FAT12/16/32 and VFAT-compatible file system

Overview

PrFILE2 is a FAT file system for embedded systems. Flexible and fast, PrFILE2 is a great fit for many applications. Included are many novel functions for today's digital home appliances.

PrFILE2 inherits all the features and benefits of PrFILE and is API-compatible. Existing drivers are easily ported.

Compatible with FAT12/16/32 and VFAT (long file names)

PrFILE2 supports the FAT file system used in MS-DOS and Windows PCs. It is compatible with FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and VFAT (long file names). Add PrFILE2 to enable easy data exchange between a device and PCs.

Multi-language support, dynamic character code conversion function

PrFILE2 supports multiple character codes: ASCII, SJIS (Japanese), Big5 (traditional Chinese), GB (simplified Chinese), Latin-1 (Western European languages), Latin-2 (Central/Eastern European languages), Thai, Korean, Cyrill, and Arabic.

PrFILE2 can change locales dynamically, eliminating the need to ship or sell multiple variants of a final product when serving multiple regions.

Optional UNICODE version

eSOL also offers an optional UNICODE version. APIs referencing file names, such as open or search, utilize UNICODE instead of a local character code such as SJIS. For the details, click here to contact us.

Flexible structure for easy customization

Today's digital home appliances, including digital cameras, portable music players, and flat-screen TVs, require a wide variety of features plus high performance from the file system. The diversity of file types and sizes when combined with the application's requirements make a great match for PrFILE2. PrFILE2 is designed to adapt to each application, and will add much value and save development time.

High speed file seek function

PrFILE2 can store the cluster link information for each file in a buffer specified by the application. When seeking through the file, this saved information is used to improve file pointer movement by minimizing the number of references to the media's FAT. Especially when seeking away from the current pointer location, performance is dramatically improved. This feature is quite effective for handling video or music files.

File segmentation/concatenation APIs for video or music data

When handing a video or music file, it might be necessary to divide a file or concatenate multiple files. This might happen when, for example, an edit feature is included to remove unnecessary sections from a video file or when combining two music files together. To combine files with a conventional file system, the application must create a new file, manually copy each file's entire contents, and then delete the original files. PrFILE2 APIs for file segmentation and concatenation operate only upon the FAT and directory entries, skipping file data accesses entirely, improving performance substantially.

Minimizing file data fragmentation

In a FAT file system, file data becomes fragmented over time. As a result, the number of media accesses required to read or write a file increases, and performance deteriorates. PrFILE2 provides a feature to minimize file data fragmentation.

Power failure and media removal safety

PrFILE2 provides a feature to minimize destruction of data in the media even when, while accessing a file, power is lost or the media is ejected unexpectedly.

Multidrive support

PrFILE2 supports multiple drives. It handles multiple drives of any supported type as "a:", "b:", and so on. Multiple drives can be accessed simultaneously.

FAT and data caching

PrFILE2 provides a feature to cache FAT, directory entries, and file data. This improves performance by minimizing the number of media accesses.

Tunable cache

The cache buffers may be tuned for the specific needs of the system.

Adjustable code size

Code size is minimized by linking only the APIs actually used by the application.

Coexisting with standard C library

Function names and variable types in PrFILE2 need not conflict with the standard C library if both are required.

Reentrant structure

Due to PrFILE2's configurably reentrant architecture, multiple files can be accessed simultaneously in a multitasking environment.

POSIX-like file APIs

PrFILE2 has POSIX-like file APIs that will be familiar to POSIX users.

Standard sample drivers

PrFILE2 supports the following drivers:

RAM disk
Pseudo disk

Optional drivers are as follows.

OneNAND/NAND flash memory
SD Memory Card
CompactFlash
Memory Stick

Compatibility with T-Engine and T-Kernel

PrFILE2 is compatible with T-Engine and T-Kernel.

Portability

PrFILE2 itself is written in the C language and is not dependent on any CPU. Device drivers and OS-dependent code are separated from PrFILE2 to ensure easy porting to a different environment. PrFILE2 can even operate on an environment without an OS.

Availability

PrFILE2 is available in source code.

Maintenance service and customization service

The following maintenance service is offered for PrFILE2:

Email response regarding the product
Minor version upgrades

eSOL also offers a customization service to tailor PrFILE2 to a different environment, such as custom hardware.

PrFILE2 architecture diagram

Operating environments

PrFILE2 is not dependent on any particular hardware or OS.

Support already exists for the following:

eSOL's eT-Kernel (extended T-Kernel)
eSOL's PrKERNELv4 (complies with µITRON4.0 specification)

Success stories

Game Console
	Nintendo	Game Console: "Wii™"

Digital Camera
		Kodak EasyShare Z1275 Zoom Digital Camera with High-Definition Capability

Digital home appliances
		Personal Handy Scanner
		Radio Server VJ-10
		Multimedia storage viewer P-7000, P-6000

Audio equipment
		Digital Multitracker: MR-8HD
		Solid State Recorder: SS-R1 / SS-CDR1

Electric Instrument
	Suzuki Musical Inst. MFG	HAMMOND Organ: XK-3c

Office equipment
	Plus Vision	Copy board PLUS M11 Series

PrFILE success stories

Digital home appliances
		LCD color TV: AQUOS
	Hitachi, Ltd.	DVD Camcorder
	Hitachi, Ltd.	DVD Recorder
		Receiver terminal for "Mobaho": Mobile broadcasting cradle receiver
		Multimedia storage viewer Photo Fine Player: P-2000
	NEC AccessTechnica, Ltd.	Portable storage device: SmartJam