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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Cypress adds iCloud support for IoT designs

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk






Cypress Semiconductor has updated its development platform for the IoT to add iCloud remote access support for Wi-Fi-based accessories using Apple's HomeKit.

The Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) Studio platform (acquired from Broadcom) API can now be linked to the Cypress CYW43907 Wi-Fi controller to create hub-independent platforms that connect directly to Siri voice control and the Apple Home app remotely. 

“Emerging smart home applications are providing some of the most tangible improvements to our everyday lives, not only giving us the convenience of controlling our lighting, appliances and thermostats remotely, but the ability to manage their usage and power consumption profiles more efficiently—which is a win-win for the environment and consumer pocketbooks,” said Brian Bedrosian, Vice President of Marketing for the IoT Business Unit at Cypress. 

“Our new WICED Studio development platform lets OEMs bring HomeKit support to their smart home products, enabling Siri control and convenient control using an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.” For example, the WICED platform is used in Leviton Manufacturing' Decora Smart family of lighting switches and dimmers with HomeKit support.

Using Cypress’ WICED development platform and ultra-low power CYW20719 Bluetooth/BLE MCU, developers can integrate HomeKit support into products such as smart lighting devices, leverage Siri voice control and connect to the Apple Home app seamlessly.

WICED Studio provides a single development environment for multiple wireless technologies, including Cypress’ Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and combo solutions, with an easy-to-use application programming interface in the world’s most integrated and interoperable wireless SDK. The kit includes the market’s most broadly deployed and rigorously tested Wi-Fi and Bluetooth protocol stacks, and it offers simplified application programming interfaces that free developers from needing to learn about complex wireless technologies. The SDK also supports Cypress’ high-performance 802.11ac Wi-Fi solutions that use high-speed transmissions to enable IoT devices with faster downloads and better range, as well as lower power consumption by quickly exploiting deep sleep modes.

The CYW43907 SoC integrates dual-band IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi with a 320MHz ARM Cortex-R4 RISC processor and 2 MB of SRAM to run applications and manage IoT protocols. The SoC’s power management unit simplifies power topologies and optimising energy consumption. The WICED SDK provides code examples, tools and development support for the CYW43907.

The WICED Studio SDK enables cloud connectivity in minutes with its libraries that uniquely integrate popular cloud services such as iCloud, Amazon Web Services, IBM Bluemix, Alibaba Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, along with services from private cloud partners and China’s Weibo social media platform. It has a single installer package for multiple wireless technologies with an Eclipse-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows, MacOS and Linux.

A key factor is that the SDK is microcontroller (MCU)-agnostic and provides ready support for a variety of third-party MCUs to address the needs of complex IoT applications. The platform also enables cost efficient solutions for simple IoT applications by integrating MCU functionality into the connectivity device. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth protocol stacks can run transparently on a host MCU or in embedded mode, allowing for flexible platform architectures with common firmware.

Developers can access the WICED Studio platform, ecosystem and community at http://www.cypress.com/wicedcommunity


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