Washington-based Ittia, a provider of embedded database software for autonomous systems and IoT devices, is supporting the i.MX 8M family of applications processors from Dutch firm NXP.

The combination of Ittia DB SQL with i.MX 8M delivers real-time insights through a flexible data management foundation powered by edge processing hardware. DB SQL is developed with the purpose of device-level data processing, storage and distribution, which adds value to device applications, including machine learning.

Mission-critical applications face many edge data management problems, from performance scalability as data grow to maintaining data security and reliability at a reasonable cost. With support for the i.MX 8M family, DB SQL empowers edge devices to monitor and process a large volume of data quickly and efficiently.

The i.MX 8M applications processors form a scalable multicore platform that includes single, dual and quad-core families. Intelligent applications embedded with DB SQL on i.MX 8M operate in distributed, heterogeneous environments, where IoT devices continuously collect, process and distribute data.

Because of DB SQL performance characteristics on edge devices, adding sensors and other IoT devices does not degrade edge device responsiveness. Devices embedded with DB SQL database are said to experience low latency and high throughput performance.

With DB SQL, manufacturers of embedded systems and IoT data driven devices built on i.MX 8M SoCs can manage a large volume of real-time data. One of the key benefits is the capability for devices to take on major computing responsibilities and provide immediate results when monitoring raw data. By managing and storing data at their source location, edge data management lowers total cost of ownership by letting devices deliver fast local analytics, save bandwidth and obviate the need for off premises data storage maintenance.

IoT device manufacturers face a growing range of security threats. DB SQL and the i.MX 8M family provide countermeasures to resist multi-type attacks against device hardware and database software. The DB SQL virtual security agent, DB Seal, monitors database input and metrics in real time and rejects unexpected requests to i.MX 8M devices.

It also offers encrypted file storage, secure remote access and private data distribution, while i.MX 8M security features include high assurance boot to protect software updates, and hardware-accelerated AES-128, AES-256, 3DES, Arc 4, RSA4096, Sha-1, Sha-2, Sha-256, MD-5, RSA-1024, 2048, 3072 and 4096 with secure key storage. Whether a database file is accessed locally, or is shared over a public network, security features ensure that data are protected from unauthorised access, eavesdropping and session hijacking.

“The Ittia DB SQL database enhances our commercial and industrial-grade i.MX 8M applications processors by optimising high-performance real-time data management at the IoT edge,” said Alex Dopplinger, product marketing director at NXP Semiconductors. “This simplifies data management on-site in a footprint small enough to run isolated on each machine, as well as across a distributed network of IoT edge devices.”

DB SQL and i.MX 8M SoCs are suitable for device manufacturers in any market where smart equipment, such as sensors and meters, connect to smart gateway devices to collect, store and exchange information. Whether devices monitor equipment and production in the industrial automation market, capture vehicle statistics in the automotive market, manage communications infrastructure, protect patient healthcare data or control access to smart buildings, a flexible database can give manufacturers the edge on i.MX 8M devices.

“Our lab has built and run a performance monitoring benchmark to understand the velocity of data records processed on the i.MX 8M family,” said Sasan Montaseri, president of Ittia. “We then expanded performance monitoring to track more sensors, and the results are astonishing. On i.MX 8M applications processors, the Ittia DB SQL offers significant computing power at the edge to solve tasks that would otherwise require expensive server hardware. Our benchmark results and performance metric information are publicly available.”

Ittia provides secure data management and processing software for intelligent embedded devices. DB SQL enables manufacturers and architects of computing devices to collect, process and distribute data in real time on edge network devices.

Ittia is based in Bellevue, Washington.