IAR Embedded Workbench Selected by GainSpan as Primary Development Tool Chain for MCU Drivers and Next Generation Chip

Foster City, CA—March 27, 2012— IAR Systems® today announced that GainSpan, the leader in low power Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi connectivity for the internet of things, has selected IAR Embedded Workbench® for its next generation Wi-Fi chip currently in development, and has standardized on IAR Systems tool chain as the primary development tool in the development and integration of MCU drivers for their Wi-Fi chips and modules.

GainSpan offers a range of chip, modules, development kits and software to enable developers to easily add Wi-Fi connectivity to embedded devices for healthcare and fitness, smart energy, home automation and industrial/commercial control. By standardizing on IAR Systems’ embedded software development tool chain, GainSpan will more easily support a wide range of MCUs to communicate with their modules.

Several drivers have already been developed using IAR Systems tool chain to support, Renesas’ RL78, RX62, V850,78K0/ 78K0R, and popular 8/16-bit and 32-bit ARM® based microcontrollers.

Traditionally, module vendors have had to manually write a myriad of drivers to support each MCU across multiple tool chains. The investment required to port and maintain driver code in this way has restricted market reach by limiting the number of different customers and applications a vendor can support.

By standardizing on the IAR Systems tool chain, portability of driver code is managed through the development tools. New processors can be supported quickly and seamlessly, giving developers greater choice and flexibility in their MCU selection as well as freeing both vendors and their customers from having to maintain multiple versions of low-level driver code.

“IAR Systems’ tools generate compact, fast, and energy-efficient code,” said Stefan Skarin, CEO at IAR Systems. “In addition to supporting GainSpan by producing better code that is optimized specifically for each MCU, we enable their customers to use their MCU of choice in each design. This not only accelerates product development and time-to-market, it also enables companies like GainSpan to quickly expand their market reach without requiring significant investment in driver code.”

“We are especially excited about the long-term benefits of this relationship,” said Greg Winner, CEO at GainSpan. “By standardizing on IAR Embedded Workbench, we can redirect our development efforts to focusing on innovative design wins and expanding into new markets and revenue opportunities.”

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About IAR Systems
IAR Systems is the world’s leading supplier of software tools for developing embedded systems applications. The software enables over 14 000 large and small companies to develop premium products based on 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcontrollers, mainly in the areas of industrial automation, medical devices, consumer electronics, telecommunication and automotive products. IAR Systems has an extensive network of partners and cooperates with the world’s leading semiconductor vendors. IAR Systems Group AB is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.iar.com

About GainSpan
Gainspan is the leading semiconductor solutions company in low power Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi connectivity for the internet of things. Its easy-to-use system-on-chip (SoC) devices, modules, and software allow their customers to leverage the large base of Wi-Fi access points and devices to create connected products for healthcare, smart energy, and industrial, commercial, and residential control/monitoring. For more information about GainSpan, visit: www.gainspan.com.