VDC Research: Embedded Microprocessor, Board & Systems Market Blog

Alcatel Lucent and Radisys New Product Strategies to Drive Embedded Networking Shares

Yesterday’s  news of Alcatel-Lucent attempting to gain share of the lucrative Core Router market with the introduction of the 7950 routing system is making things interesting.  This new 7950 product line would be leveraging their market share in the edge routing market in order to compete with Cisco and Juniper for a share of the core market. The new 7950 system is claimed to have a 400 Gbps processor capable of handling 70,000 high definition video streams. While this capability is impressive it is also worth noting that it achieves this at a much lower rate of electrical power usage.

The question is whether this huge leap in capability and efficiency is enough to have the major telecoms consider a heterogeneous architecture with the new products coexisting with the incumbents or make the leap of faith to committing to the new Alcatel Lucent product line. No doubt Cisco and Juniper will have products in the pipeline as an answer but the timeline for these being released is uncertain.

One way that Cisco and Juniper can defend their shares is by developing the new products as backwards compatible with the installed base or, at a minimum to the system/backplane units being sold today. That is to say that the new blades/modules could be inserted in equipment/racks that their customers already own or are available today. Otherwise, a complete platform/architecture shift removes a barrier to entry for other companies like Alcate-Lucent. As an example,  we recently observed a new T-Series Radisys 40G ATCA platform introduction where they had employed a flexible compatibility strategy. From what I understood, their customers could introduce the new blades while not having to mothball the older ones until all the slots were filled.Until the new Radisys products shipped, their customers could continue to expand their systems without worry that they would be rapidly obsoleted.

As VDC begins its exciting new research project looking at the Rich Media & Big Data markets we expect that there will be many interesting findings and these recent and anticipated new product offerings certainly are evidence of that.

Extracting Elusive Value from the Embedded Cloud – A Consumer Perspective – Part 2

As we continue this blog series looking at the embedded cloud, I thought I would look at a few more typical household/consumer activities as a place where M2M could deliver value to many stakeholders. In this part 2 we look to food storage and preparation.

 

Food Storage: As food costs rise, there are many ways expenses can be cut with respect to food that is wasted due to spoilage after purchase. In many supermarkets, loyalty cards allow stores to track purchases in exchange for automatic discounts and other benefits. Some stores allow customers to use hand held scanners or even their own HMIs to scan items in the store. Items such as produce can be weighed and a bar-code label that represents the product is printed to be scanned.  If the store can track all this, there can be a system that would allow for this information to be used by the consumer too. In this way, methods could be developed where the consumer’s home inventory of products could be tracked. When an item is used, they would scan the empty container barcode with their HMI and it would be deducted from their inventory. This system could be further augmented if expiration dates were bar-coded. To initiate the integrated M2M inventory system, the consumer needs to go through their residence and scan the items they already own, enter the expiration dates, and purge the expired items as necessary. Appliances might eventually have M2M scanning and measurement features that make this process more automated and precise. 

Food Preparation/Cooking: This is where things come together literally and with respect to the M2M process. It could start where consumers scan all of the cookbooks they own. These would be augmented with the huge variety of recipes available on the web. Then, the process would look to the inventory of products in the home particularly emphasizing the ones that should be used sooner. How much time is available to cook and eat the meal? What is the capability of the person doing the cooking and the available appliances?  Are there dietary concerns? How many servings are needed and, perhaps most importantly, what do the people want to eat? Processing power from the Embedded Cloud could be leveraged to find an optimal set of menu options. Need to buy a few more things to complete the menu? A connected system could allow nearby suppliers to make offers – and even deliver them! Need instructions? Sponsored media sites could allow video/audio clips on the mobile device to provide the needed help. Perhaps the ideal recipe is in a cookbook you own; the system could tell you which book/page has the recipe it. This type of system would work well for a single meal planned on the spot but it could also be ideally suited for those that plan ahead. In this way, a weekly shopping list could be assembled.

A few last thoughts:

• Based on the cloud data, local restaurants can determine menus that might attract more customers.
• Automatically linking home food inventory through the cloud to store delivery services would be a logical next step.
• Booksellers can encourage more cookbook sales in competition with the recipes available for free on the web.

Intelligent Opportunities: Rich Media and Big Data Reshaping OEM Requirements and Business Models

The Internet of Things. Intelligent Systems. M2M. These terms are now commonly heard in the world of embedded computing. And one of the most important related trends, often erroneously associated exclusively with enterprise computing, is that of big data and rich media.  The explosion in the number of devices, the connectivity between them, and their ability to generate large and continuous data streams from sensors, cameras and a range of I/O devices will fundamentally reshape the world in which we live and the embedded computing industry.   

Gathering, securing, transmitting, processing, analyzing and storing this exploding torrent of information represents a huge challenge for existing infrastructure but a great opportunity for providers of network and cloud infrastructure technology such as Cisco, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent, and others. As the embedded market moves towards all-IP networks, these companies are well positioned to supply the necessary solutions to meet next-generation infrastructure requirements for both communications networking and M2M. For example, Huawei has developed a cloud strategy involving partnerships with companies that offer cloud services as a highly scalable platform for delivering and managing them. Based around embedded software, Cisco’s Video Analytics solution allows customers to classify recorded events and also count people and objects. This would allow an embedded customer to monitor its facilities more effectively and with less security personnel. These are just two examples of how embedded cloud services and video analytics are being enabled. However, this rich media and big data trend is not just limited to the networks.

The impact of this trend also extends into the end devices themselves. The embedded hardware being deployed for enabling rich media and big data spans the spectrum from embedded processors to integrated computing systems. For example, Intel has released its Xeon Processor E3-1200v2, which has the capability of encoding and decoding simultaneous video streams and can serve in a variety of vertical market segments including communications devices, gaming platforms, digital security surveillance applications and more.  At the embedded systems level, Radisys recently partnered with Arkadin to provide media servers for Arkadin’s Cloud Collaboration Platform, which delivers conferencing services through a global-IP network.

So the fundamental question for OEMs is not just how the demand for rich media/big data is influencing system requirements, but also how this new functionality and intelligence translates to new business opportunities/models. This question is at the heart of VDC Research Group’s upcoming market research series: Voice of the Customer: Rich Media and Big Data in Embedded Systems.

Now is the opportunity to become a Research Influencer and help guide this research program’s final direction. For more information, please contact us.

Extracting Elusive Value from the Embedded Cloud – A Consumer Perspective – Part 1

As part of a series supporting the recently published M2M/ Embedded Cloud reports, I explored a few M2M benefits for the industrial machine markets and wind power industry. As I extend this blog series, I wanted to look at a few ways that Machine to Machine M2M connectivity can provide many benefits to consumers in their everyday life and, as a result can provide more revenue opportunities to the businesses that embrace this new age of embedded cloud M2M connectivity.

A Rich Environment for M2M Connectivity: 

Appliances: These days most appliances have, at the very least embedded processors. As I mentioned in a previous blog from the ESC/Design West show, suppliers such as Inside Secure, Lantronix, Silex, and Texas Instruments and others give appliance manufacturers many options to have their products connect to networks and mobile devices.  These M2M features could act as a driver for new product sales but, also a method of increasing service revenue from field upgrades.

Mobile Devices: Most consumers or, at a minimum, at least one person in a household have very capable mobile products that can be used as Human Machine Interfaces (HMI).  Therefore, many appliances could have the capabilities of a dedicated full featured panel and keyboard interface without having the expense of adding that hardware.

As part of this blog series, I thought I would look at a few typical household/consumer activities as a place where M2M could deliver value to many stakeholders. In part 1, we look to laundry and a trip to the supermarket.  In part 2 we look to food storage and preparation.

Laundry a “Clean” Opportunity for M2M:

Smart Grid: In a residence that has a smart meter, the power used can be measured with respect to time with lower rates for off peak usage. Laundry is a task that usually has some flexibility in when it can be done. Using their mobile HMI, a person could program the washer/dryer to run during an optimal time period for lower power costs. In a full M2M configuration, communication between the laundry appliances and the grid operator through the cloud or directly to the smart meter could add the needed timing and precision.

Commercial/Facility: For those where in-residence laundry machines are not an option, M2M could provide benefits as HMIs could allow consumers to reserve Laundromat machines in advance or at least know machine were availability before in advance.  The mobile devices and M2M could provide other benefits like cashless transactions, locking the machines to prevent theft/tampering, and alerting the user that a load is complete.

A Trip to the Store with M2M:

Setting the Route: Let’s consider a consumer that has a shopping list that takes into account some food and other things they are planning to buy. The nearby supermarket specials have been downloaded onto their mobile device and an application coupled with an embedded GPS can provide the consumer with a cost effective and efficient plan to buy what they need at the best prices.  The consumer’s HMI also might have information about traffic and or what might be the best times to go to the store to avoid crowding and long lines. The consumer’s HMI could possibly help them find item locations in the store with the assistance of a store provided application.  All together, this  allows the consumer to spend less time shopping, get the needed items for the best price, and save gas/travel expenses.

Other Possible M2M Benefits:

• The supermarkets can level the peak demand for personnel and connect the customer to their goods to a degree never before possible.
• Printed supermarket fliers are expensive to produce and distribute and, they likely have to be planned far in advance in anticipation of items being available. M2M can make the system much more responsive if prime produce, meats or seafood are suddenly available or, unexpectedly not available.
• Consumers can avoid situations where the store they select is out of stock on an item that they need.
• Produce is an “experience good” in that sometimes you have to buy it and try it to see if it is really good. An application that would allow consumers to rate a particular batch of product would be really valuable to store owners as well as fellow customers. A store application could look at situations where customers buy a small amount of a product one day and return the next day and buy a lot more. This repeat buy index would be representative of a really good lot of produce.
• As the consumer is on the route to the store, their HMI might give them offers. Say for example their car has M2M and it needs an oil change and the supplier en-route has an open service bay waiting. That would be a win from many perspectives.

Summary: I see an environment where embedded cloud/M2M connectivity will be increasingly added to things like appliances, and automobiles. Using mobile devices, and automotive infotainment systems as HMI, many benefits can be seen by the consumers, manufacturers, grid operators, retail store and supermarket owners as well as other service providers. In many cases, these applications and the values created are real or easily achievable in the 2012/2013 timeframe. This is the recipe for success. Speaking of recipes, if you liked this blog, the next one will look at food products and how M2M and the Embedded Cloud can provide value with respect to the food products people buy and often throw out later.

New VDC Research Program Will Provide Valuable Insights into Rich Media & Big Data in Embedded Systems

We wanted to let you know about an important new annual research program we are launching called The Voice of the Customer Series: Rich Media & Big Data in Embedded Systems. The series, which is based on extensive primary research of embedded vendors and intelligent system OEMs, will provide you with the information you need to formulate and implement a best-in-class strategy for addressing the issues around and opportunities arising from rich media content and big data.

We’ve designed the program to help engineering managers at large OEMs and the embedded technology vendors who provide them with critical products and services.   Engineering managers will get expert guidance and insight into best practices and trends in the development of embedded systems that create and manage rich media and big data, and the business opportunities these new systems are creating for them and their customers.  Technology vendors – including processor, board and software vendors – will get deep insight into the rapidly evolving needs, requirements, and selection criteria of their OEM customers who are developing systems that leverage rich media and big data.  Some of the issues we’ll be looking at during the next 12 months include:

• What underlying factors are driving rich media and big data in embedded systems, and how do OEM’s approaches vary?

• How are cloud services and analytics changing OEM business models and infrastructure investments?

• Which technology vendors are best positioned to support OEM’s rich media and big data projects and programs?

• How OEMs are enabling new functionality through embedded hardware?

Want to learn more? Click here to download the Research Outline.