As the differentiation pendulum swings more towards the software side of the platform, it is becoming increasingly vital that embedded hardware and system integration companies enable their customers’ (and in turn their own) success via robust, professional quality software development kits (SDK). A SDK usually consists of a dev toolchain, optimized libraries, reference designs and documentation – to help developers build applications for the target platform.
While significant effort is put into to the design of the custom HW architecture, it is equally, if not more, important to complement this with a toolchain that best leverages all the capabilities of your unique platform. Developing (inc. build, test, maintain) a custom toolchain is not trivial and the expertise required to do so is not usually one of the available in-house core competencies.
This is where Mentor Embedded can help. The Sourcery Custom Solutions team has extensive experience working with various companies in the industry developing open source based custom embedded toolchain solutions tailored to specific needs.
Most recently, Mentor Embedded worked closely with NVIDIA to create a solution enabling Android application development within an existing Microsoft Visual Studio dev environment. This technology enables NVIDIA’s customers to seamlessly shift from developing apps for a Windows platform to a Tegra-based mobile platform – without having to move toolchains and spending vital time learning new workflows!
Click here to learn more about Mentor Embedded’s custom tooling services and how we can help embedded developers create differentiated offerings.
Also, don’t forget to join us and NVIDIA in an upcoming webinar discussing the Android enablement solution I mentioned earlier. Register here.
I am responsible for product marketing of the embedded software design technologies at Mentor Graphics. Prior to this role I spent 10 years marketing Mentor's hardware design products, specifically in the RTL and high-level synthesis domains. Moving from addressing the requirements of hardware designers to those of software designers has been quite the change. Throw in open-source and you have a heady mix - which keeps me on my toes!
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading a good book or the occasional round of golf (in the few hours of sunshine we get in Portland!).
I hope you find my thoughts interesting and look forward to your comments.
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