Imagine being able to develop a product that uses the power of the Windows operating system, but that is branded as your own, dedicated system.

The definition of an embedded system is simply a device that has a dedicated, or "application specific" purpose. Devices such as:

• Consumer Appliances – such as set-top boxes or Internet videophones
• Industrial Control Units – such as vision inspection or process control units
• Retail Devices – such as Point of Sale (POS) or stock control devices
• IT devices such as Firewall units or Print servers
• Telephony devices such as fax machines or auto diallers
• Internet and Information Kiosks

An Embedded device does not normally look like a PC to the user. Instead, a custom front-end (called the "Shell") is usually designed to offer the user just the functionality required by the appliance. Behind this façade, however, lies the full potential power of Windows^® XP, giving rich functionality and support for audio, video, network and modem devices or any other device that has support under the desktop version of XP.

The XP embedded platform allows very fast design cycles, due to the ability to support a vast range of off-the-shelf components. Not only does it have lower licence costs than its desktop equivalent, but the reduced footprint of the system allows one to support a wide variety of hardware platforms, including Compact Flash, El Torito (Bootable CD), Flash IDE Disk and EWF (Enhanced Write Filter).

By exploiting the rapid development offered by either Visual Studio .NET or Visual Studio 6, designs can be cost-effective and viable with quantities as low as a few dozen units per year.

WyeTec are able to help select the best components for your solution, and we also offer an assembly and test facility for complete units. We can thus offer a complete solution for your XP Embedded requirements.

To learn more about Windows^® Embedded click here or contact WyeTec today to discuss your project or proposal.
 

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