Embedded Technology Trends Forum January 2015

Internet Of Things – courtesy of Cisco[/caption]

The beginning of the New Year is always time for the Embedded Technology Trends Forum. This forum, presented by the VME International Trade Association (VITA), is an assembly of the board, software, system and component manufacturers involved in the embedded computing marketplace. The purpose of the forum is to present the latest technology trends that affect the embedded computing market. In addition to the suppliers, the primary attendees are the members of the embedded media.

 

For 2015 the theme for the forum was “Kickoff to Super Technologies“. Each of the companies attending presented their vision of the future of technology as it relates to their business and products. Since the presentations did not focus on products, but on technology and what the embedded customer base is expecting from embedded technology, it was a good source of current thinking in embedded R&D. The forum was a two day event and all of the presentations from the 2015 forum and presentations from past events are available at http://embeddedtechtrends.com/index.php.

 

VITA as an organization is focused on developing standards for bus-based systems such as VME and VPX but it also develops other standards such as standards for RF data protocols and other technologies that are useful for embedded system use. Although VITA does not focus on industrial PC systems or embedded motherboards, the information presented at the forum was not specific to bus based systems and was relevant to all embedded system applications.

 

Key Takeaways From the Forum

All of the presentations are available on the website but based on comments and questions heard at the forum there are some key items that should be pointed out.

 

IoT is Everywhere

Internet of Things – Courtesy of The Connectivist

Probably the most overused buzz word in the media today is IoT – The Internet of Things. AT CES in January, IoT was also the big item with everything possible being connected to the internet. This was also reinforced at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, when Google Executive Eric Schmidt said: ”There will be so many sensors, so many devices, that you won’t even sense it, it will be all around you.” Schmidt went on to say: “The Internet will soon be so pervasive in every facet of our lives that it will effectively ‘disappear’ into the background”. Of course some are calling IoT the Internet of Trash due to the seeming useless nature of some of the network attached devices.

 

In the embedded computing space IoT is a good way of categorizing the inter-connectivity of sensors used in industrial/medical/military applications. Management of the sensor data in both real-time (control) as well as in the background (analytics) is a key requirement of embedded applications. As the amount of data available grows one of the technology challenges is processing the data locally and determining what data needs to be transferred into background storage for analysis. Key to resolving this problem is local processing and high performance data transfer.

 

Internet of Data

Data Growth
source: EMC/IDC Report 2012

As social enterprise entrepreneur Aral Balkan has said, “There is no Internet of Things. There is only the Internet of Data.” CISCO has been quoted as saying that by the end of 2011, 20 typical households generated more data than the entire internet of 2008. Sparked, a start-up that is using wireless sensors on cattle, reported that each cow transmits 200mb of data per year. During 2008, the number of things connected to the internet exceeded the population of Earth. By 2020, there will be 50 billion connected devices.  That is a lot of data being generated, processed and stored.

With IPv6 protocol, we will have 2^128 or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 possible Internet addresses which has been postulated as 100,000 times bigger than the number of grains of sand that would equal the mass of the Earth.

 

The data generated by all these devices needs to go somewhere to be analyzed, processed and stored.

 

 

The Rise of High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC)

Embedded systems were traditionally used to control processes, provide user interface capability and process limited data. With the growth of high speed sensors and the need for local processing there is a requirement to provide super computer capability on the factory floor and on mobile platforms. This is being addressed by several companies building cluster based embedded systems that utilize multiple bus based compute boards to implement a high performance computer. These systems are also being designed to work in harsh environments including air-cooled and conduction cooled applications. A typical system may include two or three Intel Core i7 based processor boards, an FPGA based processing board as well as a general purpose graphics (GPGPU) process board. These systems are being used mostly in military applications but as the cost comes down will also be used in many more industrial applications.

 

HPEC is also a cross over point for 1-6U servers based on Intel Xeon or Core i7 based motherboards. For many applications a 1 or 2U based server with dual Xeon processors and GPGPU cards is a cost effective solution over a VPX or ATCA based system.

 

Data Transfer is Going Optical

One of the points of consensus at the forum was the need for optical connections between systems and sensors as well as between boards. For high performance systems, the use of a copper backplane to connect boards is becoming obsolete. The data performance of the cooper connections is not fast enough to meet future system requirements. VITA currently has a study group working on a standard specification for optical interconnect with bandwidth of 10Gbps or more.

 

In addition development work continues on RapidIO and Infiniband standards. Both RapidIO and Infiniband are used not only in providing data transport intersystem but also data transport between systems. Infiniband has been used extensively in super computers and data centers while the use of RapidIO is growing rapidly in the embedded computing market.

 

Changes in the Landscape

[caption id=”attachment_794″ align=”alignleft” width=”300″> M4U20 Military Grade 4U Computer System

There a lot changes in the embedded computing space. As a consequence of budget cuts and demand to do more with less, the use of traditional bus based systems is decreasing. Although it is predicted that VME/VPX systems will continue to be in demand, the market going forward is flat with VPX overtaking VME based sales in 2017. On the other hand, systems not based on traditional busses are expected to grow. Small systems based on a single motherboard with plug on modules are prolific in the marketplace. Systems based on IA architecture motherboards are also expected to grow in demand. Form factors will not only be the traditional 1-6U rack mount server format but also smaller form factors designed for specific applications.

 

Overall it looks like the embedded computer market will continue to grow in the future but the types of systems required will change as budgets change and performance expectations increase.

Embedded Technology Trends Forum January 2015

Chassis Plans Leadership in Engineering Scholarship Finalist

Krista Purser

Of the many applications we received for our Winter, 2015, Chassis Plans Leadership in Engineering Scholarship, a few stood out.  Krista Purser was one such finalist and we would like to share her outstanding essay.

 

Her essay “Down the Road: The Future of Transportation” can be found here.

 

Krista is a senior civil engineering undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In addition to transportation coursework, she serves as Vice President of the Cal Poly Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) chapter and soon begins research with transit routing data.

 

Krista’s enthusiasm stems from an appreciation for the impact of transportation and its ability to shape communities. She hopes to develop a broad understanding of transportation systems and analysis, and to implement efficient, reliable, and sustainable projects in practice. Additionally, Krista has developed her professional skills through several internships.

 

Aside from work and school, Krista enjoys hiking nearby trails and biking, for both commuting and exercise purposes. Being a Californian, rainy weather often has her resigned to the indoors, drinking tea and reading favorite authors Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Crichton.

 

Krista looks forward to furthering her education by working toward a Master’s of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and continuing to seek learning opportunities through ITE, internships, and research.

 

 

 

Chassis Plans Leadership in Engineering Scholarship Finalist

Life in the Cloud is Getting Foggy

Courtesy of cloudtweaks.com

One of the hottest technologies in Information Technology is Cloud computing. Every enterprise is embracing the Cloud movement. However, the cloud is in the ether of digital information, located high in the infrastructure. It is currently the best technology for processing large amounts of data, extending the performance of all levels of servers and providing the base for running analytics on data to mine information. It provides a common reference for all devices and users to access.

 

“The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we’ve redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do. I can’t think of anything that isn’t cloud computing with all of these announcements. The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women’s fashion. Maybe I’m an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It’s complete gibberish. It’s insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?” – Larry Ellison, chairman, Oracle

 

But for all of that, it still is up there away from the base of all the action. Whether it’s for an industrial plant, military site or even a consumer’s home, the Cloud is an abstract entity that is useful but detached from real-time, or critical, access. One way to look at the Cloud is that it is accessed via the Wide Area Network (Internet) and not the local area network where the users are located. This access is controlled by the WAN providers and can be slow at times. There are also many instances of downtime in Cloud server infrastructure, either through human error, equipment fault, or hacking. We’ve also seen many instances of unauthorized access to files and data residing on Cloud systems.

 

FOG Computing

There needs to be a feet-attached-to-the-ground method of providing local support for real-time or critical applications. In a technology that likes names and acronyms a term was formed – Fog computing. If the Cloud is way up there then the Fog is the ground-hugging solution. Fog computing provides a method to bring Cloud computing to the edge of the network. This creates a highly virtualized platform that provides compute, storage, and networking services between end devices and traditional cloud computing data centers.

 

Fog platforms are critical for supporting the emerging wave of Internet deployments, which require mobility support, real-time interactions, low latency and high security. Another requirement is to support a very large number of nodes in a highly heterogeneous environment. The environment could be a manufacturing floor, a hospital or a military forward base. Features of a Fog platform are:

 

• The Fog platform supports real-time, actionable analytics, processes, and filters the data, and pushes to the Cloud data that is global in geographical scope and time.
• Data collection and analytics are pulled from access devices and pushed to Cloud
• Data storage for redistribution which is pulled from the Cloud and pulled by downstream devices
• Technologies that facilitate data fusion.
• Analytics relevant for local users such as sensors
• Methodologies, Models and Algorithms to optimize the cost and performance through workload mobility between Fog and Cloud.

 

While Fog conceptually extends Cloud computing and leverages Cloud’s underlying technologies, Fog, by definition, spans wider geographic locations than Cloud, and in a denser way. Also, Fog devices are much more heterogeneous in nature, ranging from end-user devices, access points, to edge routers and switches.

 

Cloud in a Case

An example of a mobile device that can be used as a Fog platform is the Chassis Plans Cloud in a Case system shown below. Providing server class processors, high-performance disk storage, network switches and display, the Chassis Plans system is easy to transport and install in any field site. VMware can provide virtualized workstations accessing common data and programs similar to a traditional WAN Cloud environment. The benefit of a local FOG solution as compared to a remote Cloud server is local data control and no dependence on a potentially fragile data path to the Cloud.

 

FOG Local Cloud Implementation

Life in the Cloud is Getting Foggy

2015 Predictions - Internet Blackout?

Internet of Things – Courtesy of The Connectivist

As it is now late December it doesn’t feel right without providing some early 2015 resolutions (or predictions). Since New Year’s resolutions don’t seem to make past Valentine’s day, lets go with predictions.

 

2014 was a good year for technology. More smartphones and tablets, faster processing power and lower prices for consumer products such as TV’s as well as great deals on internet service. On top of that the economy is ending the year on a high note. Sounds like a good line up for a good upcoming year.

 

There has been a lot of talk about the influence of cloud computing on both enterprise and consumers. More businesses are using the cloud for their business needs by using everything from software as a service (SaaS) and even infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Why buy servers when you can lease a remote data center complete with service that can expand with your business. For the consumer cloud computing has become mainstream as well with Microsoft offering office applications as a service. Apple and other providers offer cloud storage for all of the consumer data from their smartphones, tablets and laptops.

 

The Cloud[/caption]

Even storage companies such as Western Digital and Seagate now offer their external hard drives as a cloud server. Before you could connect a Western Digital external drive to a USB port and backup your computer. Now you connect the cloud server device to your local area network via an Ethernet port and use applications software to store data and backups from all of your connected devices. This is an improvement but it does mean that you have to have a home based local area network that can support both wireless and Ethernet connected devices.

 

The other technology, well maybe not technology but internet application, is the Internet of Things (IoT). With IoT, embedded devices are connected to the internet. Everything from wearables such as fitness monitors to industrial devices will be connected to the internet. Where cloud computing is well defined and being developed and deployed rapidly, IoT is still in development. Work still needs to be done in radio technology to connect embedded devices to the Internet. Today you can use a fitness device to talk to your smartphone using Bluetooth and the smartphone is connected to the internet via cellular radio or a wireless hotspot. In the future you can connect directly to the internet but probably not in 2015 for most devices.

 

But what about the internet itself? With all of the development of devices and applications designed to connect to the internet, is the internet going to have problems supporting all of the activity? This is an issue and one that may make the headlines many times in the upcoming year. Here are a couple of examples of usage that may cause serious internet problems.

 

The first is streaming media over the internet. Streaming video over the internet is already causing problems for the internet providers. As Netflix, Amazon, HBO and others offer video streaming at cheaper rates, the internet service providers (ISP) are getting more complaints from customers about low data rates and connection problems. It has reached the point where ISP’s are demanding the right to charge more for streaming customers. They have a valid point in that whereas Netflix and other content suppliers are providing cheap access to their customers they do not have the burden of supporting the cost of maintaining the internet connection.

 

Most ISP services provide reasonable speed internet access that is fine for web browsing and normal activities but to support high definition streaming where data is flowing at a rate of 2.4 GB/hour at least 25Mb/sec data rate is required. In 2014 streaming was just getting started but over the holiday season Amazon alone sold 10 million new prime memberships and Amazon prime members get free video streaming from the Amazon TV and movie library. That is a lot of new users.

 

Another example is the use of smartphones. The number of smartphones is increasing exponentially and the expectations of the users are getting higher. In the past smartphones were used for taking pictures, texting, email and, yes, even phone calls. Now with the cloud, smartphones are used to share pictures and videos as well as being the main interface device for all of the social media sites. The pressure on the phone companies to provide bandwidth is tremendous. For an active user 10GB/month of data usage is normal. Google says 60% of web searches are from mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) and is pushing for sites to be responsive (mobile friendly) so they look good on mobile devices.

 

The pressure on the internet in 2015 is going to be tremendous. In some areas of the country it is a struggle to get emails over the internet and it is only going to get worse. One additional item that is interesting is a quote made by Jaishree Subramania, Director, Internet of Things, CISCO – “In roughly 2,000 years of recorded history, humans created 2 Exabytes (two million terabytes) of data. We now generate over 2.5 Exabytes of data every day.”

 

">Fixed Residential Broadband Connections per 1,000 Households

The FCC defined Broadband as 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up and recently proposed to raise that to 25Mbps down and 1Mbps up.  Nationwide, there were about 60 fixed broadband internet connections meething the threshold per every 100 households.  The US is ranked 28th worldwide for broadband access.

 

Is 2015 the year when we start seeing Internet Blackouts? Both Sony and Nintendo suffered severe blackouts of their gaming networks in December due to high traffic due to a combination of hacking and user traffic. As more users enable their new holiday purchased gadgets network issues can only increase.

2015 Predictions - Internet Blackout?

Chassis Plans Awards Winter 2015 Leadership in Engineering Scholarship

Chassis Plans Winter 2014 Leadership in Engineering Scholarship Winner – Grace Bushnell

Chassis Plans is pleased to announce Grace Bushnell won the Winter 2015 Chassis Plans Leadership in Engineering Scholarship.

 

Grace’s outstanding essay is located here.

 

Grace is a second year PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Grace is originally from a small farming town in Northern Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2013 and Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2014, both from Northwestern University.

 

Her undergraduate research was focused on endovascular coiling of aneurysms and mussel-inspired biomaterials to serve as surgical adhesives. Her current graduate research is focused on developing biomaterials for the study, detection, and treatment of metastatic cancer.

 

Grace plans to work as a post-doctoral fellow following her PhD and hopes to eventually join academia as a faculty member to both teach and develop a biomaterials research program.

Chassis Plans Awards Winter 2015 Leadership in Engineering Scholarship