Embedded Insiders

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, we’re joined by Paul Butcher, Senior Software Engineer at AdaCore, to discuss how AI can make fuzz testing even more robust through the integration of techniques like symbolic execution and input-to-state correspondence that optimize test data sets against scenarios a system might encounter in the real world.Next, Brandon heads back into the Industrial Metaverse with part 2 of a Blueprints series – created in partnership with Bosch, Cloud Blue, the MathWorks, NVIDIA, and Siemens – which reveals how the combination of cyber-physical systems, model-based systems engineering, and digital twins can provide a path to solving some of the world’s most complex problems.But first, Brandon and Rich express their hesitations about the European Commission’s proposed Cyber Resilience Act, which requires manufacturers to protect their IoT and IIoT device from unauthorized access at all stages of the product lifecycle.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, we’re joined by Liron Ben Horin, VP of Systems Engineering at OneLayer, to discuss the security vulnerabilities affecting devices connected through 5G and LTE in manufacturing environments, and how OneLayer, a company providing enterprise-grade security to private LTE/5G networks, can help.Then, I’m highlighting the collaboration between Kigen, an eSIM technology provider, and Energy Web, a global non-profit developing open source solutions that leverage decentralized technologies to promote clean energy. Paul Bradley, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Kigen and Ioannis Vlachos, Commercial Director of EMEA at Energy Web, discuss how their companies are working on an eSIM that will foster the transition toward decentralized digital power grids that support distributed energy resources (DERs).But first, Brandon and Rich share their opinions on the current state of chip manufacturing. Recent export controls have been put in place by the Biden administration prohibiting certain types of technologies and semiconductor manufacturing tools to be sold to China. Is this a further step toward strengthening the Chips Act?Tune In.Read about the collaboration between Kigen, Energy Web, and KORE here.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode, Brandon is joined by Mathias Beer, Chief Product Officer at Ci4Rail, to discuss ModBlox7, a PICMG standard that helps regulate Box PCs to the rising prevalence of modularization and miniaturization.Next, David Jones, Head of Marketing & Business Development for Intuitive Sensing Solutions at Infineon Technologies provides insight into the company’s smart sensors and reference designs.Then, Associate Editor Tiera Oliver explores how Johnson Controls and Accenture are partnering to reduce building emissions with a suite of software solutions that integrate AI, digital twins, and more.But first, Brandon and Rich talk connectivity that links you to your neighbors via Amazon Sidewalk — Amazon promises robust security to keep your home’s data safe, but the Insiders have mixed feelings.This episode is sponsored by Infineon Technologies.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, we’re exploring a new world of hardware. More specifically, a software-based platform for hardware revision control and collaboration. It’s basically the new Github for hardware engineers and it’s called AllSpice, and co-founder Kyle Dumont is giving us a peak inside the Git-style platform.Next, I’ll take you through some interesting updates surrounding 5G technology. There’s a current divide between 5G SA, which uses the 5G NR access network on a brand new 5G network core, and 5G Advanced, the next stage of 5G. But interestingly enough, today’s mobile network operators aren’t ready for either.But first, Brandon and Rich discuss … yup you’ve guessed it, more chips. Except this time they’re talking about a different kind of chip deficit.  Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD are some of America’s top chip sellers. But spoiler, some foreign countries may not be customers anymore. Tune In!For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Paul Beckmann, CTO of DSP Concepts, takes us behind the scenes of TWS to reveal what we can expect from the rapidly-evolving audio technology in the years to come. And, what engineers can do to prepare for the next generation of wireless audio product development.Then, assistant editor Chad Cox breaks down the MITRE ATT&CK framework and how MSSPs are leveraging its constantly-changing knowledge base to analyze cyber threats, cyber defenses, and fill in any gaps in IoT edge device security.But first, Brandon and Rich discuss yet another addition to the world of embedded and IoT programming that may make you think twice before committing to C++ and Rust. Will the C usurpers being usurped by "Carbon", a language recently introduced by Google that's moving in on the same territories addressed by Rust?For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode, the Insiders and Jonathan Cobb, CEO of Ayla Networks, take a closer look at the long-discussed Matter standard from smart home connectivity - how far it will go, and when it will go.Next, Sharon Brizinov, Director of Security Research at Claroty, reveals the details of CVE-2022-1161, a cybersecurity vulnerability discovered in some Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers.Then, associate editor Tiera Oliver, in light of the CHIPS Act receiving bipartisan approval in both houses of Congress, provides a bit of context around the CHIPS Act, and what potential costs and benefits it may pose.But first, Brandon and Rich debate the newly Congress-approved CHIPS Act, and whether its funds will provide a solid enough foundation for new fabs to crop up and thrive.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Associate Editor,  Tiera Oliver, is joined by Michel Chabroux, Senior Director of Product Management at Wind River Systems, to discuss the evolution of embedded and safety-critical operating systems, and how containers and newer programming languages like Rust are affecting that transformation.Then, Brandon journeys into one of the Insiders’ favorite places — the metaverse, in the first installment of a 7-part series detailing the potential ins and outs of the metaverse.But first, Brandon and Rich explore an ongoing conflict between new, increasingly popular programming languages like Rust and classics like C. With massive industry players like Microsoft and Linux supporting Rust, will the long history be enough to keep C relevant, or will developers choose to throw out the old in favor of the new?For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, special guest Dr. Jason Mars, associate professor of computer science at the University of Michigan joins ECD associate editor Tiera Oliver to explore how the next generation of engineers is being educated.Then, Tiera branches into the intersection of technology and agriculture with an inside look at how John Deere utilized hardware from NVIDIA for their fully autonomous tractors.But first, Brandon and Rich are recapping a few of their personal highlights from the biggest global event in the embedded space, embedded world 2022.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode, the Insiders are joined by Andreas Kuehlmann, Executive Chairman and CEO of Cycuity, formerly known as Tortuga Logic, to discuss the importance of security at the chip level amidst the release of new standards and recent government involvement in the semiconductor industry via the much-talked-about CHIPS Act.Then, assistant editor Taryn Engmark dives under the sea to explore how a small U.K.-based company is standing against global warming by creating artificial coral reef structures as a means to halt coastal erosion around the globe.But first, Brandon and Rich tackle the not-so-age-old debate between the sweet simplicity of 8-bit MCUs and the bigger, badder, (maybe?) better 16- and 32-bit MCUs. But a gear-shift into automotive repair struggles will highlight the difficulty some shops face when presented with dealer-specific vehicle fixes.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich explore the imminent ratification of the MATTR standard and what opportunities it could introduce in real, regular life situations.Next, Brandon and Rich are once again joined by Corporate VP of Government Affairs at Microchip Technology, John Costello, for part two of their discussion on state-of-the-art vs. state-of-the-practice in semiconductor manufacturing, and where the weight of the CHIPS Act should be thrown.Finally, associate editor Tiera Oliver is joined by Gary Jackson, CEO of intelligent automation company Drishti and Huri Mendoza, Head of Operational Excellence Electronics at HELLA, an automotive parts supplier, to understand how Drishti’s AI gesture and action recognition technology helped HELLA streamline their automotive production process.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

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.Later, Brandon and Rich are joined by John Costello, Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at Microchip Technology, to discuss the state-of-the-art vs. the state-of-the-practice and which of the two the U.S. government should be funding. The decision is all wrapped up in a piece of legislation known as the CHIPS Act. Finally, ECD Assistant Editor, Taryn Engmark, takes a peak into the future of EV charging infrastructure with Dunstan Power, Director of ByteSnap Design and Preye Ivry, network innovation engineer at Nortech Management Ltd. The three highlight the design, development, and testing of an EV discharge platform under the VehIcle-to-Grid Intelligent controL Project, also known as VIGIL.Read about VIGIL in, " Success Story: How Electric Vehicles Can Give Back to the Grid."For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

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?Next, Brandon, Rich, and guest speakers Kurt Lender and Ishwar Agarwal from the CXL Consortium get into the nitty gritty of what Compute Express Link is, how it works, and what its future holds.Finally, associate editor Tiera Oliver enters the software development lifecycle, where, according to survey responses from PractiTest's Ninth Annual State of Testing Report, software testers in the field are reporting big changes that are paving the way for newer, more integrated testing dynamics.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich are addressing the increasingly political aspect of the semiconductor supply chain issues running rampant across the globe, and the danger of those issues reaching all the way up to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment itself.Next, Associate Editor Tiera Oliver is joined by Pat Wilbur, Hologram CTO and Co-Founder, to talk about the retirement of 3G networks by some of the U.S.’s largest wireless carriers, also known as the 3G sunset.Finally, Assistant Editor Taryn Engmark will be providing a breakdown of three must-know secure IT technologies to fill out a good Industry 4.0-ready toolbox.For more information about Hologram's cellular connectivity options for the IoT, visit: https://www.hologram.io/For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich recap a recent visit to DesignCon 2022, where Brandon highlights one of the embedded engineering industry’s rising stars, the Compute Express Link open standard.Next, Neil Trevett, President of the Khronos Group, joins the Insiders to discuss the recent release of Vulkan SC 1.0, a new specification based off of the Vulkan 1.2 API made specifically for the needs of safety-critical applications.Finally, ECD Associate Editor Tiera Oliver is joined by Xavier Rottenberg, scientific director for the OMUS project and Imec fellow, to discuss Imec’s recent demonstration of an ultra-sensitive, small optomechanical ultrasound sensor in silicon photonics.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of the Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich review the recent Applied Power Electronics Conference, or APEC, as a proxy for how the industry works post-pandemic and the reality of supply chain demand.Then, Scot Morrison, Vice President and General Manager of Siemens Digital Industries Software, formerly Mentor Embedded Software, shines a light on the future of embedded operating systems and how the industry will balance features, flexibility, and openness moving forward.Later, Assistant Editor Taryn Engmark analyzes advances in genomic sequencing being driven by advances in data analysis, and where that leaves us on the road to precision medicine.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of the Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich discuss the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the electronics industry. Rapidly rising gas prices are fueling interest in electric vehicles but also highlighting supply chain issues and semiconductor shortages that can’t be overcome in a snap. They also consider how the conflict is affecting engineering resources in Eastern Europe and what that could mean for developers worldwide.Next, Calista Redmond, CEO of RISC-V International, joins to discuss how Intel, more specifically its foundry division, recently doubled down on its commitment to the open-source ISA. She goes on to explain open-source tools initiatives they’re establishing for the RISC-V community and how developers will benefit.For more information about RISC-V International, visit: riscv.org.Finally, assistant editor Taryn Engmark journeys north into the world of polar bears. As climate change threatens these animals’ natural habitats, the World Wildlife Fund needed to upgrade tracking technology that would better monitor their health and whereabouts. MistyWest, an engineering design services firm focused on sustainability projects, responded.For more information about MistyWest’s tracking device, visit: mistywest.com/posts/project/wwf-polar-bear-tracker/To purchase or learn more about the open-source Argos transmitter board, check out sparkfun.com/products/17236Additional resources can be found on embeddedcomputing.com under “Success Story: How an Industry Collab Helped the World Wildlife Fund Upgrade Polar Bear Tracking Tags”For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

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.Next, Associate Editor Tiera Oliver is joined by BlackBerry Technology Solutions CTO Adam Boulton, who reveals all the different types of software automotive OEMs and suppliers believe are in modern vehicles and all the different types of software that actually are in their vehicles. Hint: The two lists are not the same. To reconcile this, BlackBerry is leading the emerging field of software composition analysis (SCA).For more information on the BlackBerry Jarvis software composition analysis tool, visit blackberry.qnx.com/en/products/security/blackberry-jarvisFinally, Assistant Editor Taryn Engmark discusses the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, and two companies’ efforts to combat it. Tune in to learn how a Microsoft initiative to become carbon neutral by 2030 became a project to develop component materials made of 10% recycled ocean plastic with chemical company SABIC, which turned into the outer shell of the Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse that demonstrates it is possible to go green and stay profitable.To learn more, visit www.sabic.com/en/news/30776-sabic-and-microsoft-collaborate-to-create-microsoft-s-first-product-made-with-recycled-ocean-plastic For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

The NVIDIA/Arm transaction may have fallen through, but that isn’t the only momentous merger and acquisition that’s been on the table in the embedded technology space. Xilinx is now officially part of AMD, and Wind River has been purchased by Aptiv from venture capital firm TPG. Will these deals turn out better than some of their predecessors? Only time will tell, but the Insiders’ have some predictions.After, Mike Henry, founder and CEO of Mythic AI, joins Brandon and Rich to discuss the new dawn of analog computing. From searching for any government funding they could to destroying the competition in executing the original AlexNet imaging convolutional neural network (CNN), Mike explains how his company got to the forefront of a technology that offers a much-needed path forward for computing – and how they’re integrating digital technologies that today’s engineers understand.To learn more about Mythic’s approach to analog computing, visit mythic-ai.com.Finally, Brandon continues his investigation of what it takes to build scalable smart sensors. After analyzing requirements for translating data models into smart sensor firmware, he goes into tools and techniques available through the PICMG IoT.1 specification that help automate the process. By the end, you should have all the knowledge – and most of the resources – to build a no-code smart sensor of your own.For more information, visit the PICMG GitHub at https://github.com/picmg, where you can find repositories for the iot_builder, iot_configurator, iot_firmware, and more.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

On this episode of Embedded Insiders, Brandon and Rich ponder the possible reasons NVIDIA’s acquisition of Arm is on the brink of collapse. After considering how difficult the IP company is to move to other semiconductor giants, they recall how Venkat Matella, former CEO and founder of Redpine Signals, was able to move some of his IP to Silicon Labs. But the operative word there is some, as he’s using what remains to launch a new launch a new low-energy supercomputing chip startup. For more on Matella’s latest venture, Ceremorphic, Inc., visit ceremorphic.com.Then, Steve Douglas, Head of Market Strategy at Spirent, talks to Associate Editor Tiera Oliver about the 5G trends we can expect to impact the embedded edge in 2022. It’s not about how connected you are, it’s about how connected you (and your devices) are gonna be with tech from 3GPP Release 17, Release 18, and beyond. For more information on the global 5G rollout, check out Spirent’s 2021 5G Report at spirent.com/assets/the-spirent-2021-5g-report-mid-year-addendum.Finally, have you ever tried to build a smart sensor? If you’re not steeped in writing sensor firmware, even if you have tried, you probably didn’t get very far. But if we can’t create smart sensors quickly and at scale, how will we ever realize the full potential of IoT? It’s standardization time, as Brandon reveals the latest specification from the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturer’s Group, or PICMG, which is designed to make smart sensor configuration so simple even a product manager could do it.For more on PICMG IoT.1, including detailed explanations, code samples, diagrams, and more, read the series “Make Any Sensor a Smart Sensor with PICMG IoT.1” on the embeddedcomputing.com website or find a full-picture description of PICMG’s Industrial IoT initiatives at picmg.org/industrial-iot-overview.For more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com

This week, the Insiders recap a COVID-era Consumer Electronics Show and debate one of CES’s hottest topics: the metaverse. Broadly speaking, the metaverse could be an in-between where physical reality and virtual reality collide, or it could be an entirely digital alternate universe. Of course, the definition is open for interpretation because the metaverse is still very conceptual — so what does the metaverse mean to you?Next, Dunstan Power, Director at ByteSnap Design, discusses the role just-in-time manufacturing played in the global semiconductor shortage and whether, when the world emerges on the other side of it, manufacturers will fall back into old habits.Finally, ECD Associate Editor Tiera Oliver dives even deeper into the shortage, and one solution that’s underway to help solve it — a joint data-sharing ecosystem created by Palantir and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany known as Athinia.For more information about ByteSnap Design, visit: www.bytesnap.comFor more information, visit embeddedcomputing.com