Kernel and Hardware Services

Kernel and Hardware Services performs the fundamental operating system tasks of managing access to device resources.

Note: This documentation now uses the names, such as Kernel and Hardware Services, for components and groups of components that are specified in the system architecture. Some older naming conventions are still used in some documents. For example:

• Base is a common name that is given to the lower-level components of Symbian OS, which include the Kernel, the File Server, and some device drivers.

• EKA2 is a common abbreviation for the Kernel Architecture 2 component.

• Kernel and Hardware Services Quick Start Guide
  The Kernel is designed to simplify porting to hardware with minimal disruption.
• Porting Overview
  This topic describes the typical steps that you will need to do to create a base port.
• Bootstrap
  The Bootstrap is a program that the phone runs after a hardware reset. The task of the Bootstrap is to prepare a basic environment for the Kernel to run. If the phone uses NAND Flash, then the NAND Flash Core Loader loads and starts the Bootstrap.
• Device Driver Guide
  The Device Driver Guide describes how to write device drivers for Symbian OS.
• User Library and File Server
  Provides a framework for accessing file systems.
• File Systems
  A File System plug-in is used by the File Server to access directories and files in a particular format, such as FAT. The File Systems collection contains File System plug-ins for a variety of types of file system.
• Kernel Architecture
  EKA2 is the principal Hardware and Kernel Services module. It manages the CPU and memory resources of a phone, and provides an architecture for device drivers to manage other hardware resources.
• Flash Translation Layer
  The Flash Translation Layer components provides a media driver and tools that allow Symbian OS to store programs and data on NAND flash memory. This section describes how to create a port of the driver for your phone hardware, and how to use the tools.
• Generic BSP
  The kernel side Board Support Packages (BSP) collection contains a comprehensive set of base porting templates.
• Generic Driver Support
  This document discusses the generic driver related concepts in Symbian. The purpose of this document is to provide a overall idea about generic driver support.
• Logical Device Drivers
  Provides software components that implement the interface between Symbian OS and peripherals.
• Hardware Abstraction
  The User-Side Hardware Abstraction (HAL) component provides a simple interface for programs to read and set hardware-specific settings, for example, the display contrast. A base port must define the attributes that clients can use on a phone, and implement any functions that are required to get and set the attributes.
• Localisation
  This document introduces you to the localisation package.
• Text Mode Shell
  Provides the text based Symbian OS shell program and its helper applicaitons.
• Kernel Test
  This section provides an overview of the Kernel test suite.
• Base API Tests

See Also