git-svn-id: svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/chibios/svn/trunk@1703 35acf78f-673a-0410-8e92-d51de3d6d3f4

docs/src/main.dox

@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
  * <h2>Related pages</h2>
  * - @subpage lic_faq
  * - @subpage goals
+ * - @subpage target
  * - @subpage architecture
  * - @subpage concepts
  * - @subpage articles

docs/src/target.dox

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+    ChibiOS/RT - Copyright (C) 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 Giovanni Di Sirio.
+
+    This file is part of ChibiOS/RT.
+
+    ChibiOS/RT is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    ChibiOS/RT is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+/**
+ * @page target Applicative Range
+ * @brief ChibiOS/RT Applicative Range
+ * ChibiOS/RT has a well defined Applicative Range: deeply embedded systems
+ * that range from low/mid-range 8bits MCUs up to complex 32bits SOCs.
+ * - @ref applications
+ * - @ref min_requirements
+ * - @ref desirable_features
+ * - @ref upper_limit
+ * .
+ * @section applications Applicative Scenarios
+ * ChibiOS/RT is usable in many applicative areas, as example and not limited
+ * to:
+ * - Automotive.
+ * - Robotic Applications.
+ * - Consumer Electronics.
+ * - Energy Management.
+ * - Teaching and Learning.
+ * - Hobby.
+ * .
+ * @section min_requirements Absolute Minimum Requirements
+ * A certain set of minimum system requirements must be satisfied in order to
+ * use ChibiOS/RT on a new architecture:
+ * - 8bits architecture minimum.
+ * - A "real" stack pointer that can be positioned anywhere in the data address
+ *   space. The OS could be ported to architectures with an hardware stack but
+ *   I wouldn't recommend it because the context switch would become
+ *   ridiculously inefficient.
+ * - Support for maskable interrupt sources and at least an OS-dedicated timer.
+ * - Support for standard C89 (C99 supported) language with no
+ *   architecture-related non-standard restrictions. Non standard mandatory
+ *   language extensions or restrictions may result in reduced functionality
+ *   or impossibility of use.
+ * - 384/512bytes RAM permanently allocated to the kernel and its two mandatory
+ *   threads "idle" and "main", the exact value depends on the architecture.
+ *   This figure is not inclusive of the HAL and device drivers (non mandatory
+ *   components).
+ * - 8KiB of program space for a full featured kernel scalable down to about
+ *   1.2KiB for reduced configurations. This figure is not inclusive of the
+ *   HAL and device drivers (non mandatory components).
+ * .
+ * @section desirable_features Desirable Features
+ * - Efficient instruction set for linked lists traversal. The kernel makes
+ *   extensive use of simple and bidirectional linked lists so the performance
+ *   is directly affected by the suported addressing modes, number of registers
+ *   etc.
+ * - Uniformly sized C pointers.
+ * - 2KiB RAM.
+ * - 16KiB ROM/Flash.
+ * .
+ * @section upper_limit Upper Applicative Limit
+ * The application range of ChibiOS/RT ends when one or more of the following
+ * features are required:
+ * - Separation between user code space and kernel space, both just logical or
+ *   using a Memory Management/Protection Unit. Applications in ChibiOS/RT are
+ *   supposed to be monolithic and trusted. The kernel and the application
+ *   share the same address space.
+ * - Multiple applications. ChibiOS/RT supports the single multithreaded
+ *   application model.
+ * - Multicore SMP architectures. Currently ChibiOS/RT only supports a single
+ *   core unless running multiple distinct and separate OS instances.
+ *   A true multicore kernel is planned for when multicore MCUs will become
+ *   commonly available.
+ * .
+ */

readme.txt

@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 - FIX: Fixed missing reschedulation in chEvtSignal() (bug 2961208)(backported
   in 1.4.2).
 - NEW: Enhanced the kernel size report to cover more cases.
+- NEW: Improvements to the documentation.
 - OPT: Minor optimizations in the "compact" code path.
 
 *** 1.5.2 ***