The purpose of DSDP is to provide extensible frameworks andexemplary tools to support activities in each of these developmentphases. They provideApplication developers with a stable platform.ģ) Application Software Development- In this phase developers create the applications for thecombination of hardware and software that comprise the end product.These developers build, download, and debug applications running on atarget system. They configure the target operating system and servicesproviding connectivity, management, and security. They provide Platform developers with a stabletarget.Ģ) Platform Software Development – In this phase developers create the software foundation that sitsclosest to the hardware, including device drivers and board supportpackages. Theyrun hardware-oriented diagnostics and confirm the ability to run simplesoftware applications. Theembedded operating system is usually optimized for these constraintsand is also designed to deal with on-chip peripherals such ascommunication modules, high-resolution timers, memory controllers, etc.ĭevice software development typically involves three distinctphases:ġ) Hardware Bring-up – Inthis phase developers test prototype hardware by verifying basicfunctionality of the target processor(s), memory, and peripherals. These custom targets are often constrained by processor type, processorspeed, available memory, and hard real-time responsiveness. Device software applications are typically cross-compiled anddeployed on a custom hardware target that is based on a differentconfiguration than the development host. The details of this new proposed top-level projectwere then fleshed out over the next two months, and after a communityreview period, DSDP was officially accepted by the Eclipse Board onJune 8, 2005.Įngineers in the embedded space know that device software is softwarethat runs on an embedded operating system inside a larger physicalproduct. Wind River Systems officiallyproposed the DSDP project and joined Eclipse as a Strategic Developerin March of 2005. Shortly after and in response to this meeting, the DeviceSoftware Development Platform ( DSDP ) project was conceived as a way to drive standardization and enhancementof Eclipse for the Device Software space.

The primaryfocus of this initial discussion surrounded the technical challenges ofwriting embedded software debuggers in Eclipse, but there was also ageneral desire for more device software extensions in several areas ofEclipse. At EclipseCon 2005, several companies building or considering buildingdevice software development tools in Eclipse met and discussed the needfor more Eclipse extensibility for the embedded space.

Eclipse development platform