Simplifying Arm deployments with SMARC Computer-on-Module

congatec has announced its SMARC Computer-on-Modules based on NXP i.MX8 M Plus processor technology has achieved SystemReady IR certification within the Arm driven Cassini project. The project strives to overcome the barriers of Arm deployments by delivering a comprehensive and secure ecosystem of standards while providing a cloud-native software experience similar to an app store with easy download, install and run routines with just a few clicks. By employing software that enables hardware diversity and delivers powerful security APIs and certification, OEMs benefit from lowered development effort and time to market as they can now port and deploy their applications to the whole Cassini certified Arm ecosystem. Hardware with Cassini SystemReady IR certified bootloader is validated to run unmodified ISO images of Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE and Debian operating systems, making native software installation a simple executable task. Together with the company's OS build services and build environment expertise on the basis of the Yocto project, OEMs not only gain instant entry but also efficient customisation services for applications based on its SMARC module conga-SMX8-Plus with NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor.

By constructing Arm systems on the basis of Computer-on-Module standards and standardised ISO images, application designs become highly efficient, lowering NRE costs and speeding OEMs’ time to market. As a long term strategy, Cassini Project also has the prospect to become the standard for how Arm based IoT and edge devices will be updated, managed and secured.

“We love the idea of Project Cassini as it builds a comprehensive ecosystem to improve the design-in efficiency of Arm applications,” explains Martin Danzer, director Product Management at congatec. “Testing applications on standard platforms with standard ISO images is the right step to fast and easy evaluation, for example - securely managed virtualised gateways hosting cloud-native stacks that can be orchestrated remotely. But please don’t forget that a secure boot implementation is mandatory for such applications.”