STMicroelectronics, Renesas, NXP, Microchip and Qualcomm have signed up to offer 32bit MCU development kits featuring Microsoft’s Azure RTOS ThreadX, one of the components of the its Azure RTOS embedded application development suite.

“Their MCUs are embedded into billions of devices. This allows embedded developers to access reliable, real-time performance for resource-constrained devices, and seamless integration with the power of Azure IoT to connect, monitor, and control a global fleet of IoT assets,” according to Microsoft, which states: “Our vision is to enable Azure to be the world’s computer, giving businesses real-time visibility into every aspect of their operations, assets, and products.”

Azure RTOS source code will be put on GitHub, allowing developers to develop, test and adapt it, according to Microsoft. “When developers are ready to take their code into production, the production license will be included automatically if they deploy to any of the supported MCU devices from STMicroelectronics, Renesas, NXP, Microchip, or Qualcomm. If they prefer to use a different device in production, they may contact Microsoft for direct licensing details.”

“We see Azure RTOS ThreadX and middleware as a perfect match to both our mass-market and OEM IoT strategies,” said ST general manager Ricardo de Sa Earp.

“We look forward to bringing Microsoft Azure to our MCU and MPU customers, including solutions that will support Azure IoT Edge Runtime for Linux on our RZ MPUs,” said Renesas general manager Sailesh Chittipeddi.

“Enabling Azure RTOS on NXP’s MCUs is another step to provide edge computing solutions that unlock the benefits of edge to cloud interaction,” said NXP head of partnerships Jerome Schang. There is more Electronics Weekly coverage of NXP’s deal with Microsoft here. Photo above is NXP Azure dev kit.

Microchip plans to incorporate support for Azure RTOS and Azure IoT Edge across its product families, said Microsoft.

Qualcomm will be offering a cellular-enabled Azure Sphere certified chip and will be bringing Azure RTOS to cellular-connected asset trackers, health monitors, security systems, city sensors, smart meters, and wearables.

Microsoft acquired ThreadX RTOS with Express Logic. “When combined with Azure Sphere, Azure RTOS enables embedded developers to build real-time secured IoT devices that offer real-time performance and protection from evolving cybersecurity threats,” claimed Microsoft. “For MCUs and SoCs that are smaller than what Azure Sphere supports, Azure RTOS and Azure IoT Hub Device Management enable secure communications for embedded developers and device operators. We recommend Azure RTOS and Azure Sphere together for the most demanding environments.”