Roadmap for Developing Streaming Minidrivers

To create a video streaming driver for Microsoft Windows, start with the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) documentation, white papers on MSDN, samples in the MSDN hardware sample gallery, and the Windows Hardware Certification Kit. Here are some general suggestions on how to develop, test, and distribute your streaming media driver:

• Step 1: Learn about Windows architecture and drivers.

  You must understand the fundamentals of how drivers work in Windows operating systems. Knowing the fundamentals will help you make appropriate design decisions and let you streamline your development process. For more information about driver fundamentals, see Concepts for all driver developers.

• Step 2: Learn the fundamentals of streaming drivers.

  Streaming drivers in the Windows operating system versions since Microsoft Windows 98 conform to the Windows Driver Model (WDM) and make use of kernel streaming components. To understand the driver design decisions you must make, see AVStream Minidrivers Design Guide, USB Video Class Driver, Windows 2000 Kernel Streaming Model, and Kernel Streaming Proxy Plug-ins.

  Note these updates for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8:

  • New AVStream Interfaces for Windows 8.1
  • New AVStream Interfaces for Windows 8
  • New Kernel Streaming Functions for Windows 8

• Step 3: Determine additional Windows driver design decisions.

  For information about how to make additional Windows design decisions, see Creating Reliable Kernel-Mode Drivers, Programming Issues for 64-Bit Drivers, and Creating International INF Files.

• Step 4: Learn about the Windows driver build, test, and debug processes and tools.

  Building a driver differs from building a user-mode application. For information about Windows driver build, debug, and test processes, driver signing, and Windows Logo testing, see Developing, Testing, and Deploying Drivers. For information about building, testing, verifying, and debugging tools, see Driver Development Tools.

• Step 5: Review streaming driver samples in the WDK.

  To review the streaming driver samples in the WDK, see AVStream Samples.

• Step 6: Make design decisions about your streaming driver.

  For information about how to design streaming drivers, see AVStream Overview and USB Video Class Driver Overview.

• Step 7: Develop, build, test, and debug your streaming driver.

  For more information about AVStream minidriver specifics, see AVStream Descriptors. For more information about functions, structures, enumerations, or constants that are specific to AVStream, see AVStream Minidrivers.

  For more information about how to write user-mode plug-ins to extend USB Video Class devices, see USB Video Class Extension Units.

  For information about iterative building, testing, and debugging, see Developing, Testing, and Deploying Drivers. Following these guidelines helps to ensure that you create a driver that works.

• Step 8: Create a driver package for your streaming driver.

  For more information, see Distributing a driver package.

  For information about how to install AVStream minidrivers, see Initializing an AVStream Minidriver.

  For information about how to install a USB Video Class plug-in, see Providing a UVC INF File.

• Step 9: Sign and distribute your streaming driver.

  The final step is to sign (optional) and distribute the driver. If your driver meets the quality standards that are defined in the Windows Hardware Certification Kit (formerly Windows Logo Kit or WLK), you can distribute it through the Microsoft Windows Update program. For more information about how to distribute a driver, see Distributing a driver package.

These are the basic steps. Additional steps might be necessary based on the needs of your individual driver.

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Build date: 1/22/2014