Embedded Computing Design

Cybersecurity issues continue to plague modern electronic devices and will only continue to do so as quantum computing becomes mainstream. This powerful new class of processor is poised to break standard encryption and the PKI infrastructure that’s used by desktops, laptops, tablets, IoT devices, network infrastructure platforms, and more to authenticate who, or what, they’re communicating with.

In electronics, the need for greater storage capacity and faster data transfer rates is never-ending. But now, with the explosion of mobile and IoT devices, more space and faster speeds have been joined by the requirement that flash memory and flash memory controllers consume less and less space on resource-constrained device PCBs.

Of course, systems deployed in embedded or industrial environments often need the extra dimensions of robust reliability and extended temperature support as well.

We’re less than two weeks out from Embedded World (June 21-23, Nuremberg, Germany). In the Embedded Computing Design booth (Hall 1, Booth 121), you can view a host of technology presentations.

High-performance computing is now a requirement in the aerospace and defense industry where capabilities like computer and machine vision, AI edge computing, and sensor data fusion are critical to mission success. The massive amount of data captured and processed in these use cases also means high-bandwidth interconnects are required, too.

If you’re looking to deploy this functionality on top of existing infrastructure, like so many in long-lifecycle industries are, you may be staring down the barrel of a massive electronics systems upgrade. Or, you take advantage of solutions like the VPX3U-ORIN-CX6-SBC from WOLF Advanced Technology.

5G connectivity and demand for edge computing have made hyperconverged infrastructure mandatory. If only that infrastructure was user-friendly, easily-deployable, and available off the shelf.

On this episode of the Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich discuss whether the IoT is “newer” than M2M or connected embedded, or has the name just changed while the definition remains the same? Perhaps it’s not new, it’s just moved to the edge and adopted “new” capabilities.

Intelligent edge computing appliances frequently demand AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology. When it comes to applications that require intelligent video analysis operating at the edge, having access to an AI accelerator card that can offer offload CPU loading and the instant ability to plug into intelligent transport systems (ITS), smart cities, smart retail, and Industry 4.0 applications to improve performance, is ideal for these compute-intensive operations.

On this episode, the Insiders ponder the future of embedded engineering in light of Arm’s release of its Total Solutions for IoT. How far along in the development process can engineers get virtually, before they even have silicon in their hands?

The importance of security in embedded designs can never be stressed enough. With the expanding cybersecurity threat landscape and lack of security professionals in the workforce, everyday engineers need to be able to implement hardware root-of-trust-grade security in a robust but simplified manner.

Ruggedized systems require high-bandwidth processing.

Artificial intelligence is the driving force behind so many applications today. From the developers’ perspective, it’s almost a given that AI will play some role in the end application. One such application where AI is making a lot of inroads is public safety and security. Such security is being utilized in everything from airports and railways stations to hospitals and manufacturing facilities. And it can scale from a single room to a large campus or even a city.

New and evolving hardware technologies are making real-time AI inferencing at the edge a reality. These include fluid edge-to-cloud connectivity, expansive networking capabilities, and sustained computational performance at efficient power consumption levels, all of which are designed into Premio’s RCO-6000-CFL AI Edge Inference Computer.

Every type of edge AI has three hard and fast technical requirements: low power, small form factor, and high performance. Of course, what constitutes “small,” “power efficient,” or “high performance” varies by use case and can describe everything from small microcontrollers to edge servers, but usually you must sacrifice at least one to get the others.

However, one solution that can address everything from edge clouds to endpoints without sacrifice is the FPGA.

Market research estimates the natural language processing market will grow from $20.98 billion in 2021 to more than $127 billion in 2028. Similarly, the AI vision market is expected to grow to $144.46 billion from $7.04 billion in 2020.

Clearly, artificial sensory perception is on the rise.

As the world’s demand for intelligence increases, real-time edge computing no longer refers simply to data processing. Increasingly, it implies AI.

In applications like traffic monitoring, defect/quality inspection, people counting, medical imaging, or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), the demand for edge AI also means requirements for low latency, minimal power consumption, and sufficient thermal dissipation – all of course, at the highest performance levels possible.

Logistics automation is the straightforward act of applying industry standards to the operation of a factory or warehouse to simplify its operation and organize it in ways that are not possible through more manual methods.

Smart retail refers to the concept of adding “intelligence” to traditional shopping methods. The global pandemic has expedited the smart retail process, as it allows the consumer to complete a transaction with little to no human interaction if desired.

On this episode, Brandon and Rich review highlights from Smart Manufacturing Day, including a debate on what Industry 5.0 truly means, and discuss the potential peril of code-heavy software-defined factories and vehicles.

In the world of manufacturing for industrial and rugged applications, including robotics, and artificial intelligence, the Made in America moniker brings a lot of cache.

In operating rooms, electronic medical devices are indispensable to healthcare diagnostics, real-time patient monitoring, and surgical visualization. But as crucial as these systems are, they are also potentially quite dangerous. If they aren’t dust-proof, water-tight, protected against power failure, and immune to electromagnetic interference, they present a range of dangers from electric shock to hosting bacteria.

To ensure healthcare workers can continue to access the patient data and productivity technology they need in the safest, most, reliable, and most hygienic manner possible, Wincomm has released the WMP-24M-PIS, a 23.8” LCD screen medical panel PC based on 10^th generation Intel® Core® processor technology.