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element14, a high-service global electronics distributor and online community of more than 400,000 design engineers, will showcase the new WaRP7, a development platform designed for IoT and wearables applications at the NXP™ FTF Technology Forum. Taking place May 16-19 at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas, the event will bring together a network of 2,000 embedded enthusiasts to inspire, train and share their expertise around the ecosystem of the global marketplace.
WaRP7 is a powerful, low-cost platform designed for rapid prototyping and reducing time to market. It is optimized, comes in a tiny form factor and yet remains flexible enough to offer all the advantages of traditional development tools. It has been architected and designed from the ground up to address key challenges in the IoT and wearables markets, such as battery life, connectivity, user experience and miniaturization. WaRP7 is based on the NXP i.MX 7Solo applications processor that features an advanced implementation of the ARM® Cortex®-A7 core, as well as the ARM® Cortex®-M4 core. It comes with features such as on-board sensors, connectivity including NFC, Bluetooth®, Bluetooth Smart and Wi-Fi® and on-board external LPDDR3 memory. It eases development effort for software developers and supports extensive UI capabilities and connectivity stacks. element14 will showcase the new WaRP7 platform alongside other element14-designed, NXP development boards at booth 415.
“WaRP7 is one of the most power-efficient processor platforms for evaluation and rapid adoption into original small form-factor product designs on the market,” said Steve Tateosian, microcontrollers solutions manager at NXP. “By utilizing the heterogeneous multicore architecture of the i.MX 7Solo device, WaRP7 allows customers to optimize power efficiency, lower the bill of materials, and it provides the ultimate in performance flexibility to address the varied usage models for the IoT and wearables market.”
“We are proud be a partner of the 2016 NXP FTF Tech Forum and we’re excited to share the many capabilities of WaRP7 with attendees,” said David Shen, Group Chief Technical Officer, element14. “The platform’s ability to speed up and ease the development of IoT and wearable devices, as well as address today’s most pressing technology challenges, speaks directly to element14’s mission to provide engineers and developers more freedom to focus on creating meaningful, customized solutions.”
The open source design of WaRP7 allows developers to take the platform as a starting point and innovate without licensing restrictions. Target applications for the platform include smart home, sports and heart rate monitors and wearables. WaRP7 is truly expandable with the MikroBus™ expansion socket opening users to over 200 compatible Click Boards™. WaRP7 is backed by the development community, design and manufacturing capabilities of element14.
element14 boasts the first and largest online community of design engineers and technology enthusiasts, with more than 400,000 active members and more than 2,000 new members joining each week. Individuals around the world have come to depend on element14 as the premiere source for new product information, project support and a place to interact with the industry’s leading experts. For suppliers, the element14 community presents a unique opportunity to connect with customers and gain critical insights into the real-world project needs of everyday engineers. For more information about WaRP7, visit www.element14.com/WaRP7. To learn more about element14’s offerings, visit http://www.element14.com/.
The WaRP7 software is also available for download from NXP Designs, the online portal for customers to access the latest open-source hardware and software reference designs and software solutions from NXP. NXP Designs provides access to information such as software, schematics and user documentation for quick use and customization. With new designs being added regularly, visit NXP Designs at www.nxp.com/NXPDesigns.