Microsoft has announced the general availability of Azure Sphere, with which eligible customers will be able to register in the coming days. Registration includes access to all Sphere components, as well as operating system updates for life.
Azure Sphere is a SaaS platform high-end with built-in communication capabilities for cross-industry IoT devices. Includes integrated hardware built around a silicon chip sure. Azure Sphere, a custom Linux-based operating system, and Azure Sphere Security Service, a cloud-based service that provides continuous security.
About Azure Sphere
Azure Sphere runs on Azure Sphere certified chips and it connects to the Azure Sphere security service and is designed to provide a platform for developing IoT applications.
This is the first operating system to run a Linux kernel And the second Unix-like operating system that Microsoft has publicly released, curiously the other is Xenix, decades old and abandoned.
Today Azure Sphere, Microsoft's integrated security solution for IoT devices and equipment is available for the development and deployment of secure and connected devices. The Azure Sphere General Availability milestone couldn't be more timely.
Chips and hardware Azure Sphere certified They support two implementations: greenfield and brownfield.
Greenfield involves the design and construction of IoT devices with a compatible chip produced or soon to be produced by MediaTek, NXP and Qualcomm.
Regarding the configuration brownfield, requires an Azure Sphere “watchdog” device, most of which is produced by Avnet and AI-Link, to connect existing equipment to the Internet.
Hardware
Hardware Azure Sphere is available in multiple configurationsincluding Wi-Fi modules, development kits, and development boards (from partners like Seeed Studios and USI). Speaking of which, the Guardian module, which does not connect directly to networks, is a device with a built-in Azure Sphere certified chip that runs the Azure Sphere operating system and the Azure Sphere security service, both of which can be configured to via Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
The MediaTek MT3620, the first Sphere chip, includes a built-in security subsystem that Microsoft has called Pluto.
Microsoft announced last year that it will work with NXP on another Azure Sphere certified chip, i.MX 8, that will accommodate artificial intelligence, and richer graphics and user interface experiences. Microsoft is also working with Qualcomm on the first Azure Sphere certified cellular chip, which will provide secure connectivity.
Microsoft officials have said that customers who have used Azure Sphere in preview have used it to design and produce consumer devices and industrial equipment.
Azure Sphere certified MediaTek MT3620 chips are also used in security modules to safely connect and protect critical equipment, authorities said.
Software
App development on Azure Sphere OS is relatively simple. Using the Azure Sphere SDK for Linux or Windows and open source samples and solutions on GitHub, developers can deploy applications that use devices on Azure Sphere certified chips. The applications in question run on a main processor core with access to an external network.
Also, as Microsoft explained last November:
“Developers need tools as modern as the experiences they aspire to. In September 2018, we released our preview of the SDK for Visual Studio. Since then, we've continued to iterate rapidly, making it easy to develop, deploy, and debug Azure Sphere applications. We have also developed a set of samples and solutions on GitHub, providing developers with an easy-to-use basic tool. And, as we recently discussed, we will have a Linux SDK and support for Visual Studio code soon.
Of course, development is not limited to Azure. The chips work with other public, private and hybrid cloud environments, including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, which have undoubtedly won over early Azure Sphere users.
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/