MFS FAT File System

Summary

MFS is an embedded FAT file system compatible with Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS file systems. It can format, read, write and exchange files with Microsoft operating systems running a FAT-12, FAT-16 or FAT-32 files system.  MFS is fully re-entrant and uses the MQX RTOS file device driver to access disk devices. It is integrated with the FTP server of the RTCS embedded Internet stack and the Mass Storage Class Driver of EUSB embedded USB host stack.  MFS is developed and supported with the CodeWarrior development tools for ColdFire and PowerPC platforms. 

Key Features

Designed for Embedded | Optimized for ColdFire and PowerPC | Licensing | Compatible Products

Designed for Embedded Applications

The MFS FAT file system was specifically designed for adding a file system capability to MQX-based applications  Taking into account the limited memory and real-time response requirement of many embedded applications, the MFS software is designed to provide a full MS-DOS compatible file system but configurable enough to allow it to fit into the small memory confines of an embedded device.

The MFS file system has been tested on embedded microprocessor architectures such as Freescale’s ColdFire and PowerPC architectures and integrated device drivers for many different types of media. Integration with Freescale’s CodeWarrior tools ensures a great out-of-box experience for SFFS developers using these processor architectures.   MFS has been integrated with the MQX RTOS , the RTCS Embedded Internet stack and the EUSB Host embedded USB host stack. MFS is designed to work in multi-thread environment and is fully re-entrant between RTOS theads.

MFS provides the key features that you would expect from a desktop PC file system such as support for long file names, multiple disk volumes, and directory handling. It supports block-level and record-level error detection and recovery. It also allows multiple files to be open simulatenously and provides a standard API.

Optimized for ColdFire and PowerPC Processors

Embedded Access specializes in solutions for ColdFire and PowerPC processors.  Our engineers have been working with ColdFire and PowerPC architectures since their launch and with the 68K architecture before that.  This level of understanding for the ColdFire and PowerPC processor architectures results in the MFS FAT File System product being specifically optimized and pre-integrated for these platforms. The MFS file system includes device drivers many different types of file storage media that commonly appear on Freescale ColdFire and PowerPC development. This level of integration ensures a very good out-of-box experience with ColdFire and PowerPC development boards and easy integration of the MFS files system with a customer's hardware.

Business-Friendly, Royalty-Free, Source Licensing Model

The MFS FAT File System is licensed and delivered with full source code, so there are no mysteries about how the file system operates.  The source code includes all of the disk device drive code so that users can quickly adapt it and reuse the provided code to port the file system to their own hardware.

The simple MFS licensing terms ensures there are no legal ambiguities. The MFS file system installation provides excellent source code without leaving you wondering about potential exposure to the open-source legal issues. Whatever our customers develop is theirs; their proprietary features and code can remain as private as they decide. What's more, the MFS is licensed without royalties, so it offers a blend of the best of both the professional software world and the open-source world.

Compatible Products from Embedded Access

The following products enhance the MFS FAT File System for more advanced applications:

• MQX RTOS
• RTCS Embedded Internet Stack
• EUSB Device Embedded USB Device Stack
• EUSB Host Embedded USB Host Stack
• PEG+ Graphics Library for MQX
• HTTP Web Servers