Wireless devices and their related applications are at the forefront of the Internet revolution. From mobile workforces that need remote access to their companies' networks to loyalty programs that send consumers information from their favorite retail outlets over a PDA or cellular phone, society is becoming increasingly mobile.

The appeal of Internet appliances—devices designed exclusively for accessing the Internet—is also gaining momentum. Merinta's latest efforts are focused on providing software and services for companies and their wireless and tethered Internet access device solutions.

Merinta's software and service IA solution is optimized for National Semiconductor's Geode WebPAD specifications. The company has worked with National and the WebPAD design since the fall of 1998 through its parent company, Boundless. National Semiconductor's vision for the Internet appliance market and its pioneering architecture complement Merinta's vision for expanding corporations' Internet strategies through Web access devices.

Figure 1:  Merinta's iBrow using the Acer iStation hardware platform

Merinta's iBrow is an end-to-end software platform that provides an easy, enjoyable, and visually rich Internet browsing experience, while providing companies with a revolutionary way to market and expand online business. The software platform is ultimately hardware independent, meaning that the software runs on a number of National-supported Internet devices such as Web tablets, desktops, and countertop appliances. Merinta and National Semiconductor's collaborative effort led to a partnership with Virgin Entertainment Group and Internet Appliance Network late last year. 10,000 Webplayer Net Appliances were shipped in April of this year for distribution through Virgin's online outlet. Merinta supplied software for the devices, coordinated the design selection and manufacturing, and currently oversees device remote management.

The iBrow software features remote management software, allowing the end-user interface and content to be upgraded as needed through Merinta's Online Management Services (OMS). The iBrow browser is based on HTML 4.0 with 128-bit encryption and Netscape 4.61 compliance, providing the end-user with a browsing experience similar to that of a PC.

National's embedded chip set offers a level of affordable power consumption. The chip set has also allowed Merinta to build and expand the core technology National established. In addition, Merinta's modular software enables the company to combine different operating systems with its software. In the future network services will also be integrated, as will the browser element. A Java-based platform permits the software to be easily portable from OS to OS.

The resulting bundled software solution will be integrated into an OEM's hardware device and sold to a corporation. All of the platform elements give corporations the ability to customize their end-users' experiences.

Figure 2:  Merinta's iBrow solution using the National Semiconductor WebPAD hardware design

In August, Merinta announced that it has formed a strategic alliance, where its iBrow end-to-end software suite will be bundled with National's Geode WebPAD development kits. The combined technologies will provide a comprehensive, flexible media-rich Information Appliance solution across multiple platforms such as countertop, desktop, Web tablet, screen phone, and home gateway devices.

National's embedded processors include 2D graphics engine, MPEG-2 decompression, audio, memory, network interfaces, and I/O communications. Merinta's delivery of a Media Rich Internet Appliance is realized through National's chip set.

To minimize size and burden on any IA device (already resource-limited), the total Merinta IA software platform is designed to require only a small footprint. The iBrow software bundled with the WebPAD platform will be distributed to OEMs, corporations, and service providers worldwide. The WebPAD platform integrates multiple chip features, reducing development and production costs while assuring greater system stability.

Online Management Services (OMS) is a utility offered only by Merinta to remotely update the iBrow Internet Appliance software. Any Internet Appliance running the iBrow software with OMS enabled will transparently connect to the Merinta OMS data center via the Internet upon connection (or upon a predetermined schedule). The appliance will routinely check for and download any available updates during the device's normal use. OMS captures all activity related to the device for further analysis and report generation.

The Merinta OMS software solution includes four main components:

• A software configuration management system
• A server management console
• Server application software
• Internet Appliance client software.

The Merinta OMS services include:

• Configuring, compressing, and packaging the update
• Testing the update
• Publishing the update
• Data center provisioning.

When the software (i.e. operating system, native or Java-based applications, or other software components) development is complete, it is segmented into channels. For example one channel might be the operating system, the browser might be another channel, and the OMS client software might be a different channel. Once the channels are ready for distribution to deployed Internet Appliances, the channel's contents must be packaged. The configuration management system performs this packaging operation.

Once the payload is packaged, it is published via the management console to a staging server for tests. A thorough test procedure via the Internet is performed to be certain only specific remote devices are affected and the updates work as designed. After the SQA tests are complete, the update is republished to a live production server and tested one last time.

Depending on the number of devices to be updated, multiple servers may be required. Web servers may be geographically distributed or co-located. In this situation, the payload is stored and scheduled on the master server and pulled down by other servers called repeaters. The administrator need publish only to a single master server.

As each device establishes a connection via the Internet, the OMS software client on the device checks a predetermined URL to determine what channels are available. A sophisticated process determines which channels require updates.

Updates begin downloading immediately upon connection if required. Options exist to allow bandwidth limiting and downloading of updates during idle times in device usage. Updates are delivered to and installed on the device via compressed difference files to minimize transmission time. If a power interruption occurs during the download process, the download will begin exactly where the process stopped, thereby not requiring the full download to start from the beginning. Each Internet device is uniquely identified via UUID.

For security purpose all updates are conducted over secure sockets layer (SSL) using either 40- or 128-bit encryption. The content of the update is also digitally signed to ensure a secure update transaction.

Merinta interfaces to a world-class data center via a secure ISDN dedicated connection. The data center is collocated with a GTE tier 1 (OC-192) point of presence, which is monitored around the clock to provide true redundancy with a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Merinta will bundle its iBrow solution software with National's recently announced 233-MHz SC3200 for WebPAD. A WebPAD-on-a-chip, this processor's integrated architecture simplifies system design and increases reliability by reducing the number of total system components, the number of traces on the main board, and the system's overall power requirements.

iBrow software can be quickly integrated with the SC3200, which is optimized for the information appliance market. The Internet access devices powered by Merinta's software and bundled with National's SC3200 will be defined by low power consumption, optimal performance, and the industry-standard x86 multimedia capability. These features help the two companies' customers lower overall system costs and speed time-to-market.