Companies operating in sectors such as telecommunications and factory automation that need a real-time capability will no longer be shut out of the world of Windows NT. The company putting its hand in the lion’s mouth with real-time extensions to NT – for if the product shows any sign of being a significant success, you can be sure that Microsoft Corp will come out with its own extensions – is Ann Arbor, Michigan-based factory automation systems specialist Nematron Corp, which needed the product for internal use. The name of the product is Hyperkernel, and Nematron says it enables developers to integrate highly deterministic real-time applications into NT. Nematron will license the Hyperkernel to third parties through a wholly-owned subsidiary it plans to form under the Imagination Systems name, which it acquired with the company of that name in 1995. The real-time Hyperkernel programming interface enables software developers to write applications that co-operate with standard Windows programs such as office, while executing at high speed with deterministic and repeatable performance. Target markets include telecommunications and networking; peripherals and office automation; factory automation and industrial control; medical instrumentation; and test and measurement. Used with Windows NT, the Hyperkernel is claimed to enables devices such as robots, process controllers and motion control systems to be configured to execute as nodes or application servers on any standard network system. The embedded real-time subsystem that comes with the Hyperkernel forms the foundation layer for the implementation of intelligent products – a tool box for creating programs using Visual C/C++ and other Microsoft languages is supplied. Features include high speed timers; memory management; interrupt handlers; inter-process communication; file system services; task scheduling and prioritization; and industrial network interfaces. The Hyperkernel will be used by Nematron in its OpenControl next generation factory automation product line set for launch next month. The Hyperkernel was first conceived prior to 1992 by the former Imagination Systems Inc as an outgrowth of its work in developing high-performance real-time data acquisition and control software for use in aerospace applications.
