Eurotech and Arkessa Partner for Global IoT Solutions

 27 August  2015 – Arkessa, a leading provider of global Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) managed services, today announced a partnership with Eurotech, a leading provider of smart devices and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technologies for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Arkessa and Eurotech are technology leaders in their respective domains. Andrew Orrock, CEO, Arkessa (above) commented, "Eurotech share our passion to make it easy for customers to deliver IoT solutions. This landmark agreement allows both Eurotech and Arkessa to significantly extend our abilities and offer customers the most complete M2M and IoT solutions by combining and integrating core elements of our respective offerings.”

This partnership will allow Eurotech to add managed connectivity services to its devices and M2M gateways via Arkessa’s multi-network cellular and satellite service which covers all regions of the world. Arkessa’s connectivity solutions can be used across a range of Eurotech hardware offerings.  This powerful combination enables Eurotech to extend its differentiated end-to-end approach to include M2M global connectivity.

Similarly, Arkessa can leverage Eurotech's expertise across a broad range of technologies including devices and embedded application management.

The integration between Eurotech's Everyware Cloud, Eurotech’s Data & Device Management Platform, and Arkessa’s Connectivity Management Platform gives customers a single point of management for their connected assets, simplifying the implementation of IoT projects to an exceptional level.

The areas in which this partnership will add the highest value have been identified as those which incorporate solid and secure device and data management alongside business-critical connectivity.

Robert Andres, CMO, Eurotech (left) said of the partnership, “This will enable our Customers to further reduce the complexity of their M2M/IoT projects, increasing efficiency whilst satisfying both business targets and legislative requirements. We are more and more becoming the one stop shop for Industrial IoT solutions.”

About Arkessa
Arkessa is a leading M2M (Machine to Machine) and IoT (Internet of Things) managed services provider with offices in Bishop's Stortford, UK and Bochum, Germany.  Arkessa Delivers global connectivity services and solutions through unrivalled multi-network connectivity in all regions of the World and true pole-to-pole coverage.

Arkessa enables organisations of all sizes to monitor, manage and control remote devices through M2M & IoT technology to enable business to derive valuable information and intelligence from both new and existing IoT devices.

About Eurotech
Eurotech (ETH:IM) is a global company that designs, creates and delivers full Internet of Things solutions,   including   services,   software   and   hardware   to   leading   systems   integrators   and enterprises large and small. With Eurotech solutions in place, clients have access to the latest open source and standardised   software   stacks, flexible and rugged   multi-service gateways and sophisticated sensors to bring actionable data from the field into business operations.

Working with world-class ecosystem partners, Eurotech delivers on the promise of the Internet of Things either from end to end, or with best-in-class   building   blocks,  including device and data management, a connectivity and communication platform, intelligent edge devices and smart objects, following business models that fit today’s business world.

Source: Arkessa

Augury Raises $7M Series A Round for Shazam-like IOT Machine Diagnostics

27 August 2015 – Augury, the predictive machine diagnostics company, today announced a $7 million Series A funding round led by Formation 8 Hardware Fund and joined by Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Existing investors First Round Capital and Lerer Hippeau Ventures also participated in the funding. The capital will be used to accelerate product development, expand Augury’s sales and marketing and support the company’s ongoing growth.

Augury is redefining the predictive maintenance market, one that has remained inaccessible and expensive for decades. Augury is bringing its proprietary algorithms, smart sensing device and mobile diagnostics tool to new markets, starting with diagnosing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems within commercial buildings.

The company’s technology has the potential to save billions of dollars in maintenance and energy costs. In doing so, Augury is helping to create a much larger market for predictive maintenance and will eventually expand its reach to diagnosing the IoT (Internet of Things).

“Augury is ‘Shazam’ for machines," says Augury CEO Saar Yoskovitz (above). "Using smartphone technology, it has made IoT accessible and affordable for legacy systems and large industries.  Formation 8 recognizes Augury as a future market leader in the Industrial IoT space, with the potential to capture a multi-billion dollar market opportunity. Formation 8 Hardware Fund is a leading investor at the intersection of hardware and software and we are thrilled to work with the team and our other partners to take advantage of the real strategic value they bring to the table."

Augury has already made significant headway in its efforts to capture market share, winning a strategic partnership with a Fortune 100 building services company that has adopted its predictive maintenance tool, the Auguscope. Augury continues to secure deals by utilizing its mobile solution to enable businesses to solve maintenance issues faster and at a significantly lower price than current market offerings.

“Formation 8 seeks out entrepreneurs and companies that have the capacity to create new markets and transform existing ones – and Augury does both,” says Lior Susan, leader of Formation 8 Hardware Fund. “With our Hardware Fund, we are focused on the connected world and we see Augury’s predictive maintenance technology as a prime example of the commercial application of IoT technology. We look forward to working with Saar and the entire talented Augury team to reimagine the industrial IoT space.”

About Augury
Augury is a New York and Israel-based company that is bringing predictive maintenance technology to new markets. Built on the idea that each machine has a unique acoustic fingerprint, Augury has developed technology that listens to the machine, analyzes the data and catches malfunctions early. The Augury solution can be applied to HVAC in industrial factories as well as commercial facilities. Augury is building the mechanical diagnostics platform for the Internet of Things. To learn more about Augury, please visit www.augury.com.

Vodafone M2M Chosen by Skypatrol for Tracking Service

11 August 2015 – Vodafone today announced it is working with Skypatrol, a leading supplier of integrated GPS tracking solutions, to bring reliable and efficient connectivity to their electronic-tracking services across nearly 1 million different devices installed in vehicles, construction equipment, and oil and mining operations worldwide. Skypatrol aims to use Vodafone’s global network to address customer demand in the US and in more than a dozen countries throughout Latin America including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Peru. Skypatrol plans to activate more than 10,000 new M2M SIMS per month.

Skypatrol provides turnkey risk mitigation and tracking solutions for the vehicle finance market, new car dealers, rental car companies and fleet managers globally. Skypatrol also provides GPS hardware bundled with Vodafone’s Global M2M SIM to telematics service providers around the world through an easily configurable Application Program Interface (API) that allows the service providers to quickly deploy any Skypatrol device.

For example:

• Companies that already have their own fleet or GPS tracking solution can use Skypatrol hardware pre-configured with a Vodafone Global M2M SIM that reduces both data consumption requirements and costs. Using a simple API interface, customers can quickly integrate and deploy GPS devices on their own platforms in a matter of days, allowing them to activate their solutions in new markets faster than ever before.
• Skypatrol provides solutions for motorcycle dealerships and new car lots in the Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) space in addition to serving the vehicle finance market often referred to as “Buy Here Pay Here” (BHPH). These turnkey solutions can now be launched rapidly in any country supported by Vodafone’s Global M2M SIM.
• For companies managing fleets of any size, Skypatrol’s Fleet Command moves beyond traditional GPS tracking to fleet automation with data analytics.  Other award winning solutions like Defender 2.0 and PROTEKGPS allow companies to make informed decisions that improve fleet utilization and the bottom line.

Vodafone’s global network and the Vodafone Global M2M SIM means Skypatrol can provide these services around the world with confidence without being distracted with the task of country-by-country IT integration. Skypatrol can focus on its core business and on providing the best products and services to its customers.

Skypatrol’s CEO, Robert Rubin said, “Our goal is to provide our clients peace of mind with reliable products and services whether it is tracking a vehicle or valued cargo, or assuring the safety of a person by accurately knowing their location. Vodafone allows us to continue to provide these location-based services to our customers and supports our continued growth inside and outside of the United States.”

Vodafone Group’s Head of Machine-to-Machine for the Americas Andrew Morawski (above) said, “Our M2M technology supports all of Skypatrol US and international solutions, helping to provide reliable connectivity for their customers. The global nature of our SIM and our ability to provide a global M2M approach across a diverse range of products is what makes Skypatrol able to confidently communicate with their devices worldwide.”

About Vodafone Machine-to-Machine (M2M)
Vodafone Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connects previously isolated machines or devices to the internet, delivering new functionality and enhanced services without the need for human intervention. Supported by more than 1,300 dedicated employees, Vodafone’s global M2M platform makes it easy for global businesses to manage centrally M2M deployments across multiple territories, with greater control and at a lower cost than previously possible.

In 2014 Vodafone was named global M2M leader by Machina Research, for the third year in a row. For more information, please visit  https://m2m.vodafone.com/home/.

About Vodafone
Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 55 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 30 June 2015, Vodafone had 449 million mobile customers and 12 million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.

About Skypatrol
Skypatrol builds innovative software tools combined with proprietary GPS hardware and firmware to help businesses monitor, protect and optimize mobile assets. Skypatrol serves many markets including vehicle finance, fleet management, mobile asset tracking, automobile dealerships, outdoor sports and motor sports. Skypatrol is a global leader in integrated GPS tracking solutions on a wide variety of platforms including GSM and CDMA cellular networks and Iridium satellites. Skypatrol serves customers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.skypatrol.com.

Source: Vodafone

INSIDE Secure Launches World’s Smallest Security Solution for Internet of Things (IoT) Devices

3 August  2015 – INSIDE Secure, a leader in embedded security solutions for mobile and connected devices, today announced the availability of MatrixSSL Tiny, the world’s smallest Transport Layer Security (TLS) software implementation, to allow companies to secure IoT devices with stringent memory requirements. MatrixSSL Tiny has been deployed on IoT devices with less than 10 kilobytes of flash and 600 bytes of RAM. Moreover, with MatrixSSL Tiny, device manufacturers can reduce their overall design costs by retrofitting a secure connection to existing hardware as well as reduce bill of materials (BOM) costs.

“INSIDE Secure continues to be on the leading edge of meeting market requirements to secure the most critical applications, networks and devices,” said Martin Bergenwall, Executive Vice President of the Mobile Security Business Division, INSIDE Secure (above). “As the recent cyberattack on a Jeep® Cherokee communicated by wired.com shows, security for IoT devices is critical.”

First released in 2004, MatrixSSL is a secure Transport Layer Security (TLS) solution delivered in portable C source code. MatrixSSL Tiny is designed to secure small IoT devices with extremely limited memory that use remote connections, yet demand robust security to prevent eavesdropping and tampering on network traffic. MatrixSSL Tiny performs real time operations, zeroing the memory when finished.

“For a secure Internet of Things, it will be essential that the full range of connected devices with embedded intelligence – even down to the smallest sensor – has effective communications security embedded in it,” said Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO of specialist IoT analyst firm Beecham Research. “For devices using small micro-processors, there may be very limited memory and processing capability, yet even these require sufficiently sophisticated security features to cater to the increasingly threatening landscape. This is an exciting development from Inside Secure to help enable this demanding need. It helps to open up the growth potential of the IoT market.”

To learn more about MatrixSSL Tiny please visit: http://www.insidesecure.com/Products-Technologies/Protocol-Security-Toolkits/MatrixSSL-Tiny-Edition

About INSIDE Secure
INSIDE Secure (Euronext Paris FR0010291245 – INSD) provides comprehensive embedded security solutions. World-leading companies rely on INSIDE Secure’s mobile security and secure transaction offerings to protect critical assets including connected devices, content, services, identity and transactions. Unmatched security expertise combined with a comprehensive range of IP, semiconductors, software and associated services gives INSIDE Secure customers a single source for advanced solutions and superior investment protection.

Source: INSIDE Secure

Jasper Partners With Microsoft for Enterprise IoT Service Management

30 July 2015 – Jasper, a global Internet of Things (IoT) platform leader, today announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to provide enterprises worldwide with an IoT service management solution that enables them to bring new IoT services to market faster, facilitate their shift from product businesses to services businesses, and rapidly scale. Through joint engineering efforts, the companies are combining the power of the Jasper IoT services platform and the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite, available in preview later this year.

"More than 2,000 enterprises across dozens of industries worldwide have selected the Jasper Platform to enable them to deliver IoT services that increase customer value and grow revenues," said Macario Namie, VP of Strategy at Jasper (above). "Through this strategic partnership with Microsoft, we continue to increase the business value of IoT by making it easier and faster for enterprises to bring their IoT services to market, and to scale those services globally."

The Azure IoT Suite extends existing Azure capabilities to connect devices and other assets (i.e. "things"), capture the diverse and voluminous data they generate, and integrate and orchestrate the flow of that data. The suite also manages, analyzes and presents device data as usable information to help businesses make better decisions, while also intelligently automating operations. The offering, while customizable to fit the unique needs of any organization, also provides complete applications which speed deployment of common scenarios seen across many industries, such as remote monitoring, asset management and predictive maintenance, while providing the ability to grow and scale solutions to millions of "things."

Jasper Control Center, Jasper's IoT services platform, is a cloud-based IoT platform that enables companies of all sizes to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy, manage and monetize IoT services for any connected device. The platform, which is easily configurable to meet the unique requirements of business across industries, gives companies the real-time visibility, intelligence and control they need to accelerate time-to-market, automate operations, optimize performance, troubleshoot and fix issues, and manage costs. As those companies grow, Control Center makes it easy for them to seamlessly scale their businesses across the globe. Jasper partners with 25 mobile operator groups, representing more than 100 mobile operator networks worldwide, to deliver the benefits of Control Center in over 100 countries.

"Our vision for the Azure IoT Suite is to help companies thrive in this era of IoT by delivering preconfigured solutions and world class services that any company, whether startup or the most established global enterprises, can use to create new value," said Sam George, Director of Azure IoT. "Jasper's IoT services platform is a critical component of delivering on this vision. By bringing together the Jasper Platform and the Azure IoT Suite, businesses of any size and in any industry can build cost effective IoT solutions for themselves or their customers."

The combination of the Jasper Platform and the Azure IoT Suite will provide enterprises worldwide with the following advantages:

• Faster Time-to-Market - Enterprises in any industry can accelerate time to market of their IoT services by taking advantage of pre-established, deep integration across all technology layers -- connectivity, application, and data.
• Global Visibility - Businesses gain a global view of their IoT deployments -- including both device data and Control Center IoT service data -- through the Azure IoT Suite experience.
• Automated Business Decisions - The solution delivers richer insights that inform more sophisticated decision-making.

About Jasper
Jasper is a global Internet of Things (IoT) platform leader. Jasper has designed its industry-leading, cloud-based IoT platform to enable companies of all sizes to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy, manage and monetize IoT services on a global scale. When companies do this, they become much more than product businesses. They become service businesses, capable of automatically managing their customers' entire IoT services lifecycle, delivering increased customer value and unlocking new sources of revenue. More than 2,000 companies in over 20 industries, including many of the world's top brands, choose Jasper to fast-track their IoT services. Jasper currently partners with 25 mobile operator groups, representing more than 100 mobile operator networks worldwide.

Founded in 2004, Jasper is based in Santa Clara, California. For more information, please visit www.jasper.com.

Wind River Delivers Real-Time Virtualisation for IoT Device Development

28 July 2015 – Wind River®, a global leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things (IoT), has announced a major update to its real-time virtualisation offering that allows customers to further reduce cost and innovate connected devices. The update includes storage virtualisation capabilities, enhanced security capabilities, and expanded processor support.

Virtualisation Profile for VxWorks® is based on Wind River virtualisation technology and extends the scalability capabilities of VxWorks by integrating a real-time embedded, Type 1 hypervisor into the core of the real-time operating system (RTOS). Through embedded virtualisation, it allows VxWorks customers to consolidate multiple disparate workloads on a single processor. Critical in today's era of IoT, it helps to address the need for robust, safer and more secure partitioning across all market segments.

“Virtualisation is a key attribute in GE’s global vision for industrial control systems in the era of the Industrial Internet. It allows the GE businesses to combine their real-time control logic, HMI, security, and cloud connectivity into a single platform,” said Wes Skeffington, principal engineer at GE. “Wind River’s virtualisation offering provides the right attributes like scalability, storage virtualisation, real-time behavior, virtual machine isolation, and security capabilities to realize this vision.”

Updates to Virtualization Profile for VxWorks include the following:

• Storage virtualisation through VirtIO allows devices to share a single storage controller, even a single disk, such as a Serial ATA device between multiple virtual machines (VMs), thereby dramatically reducing cost and complexity for consolidated systems. The run-time configuration, combined with support for the VirtIO device virtualisation framework makes the virtualisation profile a flexible and highly customizable virtualisation layer for embedded devices.
• Enhanced security capabilities include seamless integration with the Security Profile for VxWorks. These capabilities help customers to guard security from power-on all the way through VM load and beyond with secure boot, secure load, and data encryption during transmission and after shutdown.
• Expanded processor support includes support for Intel® Atom and Celeron architectures, providing even greater choices for customers to build product lines that scale from low end controllers to major gateways and high performance compute and display stations.

“Embedded virtualization allows customers to meet the challenges of the IoT era; it enables a future-proof architecture that can adapt and evolve to meet changing market requirements, customer needs, and technology advancements,” said Dinyar Dastoor, vice president and general manager of operating system platforms at Wind River (above). “With these latest virtualisation and security capability enhancements, Wind River has further strengthened VxWorks as the leading RTOS for IoT where connectivity, scalability and the ability to develop safer and more secure environments are paramount.”

The Virtualisation Profile for VxWorks is an integral part of the Intel Industrial Solutions System Consolidation Series, a production-ready, virtualisation software stack used for running an assortment of industrial and IoT workloads on a single platform.

More information about Virtualisation Profile for VxWorks is available at http://tinyurl.com/VxWorksVirtualization. And to learn more about how Wind River is addressing the opportunities and challenges of IoT, visit http://tinyurl.com/WindHelix.

About Wind River
Wind River, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), is a global leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things. The company has been pioneering computing inside embedded devices since 1981, and its technology is found in more than 2 billion products. Wind River offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for addressing the system-level challenges and opportunities of IoT that is backed by world-class global professional services, award-winning customer support, and a broad partner ecosystem. Wind River delivers the software and expertise that enables the innovation and deployment of safe, secure, and reliable intelligent systems. To learn more, please visit www.windriver.com.

Source: Wind River

Icon Labs Launches Security Management System

28 July 2015 — Icon Labs, a leading provider of embedded networking and security technology, today announced the release of its Floodgate Security Manager (FSM ), a security management software suite specifically designed to protect IoT and embedded devices against cyber-attack. FSM can be operated as either an on premise or a cloud-based security manager.

The Floodgate Security Manager provides device status monitoring, security policy management, command audit logging, and security event logging and reporting for devices running Icon Labs’ Floodgate Agent or other lightweight IoT management protocols such as COAP and MQTT.

Floodgate Security Manager provides comprehensive reporting and auditing capabilities to help achieve EDSA Certification, ISA/IEC 62443 Compliance, and/or compliance with the NIST Cybersecurity framework.

“The current approach to security management for IoT devices is to repurpose legacy security management systems.  While this solution works for some IoT gateways and other large IoT devices, it does not scale to the smallest IoT devices, especially small battery powered edge devices and sensor solutions,” says Alan Grau, President and Cofounder of Icon Labs (above). “Floodgate Security Manager is designed to provide the management services required by all IOT devices, including small, battery powered and mobile devices without the overhead and complexity of traditional enterprise security management systems.”

“With the IoT growing dramatically, it’s only a matter of time before hackers turn more attention toward embedded systems with limited onboard security resources,” said Steve Hoffenberg, a Director at industry analyst firm VDC Research. “New security technologies are needed not only to protect IoT device functionality and data, but also to protect conventional IT and the cloud assets to which the embedded systems are connected.”

Icon Labs products provide embedded security for IoT and Machine to Machine (M2M) solutions such as aerospace, military and space probes, industrial and medical control devices, medical systems, and consumer electronics products. The Floodgate Security Framework provides a “defense in depth” solution that protects control units and endpoint devices from cyber threats, aids in compliance with regulatory mandates and guidelines, and gathers and reports command, event and device status information for audit requirements.

About Icon Laboratories, Inc.
Icon Labs, a 2014 Gartner “Cool Vendor” and 2015 Gartner “Select Vendor”, is a leading provider of embedded software for device security, device protection and networking management, including the award winning Floodgate Defender. Founded in 1992, Icon Labs is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, please visit www.iconlabs.com.

Source: Icon Labs

Wireless IoT Forum Announces Founding Board

30 June 2015 – The Wireless IoT Forum, a body working to accelerate the wide scale adoption of wireless wide-area networking technologies dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced its founding members and board. The Forum’s board comprises: Accenture, Arkessa, BT, Cisco, Telensa and WSN.

The forum’s mandate is to remove fragmentation and drive consolidation around a minimal set of standards for both licensed and license-exempt wireless solutions. The Forum aims to develop a clear set of requirements through engagement with end-users as well as a use-case driven roadmap for the ecosystem of technology companies, apps developers and operators.

The independent, not-for-profit organization aims to work with relevant stakeholders to agree core requirements that inform and accelerate understanding, standards development & consistent, supportive regulation. It will also work to promote and market wireless IoT to and for wireless network operators, infrastructure providers, fixed line network operators, application developers, utilities, semiconductor companies, radio technology providers, module developers, system integrators and end user organisations.

“The IoT market is gathering significant momentum around the globe, with new technologies and use cases being announced daily,” said William Webb, CEO, Wireless IoT Forum (above). “However the risk presented by fragmentation remains very real. Without widely-agreed open standards we risk seeing pockets of proprietary technology developing independently, preventing the benefits of mass-market scale. We are delighted today to be announcing our inaugural membership and to begin work to drive towards a collective view on the right way to deliver widespread IoT services.”

“The IoT is growing at an unrelenting pace, but it’s important that the entire ecosystem co-operates around open standards in order for it to reach its full potential,” said Aidan Quilligan, managing director, Accenture Digital Mobility. “That’s why it’s important that the Forum works with key ecosystem members from the start, in order to create the right conditions for the mass market, without duplicating the work being done by existing standards bodies. Open standards represent the only way to begin the process of overcoming fragmentation in the IoT, and as part of the Forum, we will help drive this forward.”

“As the success of the GSM standard in the mobile world showed, working to open industry standards is critical to creating the necessary situation for mass market success,” said Mark Harrop, Director, Business Development (Mobile Programme), BT. “By aligning the complete value chain in defining and promoting these standards the Wireless IoT Forum is ideally suited to make the Internet of Things a success.”

"IoT, and in particular smart cities, is a fast-growing applications market that combines innovative wireless solutions with new ecosystem combinations,” said Will Gibson, CEO of Telensa. "The WIoTF is committed to aligning a diverse group of industry pioneers around key common approaches, so that IoT can build on early success to reach its undoubted potential."

“We are excited to be a part of such a groundbreaking group of individuals and companies working together to drive the IoT agenda,” said Feng Guo, Director Solution Center, WSN Tech. “As key players in this space, we recognize the need for competition to create dynamic markets but also the need for collaboration when promoting and supporting standardization and interoperability. These conditions are key to ensuring successful and timely IoT deployment worldwide,”

The Forum is actively recruiting new members. For enquiries and more information about joining contact – info@wiotf.org

About the Wireless IoT Forum
The Wireless IoT Forum aims to drive the deployment of the Internet of Things worldwide by reducing fragmentation and through the promotion of open standards and an increased focus on the needs of end-users. The Forum has been created to encourage the widespread adoption of wireless wide-area networking technologies in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. It will work with key stakeholders from across the value chain to agree requirements that inform and accelerate standards development and deployments. For further information visit www.wiotf.org.

Wind River Enhances Simics for Agile IoT Development

30 June 2015 – Wind River®, a world leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things (IoT), has introduced the latest version of Wind River Simics®. Simics accelerates software development by delivering ground-breaking development capabilities and facilitates Agile software practices through the use of simulation technologies.

The latest updates to Simics include accelerated simulation performance and expanded capabilities for enhancing access, collaboration, and automation for software developers. Additionally, the process for modeling, debugging, and model asset reuse has been further improved to deliver a simpler user experience. Other new improvements provide additional capabilities enabling agile and automated testing with shorter feedback loops.

New features include the following:

• Greater performance: Simulation performance has been enhanced for tightly coupled multi-core and multiprocessor systems on multi-core hosts. Testing on parallel workloads shows performance increases of up to seven times when simulating an eight-core Linux symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) target on an eight-core host. Coupled with its existing performance technologies, Simics can efficiently simulate ever more complex targets to deliver the benefits of simulation for any target system.
• Easier test automation: Simplified scripting interfaces and fault injection framework allow easier use of Simics in test automation environments.
• Simpler collaboration: A checkpoint server allows easier management of checkpoints across teams. Users can share the system state of their simulations with others.
• Additional quick-start platforms: Immediate access to three quick-start platforms (Intel®, ARM®, and Power) allows every Simics user to enable early prototyping and tooling integration.
• Improved modeling support: Enhanced support for SystemC models with a new SystemC library and improved debugging tools help teams get models up and running quickly.

IoT and intelligent systems are pushing the boundaries for developers, creating challenging demands such as increasingly complex designs, greater intelligence and connectivity, and tightened development schedules. As development timelines become tighter, IoT developers are turning to Agile practices, which require constant on-demand access to the system, more efficient and faster collaboration between teams, and higher levels of automation.

“IoT is pushing the embedded community to re-evaluate the development lifecycle,” said Chris Rommel, vice president for IoT and Embedded Technology at VDC Research. “The increasing scale and complexity of IoT systems are forcing developers to adapt. Agile practices are one of the methods more engineers are now using to address these process challenges and improve access, collaboration and overall development efficiencies across their teams.”

“The demands of creating IoT systems are necessitating new development processes. As innovation cycles become shorter, embedded developers must increasingly adopt Agile and continuous practices,” said Michel Genard, vice president and general manager of system simulation at Wind River (above). “Simics continues to open up new possibilities for Agile development and allows teams to accelerate their timelines, as well as successfully design and test IoT scenarios virtually impossible to replicate via traditional methods. We’re committed to constantly growing our capabilities and investigating new opportunities such as the cloud to offer innovative methods to bring our virtual environment technologies to wider audiences.”

Simics is able to simulate nearly anything from a single chip to systems of any size and complexity. It  provides the access, automation, and collaboration required to implement Agile development practices and to continuously deliver better software, faster. By working from virtual models and eliminating the need for physical hardware (and its limitations) during development, simulation can accelerate development and transform how businesses operate. Developers can push automated testing much sooner in the development cycle, and perform both testing and debugging during design and prototyping phases. All team members can have unlimited access to virtual hardware, allowing new ways of working and improved collaboration throughout the entire lifecycle. Ultimately, developers can dramatically reduce risks of shipping late, overrunning budget, and sacrificing quality.

Simics is part of the Wind River Helix™ portfolio of products enabling IoT advancements. To learn more about how Wind River is addressing the opportunities and challenges of IoT, please visit www.windriver.com/products/helix/.

About Wind River
Wind River, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel® Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), is a global leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things. The company has been pioneering computing inside embedded devices since 1981, and its technology is found in more than 2 billion products. Wind River offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for addressing the system-level challenges and opportunities of IoT that is backed by world-class global professional services, award-winning customer support, and a broad partner ecosystem. Wind River delivers the software and expertise that enables the innovation and deployment of safe, secure, and reliable intelligent systems. To learn more, please visit www.windriver.com.

Source: Wind River

Sierra Wireless Selected by BNP’s Arval for Global Telematics Solution

29 Jun 2015 – Sierra Wireless today announced that Arval, a leader in full service vehicle leasing, fleet management, and usage-based insurance owned by BNP Paribas, has selected Sierra Wireless device-to-cloud technology to build its new global telematics solution.

The Arval telematics solution leverages the Sierra Wireless AirVantage® cloud, enabling Arval and its customers to monitor and manage a vehicle’s usage through a telematics on-board unit wirelessly connected to the cellular network with Sierra Wireless AirPrime® embedded modules. Targeted at enterprise fleet managers, the service enables them to track mileage, fuel consumption, driver behavior, and maintenance, as well as utilize usage-based insurance (UBI) models for cost savings.

Arval selected Sierra Wireless because the AirVantage cloud provides an accelerated development path. The cloud platform was already built and integrated with AirPrime embedded modules, and was able to easily connect to third-party application servers and their own web applications. With the wireless integration and management already covered, Arval was able to focus on the portion of the solution that offers value and differentiates it from competitors. In addition, AirVantage leverages standard device protocols, making it compatible with a wide variety of connected devices and future-proof in terms of compatibility with additional devices and services as Arval expands its service offering.

“We were looking for a technology partner to help us enhance our business and our customer service offering,” said Paul Gourley, Technology Director for Arval. “Sierra Wireless delivered the expertise and global scale we needed, delivering a full solution that integrates the devices, the device data, our mobile network operator’s infrastructure, and our back-end IT systems. This solution vastly simplified the process of bringing our new services to market and will enable us to scale rapidly as we deploy internationally.”

“Arval is an industry leader with a clear vision of how a connected service model can enable the company to better serve its customers and enhance its core business,” said Emmanuel Walckenaer, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions for Sierra Wireless (above). “This collaboration demonstrates the value of a device-to-cloud solution in accelerating innovation in transportation and fleet management, but the model works across many industries and applications. We enable an organization to focus on developing the portion of the solution that is unique and tailored to its customers, knowing that the wireless connectivity and communication functions are already integrated and tested.”

The AirVantage cloud is an integrated platform of services that enables organizations to quickly build and deploy IoT solutions, managing devices, subscriptions, and application data through a single interface worldwide. AirVantage provides the data services to securely collect, store, and organize data streams so they are easily available to web and mobile applications, enterprise systems, or analytics tools. AirVantage also helps customers manage large deployments with dashboards and APIs to monitor the health of machines in the field and update them when required.

Please visit the Sierra Wireless website for more information about AirVantage cloud, AirPrime wireless modules, and the company’s solutions for transportation and fleet management.

About Sierra Wireless     
Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ:SWIR) (TSX:SW) is building the Internet of Things with intelligent wireless solutions that empower organizations to innovate in the connected world. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of 2G, 3G and 4G embedded modules and gateways, seamlessly integrated with their secure cloud and connectivity services. OEMs and enterprises worldwide trust Sierra Wireless’s innovative solutions to get their connected products and services to market faster.

Sierra Wireless has more than 900 employees globally and operates R&D centres in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.sierrawireless.com.

Source: Sierra Wireless