Broadcom is also jumping on the IoT wagon with the WICED platform. The platform is targeting Bluetooth and WiFi applications. The WiFi modules feature the BCM43362 WiFi chip integrated into a System in a Package (SiP) module. The Image below shows a WiFI WICED PCB module with a Murata WiFi SiP Module and a STM32F205 microcontroller. Murata also offers SiP modules that have the ARM microcontroller built in.
On the software side the platform is supported by a feature rich SDK and support for OSs:
- WICED Application Framework including bootloader, flash storage API, over-the-air (OTA) upgrades, factory reset, and system monitor.
- An open source build system and toolchain based on GNU make (native IAR support coming soon!).
- A GUI Development Environment based on Eclipse CDT that seamlessly integrates with a JTAG programmer and single-step, thread-aware debugger based on OpenOCD and gdb.
- A software stack with a choice of several RTOS/TCP stack options including ThreadX/NetX, ThreadX/NetX Duo and FreeRTOS/LwIP.
- Support for security and networking features such as SSL/TLS, IPv4/IPv6 networking, and mDNS (Bonjour) device discovery.
- Simple out-of-box device setup using Apple-licensed MFi technology or via a web browser and softAP/web server.
Broadcom also make a set of software examples available that help getting started quickly:
- Production ready sample applications.
- Lots of application snippets demonstrating how to use the rich WICED API feature set.
- Various test applications to aid manufacturing and certification.
- All documentation included inside the WICED SDK.