SystemReady Boosts IoT Supply Chains: Interview

The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the critical importance of the semiconductor supply chain and the necessity for a flexible software ecosystem. In a recent development, John Thomson, senior director of Software and Ecosystems at ARM's IoT Line of Business, engaged in a conversation with Nick Flaherty regarding a groundbreaking project with Schneider Electric. This project aimed to address the challenges associated with porting applications from one processor to another within the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial automation domains.

ARM collaborated with Schneider Electric, a French IoT system developer, to swiftly port applications utilizing the ARM SystemReady specification. Previously, Schneider Electric had spent two to three years developing new platforms from a centralized team. However, with the new approach, applications were successfully ported in just a few days, marking a significant advancement in efficiency and agility.

The focus of the development effort was on two key workloads for real-time industrial machines, centered around a machine vision AI workload. Schneider Electric's existing software architecture posed challenges in terms of portability, as much of the software was intricately designed for specific hardware configurations to maximize performance. This lack of flexibility necessitated a time-consuming and costly overhaul of software whenever hardware changes were made.

Recognizing the inefficiencies in repurposing code across different hardware platforms, Schneider Electric's central platform team embarked on a mission to enhance design agility and streamline software portability. Collaborating with ARM and system integrator Witekio, the team delved into exploring the viability of ARM SystemReady as a platform to meet their evolving needs.

SystemReady offers an OS interoperability framework that ensures standard firmware interfaces can be seamlessly deployed and maintained on ARM-based systems. By adhering to these standards, Schneider Electric aimed to reduce time-to-market and enhance the flexibility of their software solutions, ultimately driving innovation and competitiveness in the industrial IoT landscape.