INtime consists of the following major components:

INtime kernel

The kernel is the core of the INtime product and executes standard system services as well as your real-time applications. The kernel manages objects, time, threads, and memory on behalf of all applications, as well as the connections to other instances of the INtime kernel. It also provides the primary Applications Programming Interface (API) for real-time programs. In INtime for Windows the kernel is initially loaded by the INtime Kernel Manager service. In INtime Distributed RTOS the kernel is loaded by the bootloader.

System services

In addition to the kernel itself, a number of system services are provided in the INtime product to enhance and extend the basic functionality of the kernel. These include configuration tools, I/O services, logging services, and network services. In addition the Distributed System Manager and the Global Objects Manager together provide connection and monitoring services across the whole system of Windows and INtime nodes.

Development environment

To develop INtime applications, you use standard Windows tools together with these INtime software components:

Libraries (brief listing; refer reader to full description)

Libraries

INtime software provides interface libraries that your applications use to obtain RT kernel and support services. INtime software libraries include:

Real-time API:

Contains system calls that the RT portion of an INtime application uses to access RT kernel services such as memory management and inter-process communication.

Real-time C and C++ libraries:

Contains system calls that a real-time application uses to access standard ANSI C and C++ functions.

iWin32 library:

Contains system calls which emulate a subset of the Win32 API on the INtime kernel.

PCI library:

Contains system calls that provide access to the PCI bus configuration space to assist in development of I/O applications.

Network and USB interface libraries:

Contains system calls which provide access to the services of the network and USB stacks.

Windows extension (NTX) library:

Contains system calls that the Windows portion of an INtime application uses to communicate with the RT portion of the system.

Windows iWin32x library:

Contains system calls that the Windows portion of an INtime application uses to access real-time objects created using the iWin32 library.

Wizards

Accessed from within Microsoft Visual Studio, INtime wizards automatically prompt you for the information needed to create projects that contain source code for the real-time portion of your INtime applications. Once you create the project, you manually edit the code. INtime software provides these wizards:

Application wizard:

develops the RT portion of INtime applications.

Shared Library wizard:

develops RT shared library (RSL is the INtime kernel equivalent to a Windows DLL).

Static Library wizard:

develops an RT static library which you can link to other RT applications.

Application loader

The application loader dynamically loads real-time applications into the kernel for execution. The loader consists of load clients (one on Windows and the other on the Distributed RTOS kernel) which interact with the load server to install and start applications.

Debuggers

You debug the Windows portion of INtime applications using the debug tools provided in Microsoft Visual Studio. To debug the RT portion of INtime applications, you use the debug tools provided with INtime software:

Visual Studio debugger:

The INtime debug engine is integrated with the Visual Studio IDE to provide debugging capabilities from within Microsoft Visual Studio. This is the recommended default debug environment.

System debug monitor (SDM):

A static, command-line debug interface for RT applications that provides low-level, static debugging capability. This is a low-level tool used for debugging situations where the high-level debuggers cannot operate.

Spider

A stand-alone front end for the INtime debug engine, the Spider debugger is intended for use with applications developed on older tool-chains which do not support the integrated Visual Studio debugger. Spider provides many of the same debugging features of the integrated debugger.

You can simultaneously debug the Windows and RT portions of an INtime application.

Sample applications

INtime software contains several sample applications that you can use as examples for your own program development. They are intended as illustrations of various facilities and features of the INtime product. For details see the Sample Application Reference section.

Deployment tools/options

A number of features are incorporated into the INtime installers and tools to make it easy to install and configure your runtime systems for deployment.