Can I access USB functions from an application layer in Win CE

[sairam]

Hi,
I have trawled the net and found few ways to talk to a USB device from application layer like winusb and wceusbsh. But the catch is that they all work in winXP/2000 above. I am looking for a mechanism that works on Windows CE.

This is my problem. We are using a generic off the shelf PND device for prototyping. The hardware has a USB host port. Now we intend to connect a custom device to this port. I am looking for communicating with this device from application layer. I have few questions in this regard.

1.Can I achieve this by writing application level code (user mode) ? (Please assume it is a HID device, if it eases the burden)
2.If I have to write a USB driver, can I write it when the BSP is not available? (PND vendors give the platform SDK but never the BSP)
3. If point 2 is possible, do I need platform builder or Can I do it in evc4?


Thanks and regards,
sairam

[Jan Axelson]

This might help for HIDs:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms923723.aspx

If you can consider non-HIDs, you might take a look at ftdichip.com's chips, which have a free Windows CE host driver.

Jan

[sairam]

Thanks Jan for the quick reply.

I went thru ftdichip's site. I thin we will not have the possibilty of adding a USB chip. We want to use an off the shelf PND device.

So I am assuming that I have to develop USB driver. Can I do that in evc4 itself when the BSP is not available for the hardware platform?

[Jan Axelson]

I don't know the answer. Maybe try a WinCE discussion group.

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/

Jan