Platform development

Platform design is the creation of new devices based on ready-made hardware and software solutions. This approach improves on the classic electronics development process, offering advantages to the engineering, economic, and marketing aspects of the project.

Developing new products based on CPU modules, reference designs, and ready-made software packages reduces expenses and time-to-market.

A model project to create devices from scratch forces developers to devote time and resources to solving all of the project’s complex engineering issues, such as selecting components for the future tool, designing a prototype board, porting the operating system, installing drivers, debugging the solution, and solving compatibility issues for the product’s hardware and software.

In contrast, platform development allows the team of engineers and programmers to start a project based on an already proven solution with the required set of interfaces, operating system support, drivers, and application software. This cuts the time of developing, testing, and debugging the product’s software and hardware. It also simplifies ongoing maintenance and further development.

This approach works well for small and even medium-sized batches, but it is important to remember that platform design can increase the cost of mass producing the final product. If mass production is your goal, you can use platform development to create a prototype of the new device and test your ideas, and then launch a project for developing a large-batch device from scratch.

Ultimately, development based on ready-made solutions can significantly reduce the risks and help successfully launch a new competitive product into the electronics market.