Wind River and VIA Telecom Collaborate on Android Solution for Smartphones

The Android software stack at the heart of Kunlun leverages Wind River Platform for Android, a validated and fully compliant commercial-quality software platform based on the Android software development kit. Designed to lower total cost of ownership and accelerate time-to-market for OEMs, Wind River Platform for Android has been customized to meet the acceptance criteria for Chinese operator networks. VIA Telecom delivered the 3G EVDO Rev. A and 1xRTT modem and telephony software and created the PCBA (print circuit board assembly) phone board hardware. While Kunlun initially targets the Chinese market, this integrated software and hardware offering provides a common PCBA platform to create Android devices that can be easily adapted for other markets.



Working closely with VIA Telecom, Wind River is able to help OEMs gain quick entry into the lucrative Chinese mobile market by delivering high-quality and low-cost Android devices certified on Chinese operator networks, said Michael Krutz, vice president of worldwide solutions and services at Wind River. Kunlun is a reliable turnkey software and hardware Android platform that allows OEMs to bypass complex, expensive and time-consuming engineering hurdles such as integration and testing and focus their efforts on the features that will help them differentiate themselves from competitors.



Kunlun helps eliminate significant cost and engineering obstacles for entry into the Android market for OEMs. Our work with Wind River allows us to now deliver Android to our large customer base by providing a powerful yet affordable integrated solution to help regional OEMs get their Android devices to market quickly, said Dr. Ker Zhang, chief executive officer of VIA Telecom. It was critical to find a partner who had the expertise to smoothly integrate the many complex elements from each contributor and possessed knowledge of Chinese operator and Android requirements. Wind River seemed the obvious choice.



Android's rapid growth and demand in the market place have made it a key platform for developers and OEMs, said William Stofega, program director of Mobile Phone Technology and Trends at IDC. China is the world's largest mobile market and a prime target for Android devices at all levels, especially low-cost yet feature-rich smartphones.



Using the flexible Kunlun PCBA platform, regional OEMs are able to bring low-cost Android devices that feature high-end capabilities to new markets. Devices developed from the Kunlun PCBA platform may include features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio, camera, touchpad, keyboard and microSD for external memory.



As the primary system integrator of software components, Wind River provided critical elements such as overall system integration, optimization and testing. Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, an automated software testing solution for Android-based devices, was used to rapidly test and validate software and prove compliance with the Android Compatibility Test Suite. Wind River FAST for Android can be customized for leading silicon architectures, across any device manufacturer or operator in need of testing Android software stacks.