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SUMMARY:Device Mechanism: Rethinking Driver Development - Raul Fajardo
DTSTART:20111206T110000Z
DTEND:20111206T120000Z
UID:TALK34714@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Prof Simon Moore
DESCRIPTION:Drivers are the biggest source of errors on operating systems.
  Despite \nthat every device fulfills a restricted set of functions and ca
 n be \naccessed in a single way\, there are multiple driver implementation
 s for \nthe same device. Moreover\, programming languages and system libra
 ries \nfor drivers lack native support for structures of device control. W
 e \ntarget these lacks in two ways\, by the definition of a coherent softw
 are \ndevice interface\, the device mechanism\, and by providing a systema
 tic \ncomposition method for it in which the control structures of devices
  \nhave semantic meaning. The device mechanism provides an image of the \n
 functions provided by the device while abstracting the device control \nst
 ructures. The systematic composition handles the description and \naccess 
 of the device control structures facilitating the development of \nthe int
 erface. On the example of a driver for a Philips webcam\, we show \nthe ad
 vantages of explicit semantics for the driver development. With \nthe devi
 ce mechanism approach\, the hardware functionality is completely \nexporte
 d as a software interface easing the  development of the \nremaining drive
 r code specific to an operating system. Finally\, with the \nsystematic co
 mposition\, device structures have native description and \ntheir access i
 s standardized and thus\, released from driver code.\n
LOCATION:SC04\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building
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