IoT Prototyping
November 10, 2015, ARM techcon, Santa Clara, CA—Steven Si from MediaTek described MediaTek’s prototyping system for IoT development. The combination of ARM-based hardware, a hardware development kit, various software tools, and interfaces to Arduino allow for quick and easy IoT development.
The basis for the prototyping kit is a combination of a fully populated PCB and a complete set of software development tools The hardware platform includes a variety of connectivity options including WiFi, BlueTooth, GSM/GPRS and GPS. The proto board is Arduino compatible to take advantage of the wide array of the Arduino ecosystem and its many building blocks. The board is populated with many I/O including USB, SPI, and GPIO. The hardware uses an ARM A7, 16 MB flash, $MB RAM and has an additional slot for an SD card. The card can handle digital I/O and analog inputs. Power is through a rechargeable Li battery.
The SDK is an extension of the Arduino IDE that can operate in Windows or Mac OS X and supports Arduino 1.5.7 and 1.6.5. the IDE includes guides, examples of various functions, and reference code for many middleware and protocol functions as well as drivers for the on-board peripherals. The software development tools include data visualization and device control functions to enable a wide range of functions and capabilities.
Together, the hardware and software enable relatively simple proof of concept designs including the cloud interfaces and notifications to other devices. Taken all together, the development system allows the developer to mix and match hardware and code blocks in a prototyping environment.
The MediaTek development platform provides the development resources and access to hardware for all aspects of an IoT device development. The company can also provide technical support and developer advice and matchmaking to shepherd a concept from start-up to design, production and go-to market help.
