New features further enhance the Sierra Wireless Embedded Application Framework, helping developers reduce cost and time to market.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this week, Sierra Wireless is presenting several new features of its platform for embedded machine-to-machine (M2M) application development, including a new third-party library, an integrated debugger, and a new user interface for remote device management.

Unique in the market, Sierra Wireless AirPrime embedded modules natively support a complete embedded application framework for rapid M2M application development. The Sierra Wireless Embedded Application Framework offers a range of readily available building blocks which accelerate the application development process, allowing device and system manufacturers to bring products to market faster and reduce development costs. The Embedded Application Framework consists of an M2M-specific operating system (Open AT), a range of software libraries, and an integrated development environment.

AirPrime wireless modules can also be remotely managed thanks to AirPrime Management Services, a comprehensive set of device management capabilities. In addition, to support creation of and integration to business applications, AirPrime modules can be connected to the AirVantage Services Platform through the AirVantage Ready Agent. These capabilities and the seamless integration of hardware, software and services significantly simplify and accelerate the end-to-end development of M2M applications.

Sierra Wireless is continuously expanding the development platform with new features, through in-house development and now through collaboration with third-party software developers. A recent enhancement is the WirelessIDEA library developed by Aplix Corporation, which enables developers using Sierra Wireless modules to write their M2M applications in the popular Java programming language. Benefits include faster development of high-level tasks, hardware platform portability, and re-use of existing code. The WirelessIDEA library works seamlessly with the Sierra Wireless Embedded Developer Studio, an Eclipse™-based integrated development environment for M2M applications.

Ryu Koriyama, CEO of Aplix Corporation, commented: “The Sierra Wireless Embedded Application Framework is a truly powerful software environment, and a reference in the M2M industry. We are very pleased to be able to provide our WirelessIDEA library to the community of M2M solution developers using Sierra Wireless products, enabling them to work in their programming language of choice and helping them reduce their time to market.”

Sierra Wireless is also introducing a new user interface for its AirPrime Management Services. Based on the AirVantage Services Platform, this cloud-based device management solution enables manufacturers (or their service provider customers) to remotely monitor and upgrade AirPrime devices in the field through a web portal, saving considerable operating costs. The new user interface includes the possibility to create dashboards in order to monitor key parameters and communication traffic of a group of devices, to configure them, and to remotely send AT commands. It also performs remote upgrade campaigns through a secure patch mechanism.

Didier Dutronc, Senior Vice President and General Manager, M2M Embedded Solutions for Sierra Wireless, said: “The installed base of wireless-enabled machines powered by the Open AT operating system now counts several million devices. Since the launch of Open AT ten years ago, a great ecosystem of creative embedded software developers has evolved. We are delighted to welcome new members such as Aplix Corporation, in order to continue to facilitate and accelerate M2M application development.”

About the Sierra Wireless Embedded Application Framework

The Sierra Wireless Embedded Application Framework is a complete software package for embedded M2M application development. It includes the following elements:

Open AT OS:
Open AT OS is the world’s only operating system designed specifically for M2M. It natively provides wireless services (voice call, data call, SMS) and TCP/IP connectivity, and gives access to hardware resources for which the developer would otherwise need an extra processor. Open AT OS makes it possible to use an AirPrime wireless module as a standalone processor for simple applications, or as a co-processor for more complex systems. The operating system enables developers to easily write their applications in standard ANSI C/C++, which is optimized for real-time control and low-level services control.

Developers using the Open AT OS in their M2M solutions can also take advantage of a series of libraries offered by Sierra Wireless and third-party software vendors, in order to easily add extra features and protocols or to use other development languages than C/C++.

Sierra Wireless Libraries:
Sierra Wireless offers a range of off-the-shelf libraries for easy access to some of the most popular add-on technologies.

Available libraries include:

• Lua Interpreter: Lua is a popular scripting language which simplifies application development by dealing with tasks such as memory, data flow, and control flow management.
• Internet: Adds FTP, POP3, SMTP and HTTP protocols
• Location: Facilitates integration of GPS and A-GPS features
• Security: Adds SSL, cryptographic and jamming detection protocols
• Ready Agent: Connects modules to the AirVantage Services Platform

Third-party libraries:
The WirelessIDEA library from Aplix Corporation allows developers using Sierra Wireless modules to write their applications in Java, enabling them to select the programming language that best suits their skill sets and tasks. They can program in C/C++ and Java at the same time, using C/C++ for performance-critical work and Java for higher level programming. The WirelessIDEA library can be deployed on Open AT-enabled devices already in the field.

Several other third-party libraries will be introduced shortly, including industry-specific protocols for Energy, Healthcare and Sales & Payment solutions.

Developer Studio:
The Sierra Wireless Embedded Developer Studio is an integrated development environment for M2M applications, based on Eclipse™. It integrates the entire development process into a single tool, including coding, debugging, target download, and target monitoring. The next version, 2.0, will include a new embedded debugging feature which enables developers to speed up embedded software fine-tuning by managing application execution through suspend/resume, step-by-step, breakpoints and data watch capabilities.

About the AirVantage Services Platform
The Sierra Wireless AirVantage Platform is a secure cloud platform that enables M2M solution providers, system integrators and network operators to rapidly develop, deploy, and operate M2M applications and services. The AirVantage Platform includes comprehensive applications to manage cellular subscriptions, communications devices and their attached assets (such as components in machines, telemetric devices in automobiles, and monitoring devices in a home or office); a powerful set of M2M application development tools; and an open web services application programming interface (API). The AirVantage Platform lets wireless network operators extend operational self-support, application development, and management capabilities to their M2M service providers.