The Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) is a driver framework developed by Microsoft as a tool to aid driver developers create and maintain
kernel mode device drivers for
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...
and later releases. It is one of the frameworks included in the
Windows Driver Frameworks.
Kernel Mode Driver Framework for Windows 7 Drivers
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Relationship to WDM
In general, KMDF supports drivers that were written for the Windows Driver Model
In computing, the Windows Driver Model (WDM) also known at one point as the Win32 Driver Model is a framework for device drivers that was introduced with Windows 98 and Windows 2000 to replace VxD, which was used on older versions of Windows su ...
, and it runs on WDM. WDM is the driver model used since the advent of Windows 98, whereas KMDF is the driver framework Microsoft advocates and uses for Windows 2000 and beyond.
In general, since more features like power management
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers, computer CPUs, computer GPUs and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power ...
and plug and play
In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving reso ...
are handled by the KMDF framework, a KMDF driver is less complicated and has less code than an equivalent WDM driver.
KMDF is object-based and built on top of WDM. It provides an object-based perspective to WDM, following the architectural mandate of its superset, WDF. The functionality is contained in different types of objects. KMDF implementation consists of:
* plug and play
In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving reso ...
and power management
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers, computer CPUs, computer GPUs and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power ...
* I/O queues
* Direct memory access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU).
Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed i ...
(DMA)
* Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification. WMI is Microsoft's implementatio ...
(WMI)
* Synchronization
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the Conductor (music), conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are sa ...
See also
* Windows Driver Frameworks (WDF)
* User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF)
Notes
References
External links
Windows Driver KitKernel-Mode Driver Framework HomepageMicrosoft KMDF Paper
{{Microsoft FOSS
Device drivers
Free and open-source software
Microsoft application programming interfaces
Microsoft free software
Software using the MIT license
Windows-only free software