MicroEJ (pronounced "micro-EDGE")
is a French-American
independent software vendor
An independent software vendor (ISV), also known as a software publisher, is an organization specializing in making and selling software, in contrast to computer hardware, designed for mass or niche markets. This is in contrast to in-house softwa ...
with headquarters in
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
, France and offices in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, USA.
It was founded by Fred Rivard in 2004.
It is known for developing MICROEJ VEE, a
Virtual Execution Environment for
embedded software
Embedded software is computer software, written to control machines or devices that are not typically thought of as computers, commonly known as embedded systems. It is typically specialized for the particular hardware that it runs on and has tim ...
development and other software development tools such as the
software development kit
A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...
MICROEJ SDK.
History
Fred Rivard founded MicroEJ under the name Industrial Smart Software Technologies (IS2T).
MicroEJ established its offices in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in 2016.
At the 2020
Consumer Electronics Show (CES), MicroEJ announced plans to release an app store platform for
IoT devices.
MicroEJ partnered with
Groupe SEB
SEB S.A. or better known as Groupe SEB (''Société d'Emboutissage de Bourgogne'') is a large French consortium that produces small appliances, and it is the world's largest manufacturer of cookware. Notable brand names associated with Groupe SE ...
to integrate MICROEJ VEE into its
food processor
A food processor is a kitchen appliance used to facilitate repetitive tasks in the preparation of food. Today, the term almost always refers to an electric-motor-driven appliance, although there are some manual devices also referred to as "food ...
products in 2021. In the same year, MicroEJ also partnered with
NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing and design company with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is the third largest European semiconductor company by market capitalization as of 2024. The company employs approx ...
to offer a MICROEJ VEE platform on NXP's i.MX RT500
MCU for
wearables
A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches.
Wearables may be for general ...
.
At CES 2022, MicroEJ launched the first containerized software platform for
smart home
''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birming ...
and industrial devices connected using the Matter protocol.
In 2022, MicroEJ also partnered with
Thales
Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...
to offer MICROEJ VEE on the Thales Cinterion IoT Module and
Plug and Play
In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving reso ...
IoT Devices. MicroEJ also partnered with
Telit
Telit Cinterion (known as Telit prior to January 1, 2023) is an Internet of Things (IoT) Enabler company headquartered in Irvine, California, United States. It is a privately held company with key operations in the US, Brazil, Italy, Israel, an ...
to develop Telit IoT cellular modules' software development ecosystem.
In 2023, MicroEJ announced collaboration with
Polar Electro
Polar Electro Oy (commonly known as Polar) is a Finnish manufacturer of sports training computers, particularly known for developing the world's first wireless heart rate monitor.
The company is based in Kempele, Finland and was founded in 197 ...
to integrate MICROEJ VEE several wearable products.
The company also revealed collaboration with
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational corporation that specializes in digital automation and energy management.
Registered as a Societas Europaea, Schneider Electric is a ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronex ...
to integrate MICROEJ VEE technology in
Industrial IoT products
.
Products
MICROEJ VEE (Virtual Execution Environment) comes in the form of a
runtime environment
In computer programming, a runtime system or runtime environment is a sub-system that exists in the computer where a program is created, as well as in the computers where the program is intended to be run. The name comes from the compile time ...
and its associated
software libraries
In computing, a library is a collection of resources that can be leveraged during software development to implement a computer program. Commonly, a library consists of executable code such as compiled functions and classes, or a library can ...
for running containers (also called
virtual machines
In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization or emulator, emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve ...
) reproducing the behavior of
embedded systems
An embedded system is a specialized computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is em ...
.
MicroEJ uses Instruction Set hardware
virtualization
In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers.
Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...
to deliver
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
in packages called
containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
and enable the creation of
app stores.
MicroEJ also provides a
simulator
A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...
allowing the development of
software applications
Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as ...
on virtual devices (actual
embedded devices simulated on
workstations
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...
).
MicroEJ provides an
IDE based on
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...
for creating embedded software and applications on desktop.
MICROEJ SDK supports programming languages such as
C,
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
Javascript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior.
Web browsers have ...
, and
Kotlin.
Applications can also be developed using
Android Studio
Android Studio is the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Google's Android operating system, built on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA software and designed specifically for Android development. This is available for download on W ...
and
Gradle
Gradle is a build automation tool for multi-language software development. It manages tasks like compilation, packaging, testing, deployment, and publishing. Supported languages include Java (as well as JDK-based languages Kotlin, Groovy, Sc ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Nantes
Software companies of France
French companies established in 2004