Marvell is the latest company which hopes to build on its strengths, such as WiFi, to build a better base in the IoT than it gained in smartphones. It has launched an SoC for this sector which integrates embedded wireless microcontrollers and RF transceivers as well as software and connectivity support for WiFi, Bluetooth or Zigbee, plus Apple’s Wireless Accessory Configuration.
Since the device market is so fragmented, with products from door locks to sprinklers, Marvell’s main aim was to ‘make it very simple to develop applications on top” of its chips, said Philip Poulidis, general manager of the IoT business unit. EZ-Connect is a software platform that helps developers access cloud service providers and certifications, for instance.
Unlike Broadcom, which recently announced its StrataGTX family for IoT and is firmly behind WiFi and Bluetooth for this market, Marvell is also keen on ZigBee for some home appliances as well as its traditional industrial segment. “From a technology standpoint we feel it is superior in terms of mesh,’ Poulidis told FierceWireless. ‘The cost structure is really efficient.”
Meanwhile, MediaTek this week announced LinkIt, a developer platform for its key IoT system-on-chip, Aster. LinkIt comes with a variety of reference designs for different form factors from wearables to M2M gadgets and it supports over-the-air updates to allow Aster-based devices to be updated from a smartphone. LinkIt is a part of MediaTek’s wider initiative for the developer community, MediaTek Labs, which will officially launch in the third quarter.