages like C and Java. His computer hardware background and training in Electrical Engineering form the basis for his ability to interface to hardware from the register level to the bit stream level.
Please contact us to find out how Foundation Software Technology can help you with your hardware interfacing needs.