Here's an example of the use of browser software in embedded systems.
From Xionics PR (Adobe's main competitor) at xionics.com
Xionics Delivers Technology for Developing Internet-Connected Office Peripherals
BURLINGTON, MASS. - June 18, 1997 - Xionics Document Technologies (NASDAQ: XION) today announced enhancements to its Intelligent Peripheral System (IPS/2000) that will enable printer and multifunction peripheral manufacturers to deliver products that connect to the World Wide Web. With a new set of embedded tools and applications, the IPS/2000 Internet Foundation Software will enable users to more quickly and cost-effectively manage peripheral devices from virtually anywhere on the Internet.
IPS/2000 IFS features an embedded Web server, providing a direct link to the Internet and allowing peripheral devices to be managed across an enterprise through the use of a Web browser. As a result, systems administrators and users can perform remote administration on any peripheral device in the network. If there is a need to change system settings -- copies, paper size, selection of PCL and PDL printer languages, print job destination and network port settings -- IPS/2000 IFS allows for secure remote administration.
Users can access a printer or multifunction peripheral using a web browser to determine its current status, get a map of its location or change its settings. Each device has its own Internet address and Web page with easy-to-change fields, eliminating the need for users and system administrators to load and learn specialized peripheral administration programs and tools. OEMs who buy IPS/2000 receive sample code that allows them to customize the user interface, and add their own device specific options. A java applet is also supplied that graphically shows changes in a devices status, such as "tray opened" and "out of paper".
And from the corporate backgrounder at xionics.com :
Xionics also maintains relationships with companies such as Integrated Systems, Inc. (ISI), Agfa Division of Bayer, Inc. and Bitstream, Inc. Xionics is incorporating ISI's pSOSr multi-tasking operating system as the core executive operating kernel of the IPS products. Xionics' partnerships with Agfa and Bitstream - the industry's leading digital font foundries - ensures that Xionics' OEM partners can select the font technology that best suits their target markets. It also ensures that their peripherals incorporate the very latest digital font sets and font compression technologies.
Xionics has partnered with a number of leading, international OEM peripheral vendors, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lexmark International, Seiko Epson, Panasonic, Dataproducts, Kentek Information Systems, Oc‚ and Sharp. Each of these companies has competitive Xionics' based products shipping through their respective channels today.
Xionics uses a custom ASIC from IBM rather than any of the 20 general purpose processors currently under development at Wind River. Details are at chips.ibm.com
Xionics Document Technologies, in partnership with IBM Microelectronics, has designed XipChipT, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) optimized for raster image processing. XipChip is part of Xionics' Intelligent Peripheral SystemT for multifunction peripherals (IPS-MFP), a fully integrated, low-cost controller solution for a wide range of office-quality products. XipChip implements a PowerPC 403GA core, integrated co-processors for copy, scan and fax, and a multi-channel DMA control unit that provides access to a single, ultra-high-speed memory system. This highly integrated single-chip solution lowers controller costs and provides balanced (print, copy, scan and fax speeds the same) and concurrent operation of multiple system applications.
The Adobe deal may have been the catalyst for the Spyglass deal, since Adobe needs to keep up with Xionics. |
