UltraSoC Technologies, a pioneer of next-generation debugging technology for embedded systems, has been awarded a grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA). The grant will part-fund an eight month project, of value up to £115k, to assess the technology and commercial feasibility of an innovative system which will be a key part of UltraSoC’s debugging platform.

It’s hoped the advanced technologies being developed by UltraSoC researchers at the University of Essex, will play a major role in the future in helping to substantially reduce the cost of product development for companies around the world. The impact of product failure on the economy is currently estimated to be more than $60 billion a year in the US alone, with much of that money being spent on debugging and verification of embedded systems.

Earlier this year UltraSoC Technologies raised £400,000 of equity investment from the South East Seed Fund, managed by Finance South East, and the Iceni Seedcorn Fund. UltraSoC is developing and marketing UltraDebug™, a highly flexible, multiprocessor, System-on-Chip (SoC) debug support platform. UltraDebug™ will provide higher performance, application-level, debugging facilities which will enable the embedded systems industry to create more advanced and reliable and safer products in markets such as automotive and consumer devices.

The company was founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the Universities of Kent and Essex, and is based on research carried out by Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier and Dr Andrew Hopkins and their team.

‘The support from EEDA on this project is greatly appreciated,’ said Dr Karl Heeks, CEO of UltraSoC. ‘It will allow us to make fast progress in improving the infrastructure which is needed to enable the benefits of our core technology, UltraDebug™, to be realised as well as potentially offering new applications’.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex, Professor Colin Riordan, remarked: ‘This grant is the latest recognition of the potential of this world-class research project and another clear indication of why Essex has secured its position and reputation as one of the top research universities in the UK.’