Open source & consulting

Work we gave away

Some of what we build belongs upstream, where everyone gets it. Three pieces we are glad to have written — and, below them, how we work when the project is yours.

Zephyr RTOS

SIMCom A76xx modem driver

Upstreamed support for the SIMCom A76xx cellular module into Zephyr's modem subsystem, so any Zephyr project can bring the part up straight from device tree instead of carrying a fork.

zephyrproject.org
Node.js

crypto.randomInt()

Contributed the cryptographically secure random integer API to Node.js core. Picking a uniform value in a range is easy to get subtly wrong; now every Node program gets it right from the standard library.

nodejs/node#34600
Research

Proof of Liabilities

Pioneered the proof-of-liabilities scheme crypto custodians use to commit to what they owe their users — and, paired with a proof of assets, to demonstrate solvency without exposing anyone's balance.

olalonde/proof-of-solvency

Consulting

How the work is run

Alpha21 is small on purpose. Building end to end — board, firmware, app — is what keeps the bench warm, and it is why a project here gets a team that has already shipped the hard parts.

Products, not deliverables

The work in our portfolio went all the way out: boards manufactured, firmware in the field, apps in the stores. We design for the years after launch because we have spent them.

One team across the stack

The person laying out the board and the person writing the app are in the same room. Nothing gets lost in the handoff between hardware, firmware and product.

Small, senior, selective

We take a small number of client projects at a time, in the five disciplines we work in. If it isn't a fit, we'll tell you in the first conversation.

Contact

Tell us what you're building

A board that needs firmware, an app that needs a board, a wallet that needs auditing, a model that needs somewhere to run — if it is one of our five disciplines, we would like to hear about it.