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NUCLEUS USB GIVES MASS STORAGE CLASS DRIVER SUPPORT

Accelerated Technology, the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corp, announced mass storage class driver support for the Nucleus USB software, which provides USB support for the Nucleus Real-Time Operating System.

Mass storage class driver support for the Nucleus USB software is an integrated package allowing developers to speed their time to market and focus on adding value to their core product rather than writing the source code for the driver themselves.

USB is a plug-and-play interface, traditionally between a computer and a peripheral, and it is rapidly being adopted in the embedded market space. According to a 2002 Venture Development Corporation (VDC) survey, USB was deployed in 6.9 percent of embedded applications, which increased one year later to 20 percent of embedded applications. With USB, there is no software configuration necessary and it is not necessary to cycle the power or reboot when a peripheral is plugged in. USB can also replace several other types of cables including serial and parallel cables, and USB can actually deliver power to low-powered devices.

The mass storage class driver has been released for use with both the Nucleus USB host stack and the Nucleus USB function/device stack. The mass storage class driver provides a mechanism for an application to access a mass storage device (hard drive and flash media for example) through the Nucleus FILE file management software. The integration with the Nucleus FILE file management software allows the Nucleus USB mass storage software to leverage the media and protocol support already present in the Nucleus FILE software. A typical embedded application that utilizes mass storage on a device would involve data acquisition and control. The data would be buffered to the embedded device temporarily for later transfer via USB to a host.

"With the introduction of mass storage class driver support for the Nucleus USB software, we are able to provide a complete package to our customers enabling them to accelerate their time-to-market for their designs that include USB support," said Robert Day, director of marketing for Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division.

The Nucleus USB component is complete, fast, small and portable. It takes advantage of the Nucleus software services and runs on any system supported by the Nucleus PLUS kernel. Drivers will also be available for additional Nucleus software components including the Nucleus NET TCP/IP stack, Nucleus FILE file management software and Nucleus GRAFIX graphics package.