How would it sound if hundreds of millions or billions of IoT devices were running on Windows and centrally updated for them? Many can spin their heads, but this can be a reality with a fast timetable. The solution is a combination of WIndows 10 IoT and Azure. At least theoretically, Microsoft has solved the problem of IoT hardware management and security.

Microsoft’s Michael Epprecht told the company’s plans at Arrow Electronics’s IoT Summit in Helsinki today. MS intends to offer IoT solutions to companies as a service. Hardware development is facilitated by iron, with the same driver integrated with Microsoft’s own block along with ARM processors. It would not have been a long time ago.

- Each IoT project lasts 18 to 24 months. We want to make the IoT development easier, and it will succeed on the Azure platform through IoT services, “Epprecht told reporters.

For the customer, the most important thing is that you do not need cloud skills. All IoT data is available in Azure IoT Central. Devices can be connected to the network and manage and visualize data in many different ways.

Azure Sphere is an ARM-based, certified microcontroller for which MS promises a 10-year secure life cycle. Epprecht already showed a development card with Mediatek’s microcontroller. MS gives IP licenses for circuit and card manufacturers free of charge. – We are not going to the MCU business, Epprecht emphasizes.

The block developed by the MS on the IoT controller is called Pluto. It is a security subsystem that monitors everything that the driver does. – Pluto restarts the system if it detects something unusual.

- Sphere OS works on devices with two flash memory. When the update is run, the Pluto block will check the boot process every time that everything works as it should. If it does not work, a previous version of the second flash will be run, Epprecht explains.

The development of Sphere OS devices takes place in C’s Visual Studio or any other tool, making it easy. Azure IoT Device development tools work on all platforms, so Microsoft has really become open.

Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8071-windows-valtaa-seuraavaksi-iot-laitteet

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