Bus Hardware Considerations for a Thin Client (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)

1/5/2010

Windows Embedded CE powered thin clients can support various types of buses. Use either the device drivers that are provided with the thin client, or use the device drivers that are provided by a third-party supplier.

Bus Types

The following list shows some bus types that are compatible with Windows Embedded CE powered thin clients:

Inter-Integrated Circuit or Inter-IC Sound Bus

The Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) serial bus is a simple, two-directional 2-wire bus for communicating between devices and circuits. It uses an on-chip interface that reduces the required hardware components. It includes two two-directional wires and a ground connection. The I2C serial bus is a multi-master bus in which multiple instances of Internet Connection Sharing can initiate a data transfer, and the data transfer is the Bus Master. I2C serial buses are used for digital audio communications.

Based on the I2C standard, the Inter-IC Sound (I2S) serial bus is a 3-wire bus that handles audio data separately from the clock signals. Separating the clock signals from the audio makes sure that data synchronizes, and reduces or prevents jitter. I2S serial buses are used for digital audio and video communications.

PCI Bus

The PCI bus is a common technology that is used on many embedded devices. All modern desktop computers have PCI expansion slots for peripheral devices. This replaces the ISA slots used in the past. For more information, see PCI Bus Driver.

Secure Digital Input/Output Bus

A Secure Digital Input/Output (SDIO) bus supports an SDIO card. An SDIO card is an advanced type of secure digital (SD) card that can include diverse types of data. When a thin client supports SDIO cards, it can provide more data storage for features that require it. For more information about SD and SDIO cards, see Secure Digital Card Drivers.

For information about how to develop device drivers for a specific type of device, see Windows Embedded CE Drivers.

See Also

Concepts

Performance Considerations for the Hardware Components of a Thin Client