Infineon recently launched ModusToolbox™ version 3.1 which is a great success and shows the efforts that this team of experts does to develop this ecosystem further. The ModusToolbox™ ecosystem is a collection of software and tools designed to smoothly work together and with third-party solutions. All this to create the perfect development environment. With our guest, Jennifer Sirrine, we talk about what ModusToolbox™ is, how it is used by our customers, why it is beneficial for all Infineon products to be linked to ModusToolbox™, and what types of software developers can integrate with it.

Click here to learn more about ModusToolbox™ Software

Guest: Jennifer Sirrine, Vice President of Software, Infineon 
Moderator:  Thomas Reinhardt, Director Corporate Campaigns ＆ Customer Communication, Infineon
Date of publication: 15 June 2023

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Moderator:

The potential of the Internet of Things is well known. So, let’s talk with experts from infineon, partners and customers about what it takes to Make IoT work. My name is Thomas Reinhardt. I am your host, and I am excited to share this podcast with all of you.

Infineon recently launched ModusToolbox™ version 3.1 which is a great success and shows the efforts that this team of experts does to develop this ecosystem further. With today’s guest, Jennifer Sirrine, I want to talk about what ModusToolbox™ is, how it is used by our customers, why it is beneficial for all Infineon products to be linked to ModusToolbox™, and what types of software developers can integrate with it.

As Vice President of Software at Infineon, Jennifer is responsible for global software development supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Microcontroller products with embedded software stacks and development tools. Jennifer, a warm welcome. It is great to have you as guest today.

Guest:

The pleasure is mine. Thanks for inviting me.

Moderator:

Before we talk in more depth about ModusToolbox™, I would like to give our listeners, who are not yet familiar with it, the chance to learn what ModusToolbox™ actually is all about. Could you please introduce ModusToolbox™.

Guest:

Before we talk about what the ModusToolbox™ ecosystem is, let's talk for a second about what it isn't. It isn't an IDE or a compiler, it isn't just software, and it isn't just a set of libraries or an SDK. 

The ModusToolbox™ ecosystem is a collection of software and tools designed to smoothly work together and with third-party solutions. All this to create the perfect development environment. If you want to use the Eclipse IDE, that's fine. If you prefer to use Visual Studio Code (VS Code) instead, that's OK too. Or you can use IAR Embedded Workbench, the Arm® Keil® µVision® IDE, command-line operations, or something else. It's entirely up to you. The same is true for compilers, debuggers, revision control systems, etc. No matter what choices you make, the ModusToolbox™ ecosystem of software and tools work with you. It provides the "best of both worlds" platform that delivers a wonderful development experience, increased productivity, and feature-rich, bulletproof applications.

Moderator:

Ok, I understand, that it is a very powerful and flexible solution. Fully supporting developers by giving them the freedom of choice. But how did it come to develop it? Why ModusToolbox?

Guest:

It all started, because PSoC™ products were originally supported by completely customized tools developed by Cypress Semiconductor™. Obviously, a full custom solution costs much more to develop and support than a solution that uses mostly off-the-shelf software that is customized only when necessary. Even more importantly, our full custom solution led to complaints from many significant customers. For example customers complained that for most of our competitor's MCUs, they could learn one IDE, such as Eclipse, but for Cypress™ MCUs they had to learn something completely different. Yet other customers complained that our custom IDE didn't integrate easily into their design flow. So when it came time to develop ModusToolbox™ we took a much different approach:
The customer experience is the top priority for ModusToolbox™. It is optimized for professional developers and enables developers to use their development flow of choice. Just to name a few of the important criteria for developing ModusToolbox™.

Moderator:

It seems as if this allows us to focus on where we add value, rather than trying to create everything from scratch.

Guest:

Yes, and success proofs us right. Certain features of ModusToolbox are considered so fundamental to its value proposition that they are part of the contract with our customer. Customers who use ModusToolbox can be sure that they can move between products and application areas without having to re-tool their flow because the following features are guaranteed to be supported.

Moderator:

Can you give us some examples, to show the range of possibilities?

Guest:

Compatible with Infineon’s latest ModusToolbox™ 3.0 development platform, the XMC7000 devices allow developers a unique experience for a variety of use cases including industrial, robotics, EV charging and other applications. In addition to XMC7000, Infineon ModusToolbox 3.0 is also compatible for embedded applications using Infineon products including PSoC™, AIROC™ Wi-Fi, AIROC Bluetooth®, and EZ-PD™ PMG1 microcontrollers. PSoC and CAPSENSE: CAPSENSE relies on software and wouldn’t work without; having it in ModusToolbox™ is part of its success

And also AI and ML are incorporated as we have ModusToolbox™ ML.

Moderator:

I could imagine that you have to constantly keep your finger on the pulse to ensure that ModusToolbox remains flexible and comprehensive in the future. What further developments are planned?

Guest:

It is important to mention, that not only Infineon employees but also external developers include and add codes; “ModusToolbox™ and Friends”; it shows how Infineon believes in this solution but also partner see the power.

Moderator:

ModusToolbox™ and friends – a good keyword: We talked a lot about the solution itself. How it works, the benefits for customers, etc. But who are the people behind this? Who are the ones that bring all their ideas and power to create such a successful tool?

Guest:

It was only possible to create this innovative solution with a very passionate team. A team that loves solving problems, managing change, that is constantly improving and taking on the next challenge. When we became part of Infineon for example, we first of all tried to link product families like XMC to ModusToolbox. The team was convinced that it would be extendable – and it really was. It's great fun to work with such a great team on such a great solution.

Moderator:

Fun at work – this is so important. And even though I'm personally enjoying this episode here right now, the unfortunate thing is that we've come to the last question. And that is always: What will the future bring? Jennifer, could you please take a quick look into the crystal ball?

Guest:

We are currently working on a web-based tool, in order to make further increase ease-of-use for developers. The can much easier getting started, without even download any software.

Moderator:

Thank you very much, Jennifer, for your exciting insights. For all the listeners who are interested in ModusToolbox™ - one very last question: Where can interested user find further information?

Guest:

You can find further information on www.infineon.com/modustoolbox.

Moderator:

Thank you very much. This brings us to the end of this episode. 

Dear listeners: If you want to learn more about us and our world of IoT, visit our website www.infineon.io. If you're currently listening to us on Spotify or Apple Podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and leave a little review. Now it only remains for me to wish you a good time. Take care and see you next time.