Intel’s New Platform Is the Chip Maker’s Latest Push Into the IoT

Determined to be a leader in the Internet of things, Intel unveils a new platform reference architecture, a new Quark chip, and support software and services.

The chip maker’s IoT Platform includes a reference architecture and portfolio of its products and offerings from partners to offer customers a foundation that stretches from the end devices to the data center and the cloud.

Intel has chips for every part of the IoT, from the small, low-power Quark systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) for sensors and edge devices up through Atom chips (for mobile devices and gateways), Cores (for compute systems) and Xeons (for data centers, high-performance computing and the cloud).

This lineup shows how Intel’s chips can scale from the edge devices in the IoT with Quark (right) up through Xeons for data center and cloud servers (left).

Intel unveiled the Quark SE SoC and Quark microcontroller D1000 and D2000, which bring a lot of processing performance in a small, power-efficient package. The D1000 is available now, with the D2000 coming later this month and the Quark SE SoC in the first half of 2016.

Key parts of the IoT Platform are the free, cloud-connected OSes, Wind River Rocket and Wind River Pulsar Linux, as well as a collection of software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.

SAP is developing its IoT enterprise solutions using the chip maker’s platform as well as its own HANA Cloud Platform.

Yanzi, which makes devices for smart buildings, is using Intel’s Quark SoC for its Yanzi Plug energy-monitoring sensor (pictured) and Yanzi Motion, which detects motion and monitors temperatures in buildings.

At the Intel event Nov. 2, Honeywell demonstrated a prototype of a wearable device that monitors the environments of mission-critical workers like first responders, firefighters and industrial workers. The device uses Quark technology.

Levi Strauss & Co. is using Intel’s Trusted Analytics Platform (TAP), which is part of the IoT Platform, to get insights into its inventory.

The IoT Platform is only part of Intel’s push into the Internet of things. CEO Krzanich at the Intel Developer Forum last year showed off the company’s Edison development platform for the IoT.

Intel’s Galileo Gen 2 Board is another IoT development platform that is smaller than Edison and aimed at enthusiasts, students and makers.

Intel earlier this year introduced the tiny Curie module for wearable devices. In October, Intel announced a new Arduino development board featuring Curie.

Intel continues to expand its capabilities in the Internet of things through both in-house innovation and acquisitions, such as the $16.7 billion purchase of Altera, which makes field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that can be programmed through software. FPGAs can be used in Atom chips for new devices such as industrial and automotive systems.