Processor makers double down on Azure RTOS for embedded IoT

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Microprocessor (MPU) and microcontroller (MCU) manufacturers, including Renesas and NXP, are extending their support for Microsoft Azure real-time operating system (RTOS) , enabling easier integration and development between their chips and Azure RTOS. The embedded application suite provides real-time visibility into operations, assets, and products for embedded design development. It includes a variety of IoT building blocks for chip-to-cloud development.

In addition to Renesas and NXP, Microchip, Qualcomm, and STMicroelectronics are also expanding their Azure RTOS embedded development offerings. All five companies will offer embedded development kits featuring Azure RTOS ThreadX, one of the key components of the Azure RTOS embedded application development suite. This gives embedded developers access to real-time performance for resource-constrained devices and integration with Azure IoT to connect, monitor, and control IoT assets.

Microsoft plans to release the full source code for all Azure RTOS components on GitHub. This will allow developers to develop, test, and adapt Azure RTOS for their applications. If they deploy to any of the supported MCU devices from Microchip, NXP, Qualcomm, Renesas, or STMicroelectronics, the production license will be included automatically. However, they aren’t locked into any of these suppliers; they can use a different device in production.

In addition, the partnerships are expected to deliver reference projects and templates for connectivity to Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT Central, Azure IoT Edge Gateways, and integration with Azure Security Center. The Azure Security Center module for monitoring IoT devices will ship soon with Azure RTOS, according to Microsoft.

Here are a couple of the latest embedded development kits available now.

Renesas Electronics Corp. announced a new device-to-cloud solution for IoT developers, leveraging its Synergy and RX MCUs in combination with Microsoft’s Azure RTOS and other IoT building blocks. The Renesas Synergy AE-Cloud2 Kit with Azure support will be available online through Renesas and Microsoft in Q2 2020, and the Renesas RX65N Wi-Fi Cloud Kit will be available later this year.

In October 2019, Renesas expanded the integration of Azure RTOS  to its broader RA and RX MCU and RZ/A MPU lines. These chips are combined with Azure IoT building blocks, including Azure RTOS, Azure IoT device SDK for C, IoT Plug and Play, IoT Central, and IoT Hub, for a complete chip-to-cloud IoT solution. The Azure RTOS is integrated with the Synergy software package for out-of-the-box connectivity to the Azure IoT hub.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. also extended its partnership with Microsoft, expanding access to Azure RTOS to a broader range in its EdgeVerse portfolio. Currently, many of NXP’s low-power, secure 32-bit LPC and i.MX RT crossover microcontrollers support Azure RTOS. This partnership expansion will enable developers using MCUXpresso software and tools to access Azure RTOS from within the software development kit (SDK).

NXP’s developer community using MCUXpresso software and tools can access Azure ROS from within the software development kit. (Image: NXP)

Delivering industrial and IoT edge applications to market faster, NXP said that the turnkey integration will simplify almost all steps in the development cycle, including “choosing the right processor, developing and deploying secure, intelligent edge devices, building secure local area networks, and connecting to the cloud.”

Other solutions currently available include STMicroelectronics’ SensorTile.box, an out-of-the-box wireless IoT and wearable sensor platform kit. This platform can be configured for any skill level from students and makers to designers and developers.

The SensorTile.box module provides certified out-of-the-box connection to Azure IoT Central on Microsoft Azure. This simplifies connecting smart devices to the cloud for data capture and analysis, whether you’re a beginner or IoT professional.

Microchip Technology Inc. also offers a variety of embedded IoT solutions. The company recently launched several cloud-agnostic, full-stack embedded development solutions that support all of its MCUs and MPUs.

In particular, the Azure IoT SAM MCU-based IoT development platform integrates the Azure IoT device SDK and Azure IoT services with Microchip’s MPLAB X development tools ecosystem. The Azure IoT SAM MCU is expected to be available in Q2 2020.