Hardware-dependent Software

Hardware-dependent Software (HdS) plays a key role in desktop computers and servers for many years. Mainly due to its flexibility, the possibility of late change, and the quick adaptability, the relevance of HdS in the domains of embedded systems and in Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) has significantly increased.
Despite its importance, the role of HdS is most often underestimated and the topic is not well  represented  in literature and education. To address this, Hardware-dependent Software brings together experts from different HdS areas. By providing a comprehensive overview of general HdS principles, tools, and applications, this book provides adequate insight into the current technology and upcoming developments in the domain of HdS. The reader will find an interesting text book with self-contained introductions to the principles of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS), the emerging BIOS successor UEFI, and the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). Other chapters cover industrial applications, verification, and tool environments. Tool introductions cover the application of tools in the ASIP software tool chain (i.e. Tensilica) and the generation of drivers and OS components from C-based languages. Applications focus on telecommunication and automotive systems. For automotive systems, two approaches for SystemC-based verification are presented.

From the reviews:

"This book ? fill the need for software developers to understand more about hardware, and for hardware developers to understand the kind of applications their equipment will run. The ten-chapter work ? gives the book the feeling of a collection of research papers. ? each chapter includes a good set of references. The book includes hardware diagrams with associated software paths, and fragments of C code demonstrate various applications. Useful as a reference source ? . Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections." (H. J. Bender, Choice, Vol. 47 (1), September, 2009)