Low-level foundation code contract signed

Pebble Bay has been contracted by Radstone for a project to develop the low-level foundation code essential to enable Radstone's hardware to operate securely and reliably for a US-based customer.

Pebble Bay has been contracted by Radstone for a complex, multi-faceted project to develop the low-level foundation code essential to enable Radstone's hardware to operate securely and reliably for a specific US-based customer.

Radstone develops and manufactures a broad range of COTS embedded computing solutions for military and defence applications and has chosen to outsource this foundation code development to supplement the expertise of its in-house engineering teams.

Pebble Bay created a full GHS IntegritytBoard Support Package (BSP) for Radstone's PPCM2, dual 1.4GHz 7448 PowerPC single board computer.

The IntegritytBSP contains low-level support for the hardware's comprehensive input/output facilities, including: serial, Ethernet, VMEbus, USB and general-purpose I/O.

Pebble Bay also developed code to support special features to support the board's dual-processor capabilities.

The development of a product quality BSP was enabled through extremely rigorous testing against a well-defined test plan.

This produced a ruggedised and fit-for-purpose foundation layer of code upon which higher-level code can be developed by Radstone's customers.

The BSP will be made available to customers directly from Radstone.

The technical skills and expertise Pebble Bay brought to the project include a deep understanding of RTOS and device driver development, knowledge of the Green Hills Multit and Integritytdevelopment environment, and intimacy with all the peripheral interfaces such as PCIbus, VMEbus, inter-process communications, USB, Ethernet and GPIO.

Pebble Bay worked along timelines identical to Radstone's in-house development teams, and was able to provide a risk-free engagement for Radstone, at a fixed cost.

"In Pebble Bay we have found a reliable partner who can handle multiple concurrent projects, work to our aggressive timescales, and still deliver against requirements", said Andy West, Software Product Manager - Processor Group at GE Fanuc Embedded Systems.

"It is refreshing to work with an outsourced team on our foundation code that understands the importance of talking openly about how the project is going".

"We have been overjoyed that Radstone has engaged our services", commented Nick McNamara, Commercial Director at Pebble Bay.

"Our independence, expertise and ability to provide the diversity of skills essential for today's embedded software environment is an excellent resource for cutting-edge technology OEMs such as GE Fanuc Embedded Systems, who need to keep a tight control on the software development process and budget".

Pebble Bay's model is to develop a mutually agreed contractual commitment for every project, specifying budget, deliverables and timescales, and to closely project-manage this with regular progress reports.

This enables customers to better plan their engineering budgets and reassure product management teams with a reliable source for on-time delivery.

In addition, by engaging with an outsourced team working offsite, the major pitfall of expensive temporary contractors being distracted from their work by being onsite is avoided.

Pebble Bay provides a cost-effective and reliable alternative to this scenario.

Pebble Bay was set up in January 2006.

The company provides independent consulting, training and project-based development services primarily to OEMs of digital video and communication technologies.

The company's expertise is in RTOS technologies, BSP and device driver development, integration and customisation, application porting, troubleshooting and project management.

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