Wind River helps overcome hurdles in software testing to speed Android device development

ALAMEDA, USA: Wind River, a world leader in embedded and mobile software, announced the immediate availability of Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, an automated software testing solution for Android-based devices.

Wind River FAST can be customized for leading silicon architectures, across any device manufacturer or operator in need of testing Android software stacks. The test solution streamlines and automates the software testing process, reduces the time and cost to develop Android devices, helps to improve software quality and stability, and helps users verify and prove compliance with Android Compatibility Test Suite, or CTS.

Testing is often the most time consuming and expensive process during device development and Wind River FAST can help operators, device manufacturers, independent software vendors and silicon providers in need of testing Android-based devices. Wind River FAST reduces the time and costs associated with testing software by automating thousands of heterogeneous tests and then consolidating the results into a single uniform database, easily accessible using virtually any reporting tool.

By implementing Wind River FAST, device manufacturers can focus efforts and resources on critical issues such as developing unique features that differentiate their mobile devices from the competition and verifying Android compliancy, instead of spending a majority of their development time on testing.

“Drawing from our years of experience with open source Linux and Android, Wind River FAST was designed to help customers manage the complexities of Android software testing and get them on track to deliver products on time, with the highest possible quality,” said Michael Krutz, vice president of worldwide solutions and services at Wind River.

“By taking advantage of a reliable, commercial-quality test solution, customers can avoid the unpredictability associated with delivering products based on open source software, and save on cost and engineering effort by automating lengthy processes and large scale test result management and analysis.”

In developing Wind River FAST, Wind River has invested in authoring thousands of tests that span a wide range of categories including device performance such as graphics and boot-time, interoperability such as for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, telephony and board support package tests, as well as many other test categories. Wind River’s expansive test library provides broad coverage of tested code from low level, middleware and up to the application level.

Also, Wind River has extensive experience in mobile systems integration with expertise in user interface design, multimedia support and power management, and is able to offer services tailored to the needs of mobile device development, including subsystem optimization, services integration and application migration.

The following are additional benefits of Wind River FAST:
* Helps improve software quality by providing a commercial-quality test solution, offering thousands of Wind River-authored automated tests specifically designed to rapidly test an open-source-based device.

* Allows device manufacturers, mobile operators, silicon manufacturers and software developers to combine the Android CTS and open source tests with existing operator device acceptance tests into an automated test solution to analyze the functionality, performance and stability of the entire device as well as check the device’s compliance with the Android standard.

* Helps manage the vast number of tests currently used in the open mobile market and allows customers to integrate their legacy test suites into FAST for full testing automation.

In addition to supporting Android testing, Wind River is using its expertise in other mobile and automotive infotainment Linux platforms such as MeeGo and GENIVI to look into extending Wind River FAST to those areas.

With the introduction of Wind River FAST, Wind River expands its mobile software portfolio and complements Wind River Platform for Android, a validated and fully compliant software platform based on the latest versions of the Android software development kit.

Wind River Platform for Android is a commercial-quality solution that enhances device delivery predictability and software quality for Android projects. Wind River is a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, joining in 2007 as a Linux commercialization partner.