INTEL HAS REVEALED its next-generation Industrial Solutions System Consolidation Series (ISSCS) tool to help industries deploy Internet of Things (IoT) solutions more quickly, easily and cheaply.

The chip maker's latest offering means that OEMs, machine builders and system integrators have a wider range of software configurations to simplify the rollout of industrial solutions running on platforms based on Intel's recently launched 4th-generation Core vPro processor.

ISSCS is a pre-integrated, pre-validated, virtualised system that forms "analytics at the edge" while combining different functions onto a single-edge platform.

Enterprises can customise the system to fit their needs by assigning and dedicating resources, such as processor cores, memory and I/O, to real-time and performance-sensitive tasks.

Intel said that this will lead to faster analytics, better security and better results for IoT applications.

"While some IoT implementations use the cloud for analytics, others require real-time decisions and actions which means you need intelligence at the edge," Intel explained.

"For example, a factory process that requires machine vision to identify the different parts must provide immediate control to the robotics that pick up and separate those parts.

"Using virtualisation to consolidate key functions, analytics, communications and security can help meet these challenges."

Intel used the example of a factory that requires a gateway to collect data, a firewall to securely partition a sensitive legacy application, a machine vision and motion control, a human-machine interface for operators, real-time data acquisition and real-time analytics.

"Virtualisation helps to consolidate some or all of those functions, new and legacy, on a single legacy as virtual machines and now you can get there faster, easier and with less risk with Intel's ISSCS," the firm explained.

"Workload consolidation also decreases downtime, platform costs, power consumption, floor space and maintenance costs."

The software allows embedded machines to run multiple instances of Wind River VxWorks 7, Wind River Linux 7 64-bit and Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit using Wind River VxWorks Virtualisation Profile, as well as McAfee Embedded Control for expanded security management.

Intel said that the first industrial platform to be certified for the latest release of ISSCS is the EPC-S2100 from Contec DTx.