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39 PCM-3362 User Manual
Chapter 4 Software Introduction & Installation
4.3.2 Software APIs
PCM-3362 supports software APIs including GPIO, I
2
C, backlight on/off, Brightness
control, watchdog, Hardware Monitor, and Power Saving.
4.3.2.1 The GPIO API
General Purpose Input/Output is a flexible parallel interface that allows a variety of
custom connections. It allows users to monitor the level of signal input or set the out-
put status to switch on/off a device. Our API also provides Programmable GPIO,
which allows developers to dynamically set the GPIO input or output status.
4.3.2.2 The I
2
C API
I
2
C is a bi-directional two-wire bus that was developed by Philips for use in their tele-
visions in the 1980s and nowadays is used in various types of embedded systems.
The strict timing requirements defined in the I
2
C protocol has been taken care of by
SUSI. Instead of asking application programmers to figure out the strict timing
requirements in the I
2
C protocol, the I
2
C API in SUSI can be used to control I
2
C
devices by invoking other function calls. SUSI provides a consistent programming
interface for different Advantech boards. That means user programs using SUSI are
portable among different Advantech boards as long as the boards and SUSI provide
the required functionalities. Overall product development times can be greatly
reduced using SUSI.
4.3.2.3 The Display Control API
There are two kinds of VGA control APIs, backlight on/off control and brightness con-
trol. Backlight on/off control allows a developer to turn on or off the backlight, and to
control brightness smoothly.
1. Brightness Control
– The Brightness Control API allows a developer to interface with an embed-
ded device to easily control brightness.
2. Backlight Control
– The Backlight API allows a developer to control the backlight (screen) on/off
in an embedded device.
4.3.2.4 The Watchdog API
A watchdog timer (abbreviated as WDT) is a hardware device which triggers an
action, e.g. rebooting the system, if the system does not reset the timer within a spe-
cific period of time. The WDT API in SUSI provides developers with functions such as
starting the timer, resetting the timer, and setting the timeout value if the hardware
requires customized timeout values.
4.3.2.5 The Hardware Monitor API
The hardware monitor (abbreviated as HWM) is a system health supervision capabil-
ity achieved by placing certain I/O chips along with sensors for inspecting the target
of interests for certain condition indexes, such as fan speed, temperature and voltage
etc.
However, due to the inaccuracy among many commercially available hardware mon-
itoring chips, Advantech has developed a unique scheme for hardware monitoring -
achieved by using a dedicated micro-processor with algorithms specifically designed
for providing accurate, real-time and reliable data content; helping protect your sys-
tem in a more reliable manner.
4.3.2.6 The Power Saving API
1. CPU Speed