Summary: TinyKernel & OAL
Having a high-quality OAL and KITL implementation makes writing, testing, and debugging drivers for your BSP much easier. Therefore, it's a great idea to validate the OAL and KITL early in the BSP bringup process.

One of the best ways to validate your first-draft OAL and KITL implementation is to use a TinyKernel image. A TinyKernel image is the smallest Windows CE image that you can build - it includes only the kernel, OAL, and KITL. Since it has no drivers or features, you can debug your OAL and KITL implementations with minimal complexity.

Typically, you'll implement and test the bootloader for your BSP, followed by the OAL, and then KITL.

With a working bootloader, you should be able to download a TinyKernel image to your device using Platform Builder. Then you can use debug serial, LED, or other debug output to help bring up your OAL. Once your OAL is working, you can move on to implementing KITL, using the same debugging tools. As soon as KITL is functional, you can connect the Platform Builder debugger and use all of the debugging features to help you bring up the rest of your system. You can even debug any OAL operations that occur after KITL initialization. You can inspect your OAL variables to verify they match your expectations.

With a working KITL and OAL TinyKernel image, debugging drivers becomes much easier. You can insert drivers into your image one at a time, stepping through them in the debugger to ensure they are executing correctly.

---

Go up to Features of a BSP
Go up to Big Book of BSP

Thank you for contributing to this BSP Wiki. To ensure your comments and concerns receive proper exposure, include bspwiki""@""microsoft"".""com when providing feedback or topical suggestions.

---