Alameda, Ca. -- Wind River Systems Inc. has seen the future of embedded technology: it's connected, and it needs integrated tools, building blocks and middleware.

Its answer, introduced this week, is an all-encompassing pre-integrated platform with a common code base that offers everything from operating systems to middleware for networking, management and security. 

Key elements in the platform are: (1) Workbench 2.2 development suite, based on the open-source Eclipse tool platform but supports the proprietary VxWorks OS as well as Linux; (2) a general-purpose software platform built on VxWorks,  Workbench and middleware;(3) a platform for consumer and industrial devices, as well as network equipment; and (4) a Linux-edition platform of networking tools. 

The platform is the culmination of two years of effort by 150 software developers and represents an all out effort by Wind River Systems to climb out of the financial and marketing hole it fell into in 2001, when yearly sales dropped from $408 million to its present $204 million. 

According to the company, the level of connectivity in embedded devices is increasing exponentially – devices to other devices, to the Internet, to the enterprise and linked by a Web of vertical and horizontal relationships.

Whereas an essentially closed embedded application in the 90s might have needed thousands or hundreds of thousands of lines of code, in the new connected environment the total number of lines of code that must be developed, debugged and deployed is in the millions. 

"More and more, products are being differentiated through innovation of device software. To succeed, companies must implement a Device Software Optimization strategy," said Theresa Lanowitz, research director at Gartner Inc. "By using standards-based solutions that offer support for end-to-end development, companies can accelerate software-driven innovation while ensuring that connectivity and security become a part of every device." 

According to John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer for Wind River, device software proliferation is inevitable, as more than 14 billion devices will be connected by 2010 (source: Forrester). “The demand for intelligent, connected devices is forcing manufacturers to use fewer operating systems, fewer chip sets, a single end-to-end development suite and commercialized middleware,” he said. 

In the Bruggeman’s view, the connected embedded world is approaching a level of complexity that makes it impractical for developers to pick and chose software tools, building blocks and middleware from a variety of security, management and networking vendors. 

"Device software projects are often slowed due to incompatible tools and complex processes unique to distinct development phases. This hamstrings the ability to swiftly bring quality products to market," said Dana Gardner, senior analyst at The Yankee Group. "By moving toward an inclusive and standardized end-to-end development and deployment efficiency solution-the core premise of device software optimization-companies can radically improve their device software development results." 

Workbench 2.2 

According to Bruggeman, Workbench 2.2 is an Eclipse-based development suite that supports the entire device software development lifecycle, from hardware bring-up to manufacturing.  

“It is the only development suite that offers support for the most widely distributed device software operating systems, VxWorks and Linux, as well as in-house operating systems,” he said, allowing companies to achieve the same kinds of economies of scale they do in the enterprise environment with one common development suite across the enterprise, optimizing the development process across multiple projects and sites. 

“Today, organizations have multiple device development teams in different geographic locations that focus on specific development phases,” he said. “For each phase, developers may use different processes, tools and vendors that are completely different from other teams working on the same project. With this lack of standardization and collaboration, efficiency is diminished.” 

This fragmenting of effort can be eliminated, he said, by integrating industry-leading development technologies such as powerful source code analysis, JTAG based on-chip debugging and operating system aware and task level debugging into one common development suite. 

"Companies are demanding a development environment that supports multiple projects, target platforms and languages,” said Bruggeman. “They also want to gain efficiencies by using that same environment throughout the development Process."  

According to Bruggeman, the platform for network equipment, Linux Edition includes a complete Linux reference file system with a rich set of networking middleware and applications.

Based on the Linux 2.6 kernel with Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) 2.01 features, it was designed for developing the control and management system software in wireless infrastructure systems, soft switches, media gateways, DSLAMSs, cable headends, multi-service switches, optical switches and core routers.  

Additionally, said Bruggeman, it supports the Open Source Development Lab's (OSDL) CGL 2.01 specifications and emerging standards such as Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA), the latest standards-based modular communications specification for telecommunications platforms.  

He said the company has completed porting to the Intel NetStructure MPCBL001 Single Board Computer, which he thinks will allow telecommunication equipment manufacturers and system integrators to realize quicker time to market with highly scalable standards-based building blocks. 

To learn more, go to www.windriver.com.

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