In our Strategies department, I look for stuff that is changing the embedded landscape, and there was no shortage of that at ESC this time. Simply put, people are taking Silicon and Software new places with new ideas, and it’s interesting to see where.
One of the names at the conference was a name you don’t think of as “embedded”: Dell. Yeah, that Dell, Round Rock TX, probably one of their machines near your desk somewhere. But the surprising part is according to GM Rick Froehlich, they’re doing $1.5B a year in OEM business. Admittedly, much of that is bordering IT space – things like 1U Security appliances that have a longer life than the typical commercial server. But much of this business is straight up embedded: computers in medical, industrial, communications, and other apps where a moderate lifecycle combined with a cost effective supply chain, a controlled configuration, and a worldwide logistics base add together to make a solution. Dell’s embedded lifecycle is 2 1/2 years, which is much longer than their standard commercial products but short enough to ensure the technology is refreshed (remember, they have a very inside relationship with Intel, and I’d tell you what’s coming but …). They don’t do much if any board customization, maybe a connector every now and then, but where they do customize is in peripherals and packaging. They prefer to sell systems and not bare boards, and with a range of peripherals and some design capability (for instance, a 24 VDC power supply instead of an 110 VAC unit), they can get a system into many embedded applications where the environment is office-like. Dell also offers 500+ logistics centers worldwide, so there are no service worries in fielding a configuration anywhere on the planet. It’s an interesting model, and the next steps coming are more partnerships and vertically configured platforms. (If you saw Rick’s keynote speech, send me your thoughts.)
Cadence also signaled a shift in the embedded space. They see the same thing I do, and I’ll quote John Bruggeman: “The iPhone is leading to [embedded device] differentiation via apps that are creating a new user experience.” Well put, I think I said that in my Phonemance column but I include both the iPhone and Android there. John’s thinking is to invert the Model: put the application in charge instead of the underlying hardware, so the app configures the hardware and the operating system to make them perform to need. He’s got a hierarchical model for Cadence of silicon realization (gates and blocks), SoC realization (IP and programmability), and system realization (abstraction, integration, and verification) that leads to application-driven platform development. They talk about this at length in their EDA360 Manifesto, and they made several announcements like a teaming arrangement with Wind River for Simics combined with Cadence Incisive, and yesterday’s announcement of the Open Integration Platform.
LynuxWorks, Portwell, and Intel showed an idea for a medical computing device that could gather data from Bluetooth sensors (yes, the Continua model is showing up everywhere now) and through virtualization on a single multicore CPU run Linux to process sensor data and Windows to drive the display and offer patient-friendly features like browsing, entertainment and gaming. It’s a concept designed to get people thinking.
ADLINK announced their EOS-1000 platform, which is designed specifically for vision systems. 4 independent PoE ports allow connection of 4 GigE cameras, which allows a single Intel Core 2 Duo-based compute platform to monitor something like a 3D robotic inspection line.
Fugoo was in the VIA booth showing off their digital Internet device (which has been out for a while) based on a VIA Nano processor and Microsoft Windows with a uniquely designed user interface layer. The Fugoo “Block” can be easily integrated into things like entertainment devices, appliances, and other things needing a small platform, and then can be programmed for Internet-enabled apps quickly.
When is a SATA drive not a SATA drive? When it’s an SSD implemented in less than a third of the space of a normal 2.5″ drive. Sanmina-SCI has been using their stackable Packaging technology to do interesting things with flash parts, creating very dense memory solutions. With a real live SATA connector, the part they showed me plugs into a slot on an AdvancedTCA blade, saving space and providing ruggedness, but allowing for easy upgrades.
These are just some of the many ideas at ESC – and we’ll be covering many of these areas in our Embedded Computing Design Resource Guide issue this August.
