Fujitsu Frontech Adopts BSQUARE's SDIO Hx Stack to Enhance Performance of Its Windows CE-Based Products

BSQUARE Corp. (Nasdaq: BSQR), a software solution provider to the global embedded device community, today announced that Fujitsu Frontech, a leading Tokyo-based technology company, will be using BSQUARE’s Secure Digital Input Output Hx ultra-high-performance software stack to improve the SDIO performance of Fujitsu Frontech’s Windows CE®-based products. By leveraging SDIO Hx, Fujitsu Frontech will be able to increase its 802.11g Wi-Fi throughput speeds to as fast as 13 Mbps, which is nearly 400 percent higher than the native Microsoft solution in Windows Embedded CE or Windows Mobile SDIO software. Fujitsu Frontech will also use SDIO Hx’s unique multiplexing capabilities to add another SDIO slot to their device without adding a second SD host controller chip, thereby saving Bill of Materials (BOM) costs. "After evaluating the native SDIO capabilities of Windows CE and researching the pros and cons of developing our own high-performance SDIO solution, we decided that it made the most sense to use BSQUARE’s SDIO Hx,” says Takami Kasasaku, director of Fujitsu Frontech’s Platform Engineering Department. "Its software stack enables us to deliver more value to our customers faster, and we are very happy with the results.” BSQUARE has a long history of working with SDIO technology. "Over the years, we’ve developed an unparalleled expertise in SDIO, giving us the ability to deliver the best SDIO performance on Windows CE,” said Raj Khera, vice president of products at BSQUARE. "Our SDIO Hx software stack provides everything device developers need to create high-performance host controller and peripheral drivers. By saving them the time and cost of developing their own high-performance solution, our software helps them reduce risk and accelerate time to market.” Performance Boosts Ranging from 230 to 350 Percent Fujitsu Frontech, which makes products such as handheld data collection and point-of-sale systems, needed a high-performance solution for reading and writing large files to an embedded 802.11g SDIO Wi-Fi card and for performing fast writes to SD memory cards. Decreasing the time required to carry out these tasks was critical to improve end-user productivity. To determine whether the BSQUARE SDIO product would be able to meet its needs, Fujitsu Frontech conducted tests comparing its performance with that of the native SDIO software in Windows CE. On a platform consisting of an Intel PXA270 application processor running at 512 MHz under the Windows CE 5.0 operating system, the company tested Wi-Fi performance using an 802.11g SDIO card and SD memory performance using a SanDisk 1G SD memory card. BSQUARE’s SDIO Hx product significantly outperformed the native Microsoft SDIO stack in both cases. It enabled a 5Mb file to be sent over the Wi-Fi network an average of 230 percent faster than the Microsoft SDIO software, and enabled the 5Mb file to be written to the SD card an average of 350 percent faster. About BSQUARE BSQUARE is a software solution provider to the global embedded device community. Committed to delivering quality and lowering project risk and time to market, our teams collaborate with smart device makers at any stage in their device development. For more information about BSQUARE, visit www.bsquare.com. BSQUARE is a registered trademark of BSQUARE Corporation. OMAP3 and OMAP35x are trademarks of Texas Instruments. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.