KUKA RTOS - Virtual Worlds

The virtual machine consists of a framework (VMF, Picture 2.1) offering some functions which can be called from the developer instead of directly programming the hardware. Those functions can easily be called by C-function calls via a binary jump table – no linking of the RTOS and the VM necessary. By the means of this mechanism, the VMF manages all resources which are shared between the RTOS and Windows. These resources managed by the so called “BASIC VMF” (Picture 2.2) are:

Memory
Processor Cores
Timers
Interrupts

The memory management allows it to assign a configurable size of memory to the RTOS. After the next booting of Windows, Windows will be lacking this memory.

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	Picture 2.1

The KUKA VMF allows the coexistence of Windows and the RTOS by managing devices, memory, processor cores and other hardware resources. The RTOS and the VMF are loaded by a Windows application using the Uploader DLL. TCP/IP communication is provided by virtual network drivers on the Windows and the RTOS side, direct shared memory access is supported by the RTOS Library.

	Picture 2.2

The BASIC VMF is the central management part of RTOS-VM. It is controlled by the RTOS Board Support Package (BSP) via a simple Jump Table and manages Memory, processor cores, devices, in-terrupts, timers, etc.