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ST20–SWC
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5
The host interface is provided by the AServer. This can be used simply as an application loader and
host file server, invoked by the
irun
command. The INQUEST tools have their own commands which
in turn load
irun
in order to load the application. The AServer may also be used to customize the
host interface if required.
Host interface and AServer
5.1
The application loader –
irun
irun
performs three functions, namely:
1
to initialize the target hardware;
2
to load a bootable application program onto the target hardware via the hardware serial link;
3
to serve the application, i.e. to respond to requests from the application program for access
to host services, such as host files and terminal input and output.
These steps are normally performed when
irun
is invoked.
5.2
AServer
The AServer (Asynchronous Server) system is a high performance interface system which allows
multiple processes on a target device to communicate via a hardware serial link with multiple
processes on some external device. The AServer software acts as a standard interface which is
independent of the hardware used. A simple example is shown in Figure 13, in which the external
device is the host.
irun
gateway
Services
Target
gateway
Host
Clients
Link
Target hardware
Figure 13
A simple software host-target interface
The AServer is a collection of programs, interface libraries and protocols that together create a
system to enable applications running on target hardware to access external services in a way that
is consistent, extensible and open. The software elements provided are:
a target gateway which runs on the target;
an
irun
gateway which runs on the host;
an
iserver
service which runs on the host;
an
iserver
converter which runs on the target;
a library of interface routines for use by client and service processes;
simple example services.