Microsoft Corporation
LINK-TIME DRIVER POLYMORPHISM FOR EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Abstract:

Specific images of an OS are built using only the driver bindings that are necessary to link the OS to the particular hardware of a client device. A device tree of the client device is analyzed to identify the hardware components. Databases of different hardware source code for various hardware drivers are maintained and used to craft the driver bindings and instances for the hardware of the client device. The device tree is also analyzed to identify compatibility strings of the various hardware on the client device. The hardware source code is searched for these compatibility strings to see if a driver exists in the databases of hardware source code. Specific driver bindings and driver instances with the actual variable names and configuration parameters of the identified hardware drivers are then generated and included in an image of the OS that may be installed on the client device.