Companies collaborate on technology and standards initiatives to spur development of compelling new IoT products and services.
Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) and Oracle have agreed to a wide-ranging relationship to help rapidly evolve the Internet of Things (IoT).
The collaboration paves the way for joint engineering, marketing and standards initiatives focused on enhancing and leveraging the unique advantages that the Java platform and Freescale processors provide for IoT service providers and equipment OEMs.
Geoff Lees, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s MCU business, said:
“The immense potential of the IoT is undeniable, but its promise will only be realized if industry leaders join forces to do the work necessary to turn the vision into a reality.”
“With its broad adoption, open source model, huge enablement ecosystem and well-defined roadmap, Java technology is ideally suited for IoT requirements. The powerful combination of Java with the performance and security of Freescale’s extensive embedded processing portfolio is well-positioned to play a defining role in the evolution of the IoT.”
Defining Java standards for the IoT
As part of the collaboration, Freescale will join the Java Community Process (JCP) and work with Oracle and other JCP members to drive standard technical specifications for the Java platform. Freescale’s focus in the JCP will initially be on Java for resource-constrained processing platforms, such as the low-cost, small geometry microcontrollers that provide the embedded intelligence for IoT-enabled products.
In addition, Freescale has joined the OpenJDK community, where it will work with Oracle to enhance Java for Freescale i.MX application processors, as well as contribute to open implementations of Java APIs for the IoT.
“As a longtime embedded processing pioneer, with an unusually clear vision on how to use their technology to accelerate innovation and ease-of-use, Freescale has the expertise and insight necessary to help Java evolve and thrive in the IoT era,” said Nandini Ramani, vice president of development, Java Platform, Oracle.
“We have already made progress in a number of areas that we are proud to showcase together at JavaOne San Francisco 2013, and look forward to expanding our collaboration to cover a broad range of products and activities aimed to position Oracle and Freescale as leaders in the Internet of Things.”
Deep technology collaboration to foster IoT innovation
In addition to standards activities, Freescale and Oracle will collaborate on technology initiatives designed to speed and simplify the development of next-generation IoT products. The companies plan to establish abstraction layer technology allowing Oracle Java ME Embedded to run seamlessly on Freescale’s proven MQX™ embedded operating system and across a broad spectrum of Freescale microcontrollers, dramatically expanding the available processing platform choices for developers looking to create innovative IoT edge node products. Other joint technology efforts are expected to include the optimization of Java to run on Freescale’s popular i.MX 6 series applications processors, as well as further cooperation on the creation of Freescale’s “one box” reference platform — a new, secured service platform based on Freescale silicon and Oracle Java SE Embedded that standardizes and consolidates the delivery and management of IoT services for the home automation, industrial and manufacturing automation markets.
