 | In a play on old terminology, it’s tornado season and Intel and Wind River Systems (WRS) have just launched an F5! With the announcement of Intel’s definitive agreement to acquire WRS, the embedded computing landscape is going to change forever. All of the Intel Embedded and Communications Alliance members and the Wind River Partner Ecosystem plus most of the rest of the embedded computing community are scrambling to determine the impact on their respective strategies.This is the kind of merger that will definitely change the landscape. How is yet to be determined but it will change. Intel has been shifting more and more into the embedded space as the desktop has reached saturation with Intel Architecture (IA) processor technology leaving them with nowhere else to go. The Intel embedded strategy has grown to dominate the space over the past ten years and is poised to grow even more with this latest news.Intel was last a software player in the embedded world over 20 years ago with iRMX but has not been a software player in the embedded world since. As recently as ten years ago didn’t even have a solid VxWorks kernel running on their Intel Architecture processors. A lot has changed since then!During my days with the Motorola Computer Group, we made a strategic decision to add the Intel Pentium processors to our line of CompactPCI and motherboard products. Our focus was on embedded computing which depended heavily on real-time operating systems, with VxWorks preferred by the majority of our customers. At the time, VxWorks support for the PowerPC architecture was very good and customers loved the performance and capabilities. The VxWorks port to the Pentium, however, left a lot to be desired. Performance was sluggish and the port had not been updated in several years to keep up with the latest processor capabilities.Many, many meetings were held with Intel and Wind River Systems to develop a strategy to get the software optimized for the latest generation IA processors. Since then, Intel has worked hard to optimize the VxWorks kernel for the Intel Architecture processors. Intel and Wind River Systems made performance improvements that have now made the VxWorks/Intel Architecture combination second to none.Why would Intel purchase WRS? Intel claims to have made the acquisition to gain the software assets and people to help them grow their embedded systems and mobile device capabilities. Part of it was to gain new customers but I believe that Intel had this pretty well covered. Intel has been working to get into the mobile device markets and has had success with the Atom processor as they strive to be designed into 15B connected devices.Some speculation has hinted at the desire to gain access to the WRS MIL/Aero markets that Intel Embedded has been trying to access. I’m not sure there is all that much to gain here as most of the relevant major programs were already identified or available to Intel.WRS has done a nice job of providing vertical software solutions in aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer, industrial, mobile devices and network equipment. These are all markets that complement or expand existing Intel markets. Certainly Intel will gain access to a large number of new opportunities but do they have the processor technology now to meet the needs of those opportunities?Let’s look at the major components of WRS and see what is going on.VxWorks It makes sense to have a world-class port of VxWorks on the IA processor families. VxWorks is the leading RTOS solution and pairing it up with the leading high-end processors is a good move. This will make the combination hard to beat, especially as Intel beefs up the offerings on products like the Atom that really hit home with the embedded computing crowd. Instead of Board Support Packages (BSPs), Intel will likely focus on Chip Support Packages (CHPs) for the various IA and new SOC processors coming out of Intel.Linux Some rumor that it was to gain Linux[ ] expertise but I don’t consider WRS to be a major Linux player thought they have been making significant advances. They have a Linux strategy that is focused on giving existing VxWorks users a Linux option or migration strategy. It remains unclear to me how important the WRS Linux products and strategy are to the deal. Certainly WRS doesn’t leap to the top of my Linux list.Both Intel and WRS were founding members of the Linux Foundation Moblin Project focused on Linux-based mobile devices. They synergy between the two could easily put them in the driver’s seat on this project.Development Tools WRS is a leader. This will definitely help the Intel strategy. At what cost to alliance companies is yet to be determined. WRS has the based well covered with their selection of development tools. They have made some key acquisitions themselves to bolster their product line. Recent additions have improved the test software, GUIs, tools, and vertical application middleware stacks.Who are the big winners and losers in this transaction?Processor Suppliers The processor suppliers that are heavily dependent on WRS have got to be the most nervous at this time. They are entering a great period of uncertainty as they try to figure out what the VxWorks strategy is going to be. A lot of sensitive processor roadmap information needs to be shared to align and make strategies work. How many are going to feel comfortable in those meetings? Imagine the scrambling going on at Freescale, TI, MIPS, ARM and others.It will be interesting to see how Intel handles ports to these processors. Most of the porting work has been left to the processor suppliers and service agents over the past years so Intel could still keep the existing process in place for some time. However, other processor suppliers will likely take a harder look at Linux. Processor suppliers that have a solid Linux strategy will suffer the least.Ken Klien, Wind River Chairman, president and CEO, stated in the initial release, “As a wholly owned subsidiary, Wind River will more tightly align its software expertise to Intel’s platforms to speed the pace of progress and software innovation. We remain committed to continuing to provide leading solutions across multiple hardware architectures and delivering the same world-class support to which our customers have grown accustomed.” How long will that hold true until the Intel folks start to redeploy resources to focus on Intel Architecture only products?In a conversation with Nick Knupffer, Intel spokesperson, he confirmed that both companies are striving to conduct business as usual under the Intel Software and Services Group. The goal is to continue offering RTOS and development tools just as WRS has been doing.RTOS and Tool Chain Suppliers Most of the other RTOS suppliers are heavily into the Intel Architecture processors. Other processor architects such as ARM, MIPS, PowerPC and other processors have got to play a bigger role in their strategies. The RTOS suppliers have spent a lot of energy teaming with Intel. What happens now for them? Obviously they will see Intel as both a competitor and a strategic partner making the relationship much more complicated. QNX, Green Hills Software, LynuxWorks and others cannot be happy right now.The RTOS suppliers will be challenged as the VxWorks/Intel Architecture processor combination gains even more strength. These RTOS suppliers will be pushed even harder into their respective niche markets; primarily MIL/Aero. Their mobile device market strategies may be flying out the window now.Another question is what will Intel do with development tools? Will they try to make the WRS tools the de facto solution for IA processors or will they work with the industry to offer options?Board Suppliers How is this deal going to change the landscape for embedded board suppliers? They have already been struggling as Intel Architecture processors have dominated the landscape making it very hard for board suppliers to differentiate their products from the other board suppliers. Adding another link to the supply chain will make it even harder to differentiate. Most of the name players in the embedded boards business have been moving to a custom products model to add differentiation. Unfortunately, this does not scale well. They are trying to leverage standard form factors but so many new ones emerge each year that economies of scale elude the suppliers.The merger is going to make it even harder, making the argument for Intel to restart their board efforts even stronger as Intel adds even more value. Intel is in excellent position now to provide the entire value add product to system OEMs. Maybe Intel won’t do traditional “boards” or “systems” but they could certainly be in better position to call the shots.Microsoft I don’t see Microsoft taking this as a major threat. They have an applications base that no RTOS on the planet can touch. Embedded designs using Microsoft Embedded Windows will continue to do so for the same reasons they do now. In fact, the Microsoft position will continue to solidify as embedded applications move to the top of everyone’s list. When asked about the deal, Microsoft responded with – “Microsoft has a robust partner community, of which Intel is a part. As we have a long-standing relationship with Intel, we look forward to opportunities to continue working together in the future. We are working with Intel to evaluate what impact yesterday’s announcement has on our partnership.”Linux The big winners have got to be the Linux suppliers. The embedded world has been seriously considering Linux in many applications for years now with deployment increasing every year. This may be just what is needed to push decisions to the side of Linux in the many embedded applications that have not already moved.Summary This is definitely a move that will change the landscape. How much and how soon is yet to be determined. The move is claimed to be “accelerating the future of embedded software.”What remains to be seen is what Intel will do with the Wind River Systems Linux product line. Will Intel evolve Linux? Will they focus on VxWorks only or do something to grow both VxWorks and Linux? What happens with the development tools? What markets are going to be targeted?How this pans out will be determined by how well Intel keeps the software strategy isolated from the processor strategy. Will the subsidiary isolation be enough? Over time, the boundaries are sure to blur.Stay tuned for Embedded 3.0.Topics covered in this article
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