Edge IoT Embedded Development Kit qualified for AWS IoT Greengrass

New Products | August 6, 2020

By Nick Flaherty

Aldec has achieved the AWS IoT Greengrass qualification for its TySOM family of Xilinx Zynq SoC-based Embedded Development Kits (EDKs).

AWS IoT Greengrass extends Amazon Web Services (AWS) to edge devices so they can act locally on the data they generate, while still using the cloud for management, analytics, and durable storage. With AWS IoT Greengrass, connected devices can run AWS Lambda functions, Docker containers, or both, execute predictions based on machine learning models, keep device data in sync, and communicate with other devices securely – even when not connected to the Internet.

The TySOM Embedded Development Kit is for the embedded designers who need an RTL simulator/debugger for their embedded applications in an FPGA for applications such as IoT, Automotive, Factory automation, UAV and Robotics.

“With our TySOM embedded development kits now AWS IoT Greengrass Core qualified, we have made it even easier for engineers to include reprogrammable hardware working alongside software in their IoT / cloud-based applications. This is all thanks to our TySOM kits featuring devices with powerful ARM processors, having plenty of FPGA space and a wealth of communication peripherals,” said Zibi Zalewski, General Manager of Aldec’s Hardware Division.

To attain the qualification, TySOM EDKs had to pass the requirement tests for AWS IoT Greengrass. TySOM users will have access to the required HW and SW to kick-off their IoT applications using AWS IoT Greengrass.

The TySOM boards can be used either as the main edge processing device or as a gateway to AWS. AWS IoT Greengrass Core extends the cloud capabilities to the TySOM EDK, enabling it to connect with devices in an IoT system, run Lambda functions, and sync and secure communications among devices even if they are not connected to the Internet.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is changing many aspects of our society and it’s inherently increasing the need to connect more people and IoT devices,” said Nick Ni, director of product marketing, AI, Software and Ecosystem at Xilinx. “AWS IoT Greengrass has come a long way to prepare a cloud-based foundation for developers of IoT systems who are struggling with challenges such as security, steady communication, performance and power consumption. With the recent qualification of Aldec’s TySOM boards, an easy-to-use Xilinx Zynq SoC-based embedded development kit, developers can further innovate using the power, performance, and flexibility of an FPGA device for IoT applications”.

The benefits for FPGA-based IoT developers include processing data streams locally with automatic exports to AWS, MQTT messaging over the local network between devices, connectors, and Lambda functions using managed subscriptions and secure connections between devices and the cloud using device authentication and authorization. The compination also supports automatic IP address detection that enables devices to discover the AWS IoT Greengrass Core device and encrypted storage of local sensitive data and controlled access by connectors and Lambda functions.

The EDK includes Riviera-PRO Advanced Verification Platform and a TySOM development/prototyping board. TySOM boards come with either a Xilinx Zynq-7000 chip (FPGA + Dual ARM Cortex-A9) or a Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC device. These boards include memories, and various communication and multimedia interfaces in addition to FMC connectors for peripheral expansion. Reference designs for application such as IoT, ADAS, 4K UltraHD imaging and Robotics and a complete reference design, which contains Linux and all the hardware blocks required to support the peripherals on the board, are provided.

www.aldec.com