Mentor Graphics recently announced a customizable edge-to-cloud IoT solution that simplifies the “get to market” process for IoT device vendors. Mentor clais that the solution will reduce risk, cost, and development cycles. The solution comprises a customizable IoT gateway system design kit (SysDK), a cloud backend, and runtime solutions that developers can use to build their edge devices.

The Gateway SysDK lets developers span the performance spectrum, as it supports 8-bit MCUs at the low end and 64-bit microprocessors at the high end. The hardware-software offering can be used as-is or customized meet specific gateway requirements, including compatibility with legacy and new IoT deployments.

The reference hardware is designed around an ARM Cortex-A9 based i.MX 6 series applications processor from Freescale, while the software includes a rich BSP. It can be customized to include secure gateway partitions using ARM TrustZone, which enables secure applications such as certificate management and secure remote firmware upgrades. The integration of cloud middleware supports the functionality provided from the cloud backend.

The IoT solution supports a comprehensive set of physical connections complemented by a breadth of IoT and cloud protocols for wired and wireless edge device aggregation, and secure communication between the cloud backend, gateway, and edge devices. End-to-end security is provided for data communications, access control, software execution, and intrusion detection. Security integration with enterprise IT infrastructure is provided by Icon Labs’ Floodgate for McAfee ePO.

Vendors can remotely provision, monitor, collect data for analysis, and manage gateway and device deployment securely through a web interface or a mobile application. Mentor provides a cloud backend that can be licensed or provided as a service.