Microsoft has been public about its CBL-Mariner Linux release, which just hit the 2.0 milestone. But did you know there’s also a Microsoft CBL-Delridge?

Microsoft’s Linux Group has been fairly public about its work on a Microsoft-created Linux distribution that is for the company’s internal use only. That variant, known as CBL (Common Base Linux) Mariner, is used across a variety of Microsoft products, from the Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI to AKS HCI, Azure Percept, and more. But it turns out there’s another Microsoft-developed Linux distribution that’s also for internal use that’s known as CBL-Delridge or CBL-D.

I discovered the existence of CBL-D for the first time this week in a rather round-about way. I stumbled onto a February 2 blog post from Hayden Barnes. a Senior Engineering Manager at SuSE who led the Windows on Rancher engineering team, which traced his steps in

Microsoft releases a custom Linux based operating system using a modified kernel. Watch Microsoft President Brad Smith making the announcement of Azure Sphere OS based on Linux for IoT devices.

Frustrated by the glut of unsecured IoT devices? So are Microsoft. And they’re using custom Linux and hardware to do something about it.

Microsoft have announced a new ecosystem for secure IoT devices called “Azure Sphere.” This system is threefold: Hardware, Software, and Cloud. The hardware component is a Microsoft-certified microcontroller which contains Microsoft Pluton, a hardware security subsystem. The first Microsoft-certified Azure Sphere chip will be the MediaTek MT3620, launching this year. The software layer is a custom Linux-based Operating System (OS) that is more capable than the average Real-Time OS (RTOS) common to low-powered IoT devices. Yes, that’s right.

Source:https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-design-126/

More:
New Flexible SoC Solution from Arm to Enable Rapid Development of Secure IoT Devices
https://www.arm.com/news/2018/04/new-flexible-soc-solution-from-arm-to-enable-rapid-development-of-secure-iot-devices

News highlights

A new SoC solution for rich IoT nodes and gateways, built on PSA principles
Arm’s first heterogeneous SoC solution, combining the efficiency and real-time response of Cortex-M with performance of Cortex-A to enable complex processing and machine learning at the edge
Provides the secure SoC foundation for Microsoft Azure Sphere solution

Arm is the architecture of choice for the IoT, providing the computing power behind 125 billion chips to date. We have an ambitious vision of a trillion securely connected devices by 2035, but achieving this scale requires the industry to embrace the idea that security can no longer be an afterthought, across all parts of the connected device value chain. To ensure these increasingly diverse connected devices that communicate with each other are designed with a common secure foundation, Arm provided the industry with the Platform Security Architecture (PSA).

Microsoft’s latest use of Linux comes weeks after a leader of the Windows division lost a seat on the company’s senior leadership team.
Microsoft has previously looked to Linux to boost its public cloud and operate equipment in its data centers.

MediaTek is working with Microsoft to deliver this year the first Azure Sphere chip, the MT3620 that the partners expect to drive IoT innovation with built-in security and connectivity.

Azure Sphere is designed for highly secured, connected MCU-powered devices at a price that the companies expect will make enterprise-class security affordable for an array of cloud-connected gadgets.

MediaTek and Microsoft have worked together to develop a specialized chipset with a Wi-Fi connected controller built around a processor designed to run Azure Sphere’s IoT operating system that includes support for Microsoft’s latest security protocols. The chipsets will be sold as part of the Azure Sphere solution, enabling customers to connect their MCU-powered products and devices with protection and security provided by Microsoft.

MT3620
Microsoft Azure Sphere Secure IoT Platform with vast I/O peripheral subsystem for diverse IoT applications
https://www.mediatek.com/products/azureSphere/mt3620

Microsoft Unveils New Services and Features to Secure Internet of Things (IoT) Devices

At RSA Conference this week in San Francisco, Microsoft announced new tools and technologies aimed at protecting connected devices from security threats.

First on the list is Azure Sphere, what Microsoft describes as a holistic solution built for securing microcontroller unit (MCU)-based devices from the silicon to the cloud. With an estimated 9 billion cloud-connected devices shipping each year with tiny MCU chips inside, there’s clearly a large segment to keep secure, Microsoft says.

Azure Sphere, the software giant claims, is based on a new class of Microsoft-developed MCUs boasting five times the power of legacy MCUs. The company aims at licensing the IP for the MCUs royalty free to silicon manufacturers, and says that MediaTek is already producing Azure Sphere-certified silicon.

With Azure Sphere, these chips run “a new customized operating system built for IoT security,” Microsoft says. Featuring a custom Linux kernel and optimized for IoT, the operating system includes security innovations from Windows, aiming to deliver a highly secured software environment.

Additionally, a cloud security service will guard every Azure Sphere device, allowing for updates and upgrades for a 10-year lifetime of the device. Microsoft also claims that Azure Sphere will work alongside both private and proprietary cloud services, allowing customers to continue using their existing data infrastructure.

“This combined approach to Azure Sphere brings together the best of hardware, software and services innovation. It is open to any MCU chip manufacturer, open to additional software innovation by the open source community and open to work with any cloud. In short, it represents a critical new step for Microsoft by integrating innovation across every aspect of technology and by working with every part of the technology ecosystem, including our competitors,” Microsoft President Brad Smith notes.