Wind River Blog Network

Inadequate Management Visibility into Quality is Eroding Confidence

By Paul Henderson

Here’s the next installment in my series on our embedded device software industry testing survey conducted in April-May 2010 with almost 900 respondents (see previous blog postings).  If you’d like a copy of the full report in pdf, please drop me an email at paul.henderson@windriver.com and I will send it to you.

In this section of the survey we asked participants about how they measure software quality today, the metrics most often cited by survey respondents were reactive in nature such as tracking customer-reported failures and open defects rather than metrics that can help them prevent defects.

Continue Reading >>

Compressed Schedules Driving Shorter Testing & Defect Resolution Requirements

By Paul Henderson

Today I'm continuing my series on our embedded device software industry testing survey conducted in April-May 2010 with almost 900 respondents (see previous blog posting).  If you’d like a copy of the full report in pdf, please drop me an email at paul.henderson@windriver.comand I will send it to you.

In part 2 of the survey we asked about schedule compression and what affect that was having on the device testing cycle. A majority of survey participants reported that market conditions have forced them to shorten their development schedules by as much as 18 months.

Continue Reading >>

Making Multicore CPUs Work in Embedded Communications Designs

By Mark Hermeling

A good article by Jarrod Siket highlighting the need for a good heterogenous multicore design to be able to meet the need of embedded communications systems. I couldn't agree more. Jarrod has a number of good suggestions as to which engineering challenges need to be addressed. The article is quite timely as I just finished a webinar with Kontron on Multicore and virtualization focussing on ATCA.

Jarrod also makes the statement that 'no other processor architecture is more widely adopted or better suited than x86'. I'll certainly agree that x86 is widely adopted and that it has been doing virtualization longer than the other architectures out there due to it's IT roots.

Continue Reading >>

Why Integrity Customers Get Free Support from Wind River

By Warren Kurisu

Previously, our CMO John Bruggeman blogged  about the importance of Service  and Support for Linux.  He called it the killer app for Linux.

We recently announced our new VxWorks and Wind River Linux platforms, which integrate the Wind River Advanced Networking Technologies.  This technology portfolio is a best-of-breed combination of technologies developed by Wind River and those acquired from Interpeak.  That is great news for VxWorks and Wind River Linux customers, but what about Interpeak customers using Integrity?

Continue Reading ››

Evolving Architecture Standards Race On

By Paul Tingey

On Wednesday of last week I had the chance to present at the Evolving Architecture Standards Conference in the UK. The event was focused on the ATCA, AMC and MicroTCA standards and gave delegates the chance to learn more about the evolution, capabilities and potential uses of these technologies.

Apart from presentations from representatives of Intel, Motorola, PICMG, Schroff and myself from Wind River, delegates also had the chance to take part in hands-on and tutorials lessons from Intel, Schroff and Wind River. There was also a day long exhibition featuring about 15 companies offering ATCA and MicroTCA related products.

Continue Reading ››

Telecoms equipment can be cool (honestly)

By Paul Tingey

Many years ago, at a previous company, I spent my days writing assembler code for the 68302 processor and watched enviously as other (more fortunate) engineers wrote "modern" C++ applications for Pentium-II desktop PCs. In the canteen at lunchtime, no-one wanted to listen to my witty anecdotes about humorous 68K register names. At a technology level, embedded systems just weren't "cool".

However, times are changing. Desktop PCs may now offer dual core processors but, in reality, todays technology revolution is driven by a telecoms infrastructure that enables rich applications based on VoIP, Multimedia services and mobile communications. On the back of this revolution, the technology inside telecoms infrastructure equipment is getting pretty cool.

Continue Reading ››

Is standards based telecom equipment coming of age?

By Paul Tingey

At the beginning of each day I try to spend a little time reading press releases and news items from the various industry sectors I take an interest in. As I read I often find individual items which catch my eye and make me explore a little deeper but, over the last few days, something else became apparent to me. What struck me was the number of news items related to AdvancedTCA and telecoms equipment which reported on the creation of partnerships and/or alliances.

So what does this indicate? Well, I feel that what we are seeing is a solidifying of the ecosystem around telecoms solutions based on industry standards such as AdvancedTCA and Carrier Grade Linux.

Continue Reading ››

ATCA stars in its own show

By Paul Tingey

This week sees the AdvancedTCA Summit 2006 in full swing in Santa Clara. This gathering of over 100 companies and consortia who sponsor, use or develop equipment based on the ATCA (and associated) specifications is proof that ATCA is now a "force to be reckoned with". Let's face it, it's not often that a hardware standard gets its own show, let alone a summit.

ATCA's strengths are many and varied but its success has mainly been driven by its flexibility and interoperability. To understand more let's take a whirlwind tour through its history....

Continue Reading ››