Developing a successful IoT device has proven more challenging than many predicted. Inconsistent OS developer experiences, complex, changing security needs and resource-intensive hardware development are often the biggest challenges.
NXP has worked to provide hardware platforms for Android Things, Google’s Android-based OS for the IoT industry. Android Things provides rich developer APIs, managed software updates using Google’s over-the-air (OTA) infrastructure and certified hardware to effectively address the challenges IoT product developers face. By building with Android Things, developers can focus on developing unique, competitive devices that can be securely managed and updated when deployed.
Today Google is taking the next step in enabling market adoption by releasing
Android Things 1.0. NXP’s
i.MX 8M applications processor
will be certified for production to run Android Things 1.0 in the next few
months and with long term support from both Google and NXP, is designed to be
successful for IoT devices. NXP’s
i.MX 7Dual
will continue to be supported for developers to test and prototype ideas.
NXP is working with Google and Innocomm to certify the WB10-AT development kit to run Android Things 1.0. The WB10-AT i.MX 8M development kit includes the WB10-AT System on Module (SOM) based on the NXP i.MX 8M Quad processor and a carrier board. The WB10-AT i.MX 8M SOM integrates the NXP i.MX 8M Quad, LPDDR4 memory, eMMC, Power Management IC (PMIC), and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. The i.MX 8M Quad integrates four Arm® Cortex®-A53 cores up to 1.5GHz and one Cortex-M4 core to provide high performance audio, voice and video processing ideal for the wide range of usage models evolving in the IoT market. This development platform, together with the BSP provided by Google, enables fast development of IoT devices based on Android Things and the flexible hardware/software customization needed for the device. The WB10-AT will be available in the next few months.
NXP continues to work with TechNexion to support Android Things on the Pico i.MX7Dual, and we expect to announce more platforms with them in the near future.
Android Things has been focused on powering devices that are secure over time by automated OTA updates and security patches. One of the new features in Android Things 1.0 is the ability to configure hardware peripherals through the Android Things Console such as GPIO resistors and I2C bus speeds so enabling hardware platforms can be developed and deployed faster and more efficiently, thus reducing time to market.
Android Things 1.0 is aimed at making IoT device development — from prototype to production — fast and efficient for all customers, regardless of size or scale. By developing our products to be effective and applicable to the wide range of companies within the IoT market, we enable companies to utilize Android Things and move into production with the i.MX 8M applications processor.
Robert Thompson is Global Director i.MX Ecosystem. He focuses on developing the ecosystem to enable customers to get to market as fast and competitively as possible. Robert is an industry expert in consumer electronics with over 20 years of experience in diverse regions, including Europe, Brazil and the US.
