Mentor Graphics announces Embedded ReadyStart platform

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, BOSTON, USA: Mentor Graphics Corp. has announced the Mentor Embedded ReadyStart Platform, a “ready-to-use” solution comprising integrated software IP, tools, and services targeting popular hardware boards and system-on-chips (SoCs).

Developed for applications where small footprint, high-performance, and low power matter, the ReadyStart Platform provides developers with ready-to-use demonstrations and configurations that shorten the time to develop medical, industrial, automotive and consumer devices—in many cases from days to minutes.

The ReadyStart Platform tightly integrates the Mentor Graphics Nucleus Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) with the Inflexion Platform™ user interface (UI) runtime engine for 2D and 3D graphics and wired and wireless connectivity middleware.

The ReadyStart Platform provides a single distribution to accelerate fast “bring-up” of a complete system, including a new board support package (BSP) interface and power management services to optimize low-power design.

“The announcement of Mentor’s ReadyStart product is an ideal complement to the Atmel ARM-based family of devices since our mutual customers are seeking an integrated hardware-software platform that addresses power management and embedded graphics capabilities in addition to traditional stacks for communication interfaces like USB and Ethernet,” said Jacko Wilbrink, Atmel marketing director of ARM-based products.

“Our customers who are developing smart home metering, industrial automation, medical, white good control panel, and secure terminal applications will realize product development and cost savings in using the ‘off-the-shelf’ ReadyStart solution.”

“Mentor’s ReadyStart Platform contains everything required to quickly develop a device, including Mentor’s Inflexion runtime engine for UI development, which is a critical component for our mutual customers,” said Jason Kridner, software architecture manager, the ARM MPU business unit, Texas Instruments. “The ReadyStart BSP interface capability provides rapid and optimized device configuration for applications using the Sitara family of ARM-based, high-performance, low-power microprocessors.”

New configure methodology and build system
The Mentor Embedded ReadyStart Platform consists of a single unified source tree containing all Nucleus components and a “make-based build and configuration system,” that allows developers to add or delete build components easily.

Developers can now set up their target environment for faster application development. What might take a day in bring-up for an average target application can be done in as little as 15 minutes using the ReadyStart Platform.

For example, configuration files are included with the distribution, along with BSP configuration, separate from the operating system for reusability. The BSP framework also includes a built-in power awareness feature used to manage device power via a standardized set of APIs, critical for improved battery life and standards compliance, such as ENERGY STAR.

“We recognize the increasing challenges software developers face regarding power management, multi-core/multi-OS architectures, and delivering differentiated end-products that are rich in functionality, at critical speed,” said Shay Benchorin, director of marketing, Mentor Graphics Embedded Software Division. “ReadyStart provides a comprehensive development platform that is a true build system with many of the essential components in place to accelerate device development.”

To help ReadyStart Platform users, a “Getting Started” services program for embedded developers unfamiliar with the Nucleus OS, tailored to specific design needs, is offered, which includes an array of additional services such as power optimization, device architecture, and turnkey device development.

For multi-OS on multi-core applications, Mentor provides a ReadyStart Platform which includes Android, Nucleus, Inflexion, middleware, and MCAPI-compliant inter-OS communication. The ReadyStart Multi-OS Platform currently supports the Freescale P1022 dual-core SoC, recently demonstrated at the Freescale Technology Forum Orlando, and is now available through Mentor Embedded Services.

The ReadyStart Platform for Nucleus is listed at $24,995 and includes the Nucleus RTOS, wired and wireless connectivity middleware, and Inflexion UI runtime engine for a single project with two developer seats. Tools such as the EDGE Debugger and the Inflexion UI Express are provided for evaluation and available for purchase on a per-seat basis. A JTAG probe solution is also available.

The ReadyStart Platform for Nucleus currently supports SoCs and boards from Atmel and Texas Instruments, with future support for Freescale, Marvell, and other semiconductor vendors.