An interview with Atmel’s Thomas Aubin; 3 cool boards, 3 ways to write code

As part of the preparation for the launch of the ARM Embedded Computing Board (ECB) resource guide I spoke to Thomas Aubin of Microchip about their approach to the market.  Thomas is a product marketing manager focusing on the SMART ARM Cortex-A based processors and is based in France.

Thomas first told me how he defines the market, in his view there are two distinct categories of ECB;  first are system on module (SOM) that can be designed into or plugged into many types of machines as upgrades, second are pure development boards which are used to prototype a system (Arduino is in this category) that will later be converted into a custom board design to go into production later.  Thomas mentioned three SOM vendors offering Atmel/ARM based boards each offering their own approach to design:

First Shiratech from Israel offers very low power SOMs that run Linux and Android and are well suited for IoT gateways and data concentrators. Here is the AT-501 board:

Taskit from Germany (see board below) took a different approach to the market with a computer on module (COM) board with pre loaded Linux and a focus on security:

Acme Systems from Italy took the same Atmel SAM part and dropped it on a 53mmx53mm board for a highly compact COM module with a multitude of peripheral and connectivity options:

These 3 approaches to the ECB market all based on a single part show just how much creativity and adaptability the ARM ecosystem can bring to the market.  All 3 vendors are offering these boards for less than $100 depending upon configuration so the entry point for truly intelligent devices is easily accessible.

So let’s agree the hardware is amazing, powerful and flexible but what about writing the code? Thomas pointed out that Atmel offers 3 levels of free and open source software approaches to developing the code:

1. Atmel will give you a C code “soft pack” with drivers written for you so you can quickly evaluate a board solution.  No OS is needed to create a working system but if you want a real time system you can write or reuse your own RTOS or use a 3^rd party product like FreeRTOS. All of this is free.
2. The second approach is to use a mainline Linux distribution and Yocto to pick just the features and functionality you need.  Again all this is free.
3. The third approach is meant to be turnkey; you simply download from Atmel a complete application package (for Smart Home or IoT for example) for free.

Atmel has a rich set of software tools and development platforms for you to choose from (Atmel Studio and Atmel Xplained) and yes they are all free.

Thomas summed up by telling me that in the ECB market the customers demand long term support for the parts and the boards (remember these may be going in machines with a 20 year life expectancy) so Atmel has a 12 year commitment to manufacturing the SAMA5 and has worked with memory suppliers Winbond, Micron and ISSI to guarantee a 10 year supply of the memory parts.

So as a fairly new entrant to the ECB market Atmel has got four main selling points:

1. Low power devices
2. Robust open source software offerings
3. Tools for ease of design
4. 10 year commitment to supply.

Sounds like a winning combination of features for a fast growing market.