VDC Research: Embedded Microprocessor, Board & Systems Market Blog

Design West / ESC Show Highlights - Part 2

In this blog I will continue to explore some of the VDC Embedded Hardware team experience at the Design West ESC show. We saw a lot of great product demonstrations along with some excellent detailed briefings and meetings so it’s difficult to boil it all down to a reasonable size blog but here we go:

AMD: We saw a number of embedded computer products from multiple manufactures that featured AMD processors. Many of these would be great for scalable edge node applications. Heard a bit more about the latest Opteron 3200 series of processors which will likely find many cloud based applications. While at AMD we visited partner Xi3 they have some really nifty looking cube type computers that can be deployed in array like structures. The concept they were showing was a datacenter on wheels.

Atmel: Was showing some new products that seemed really great for embedded M2M type connectivity but, according to the press material I received, the details are embargoed for another week or two.

Digi-International: Digi was a company we covered in the Migrating to the Embedded Cloud report that published this week so we really wanted to stop by and see if there was anything new going on.  What we saw didn’t disappoint as there was a lot of evidence about the partnerships we talk about in the report. Digi and Wind River were announcing a collaboration to deliver M2M wireless connectivity solutions using Intel processors. This is on the heels of a similar partnership that Digi has with Freescale. We saw that Digi was using another company’s embedded computer hardware products as part of the cloud connectivity demonstration but, as that partnership is not announced; I can’t write more about that now.

Integrated Device Technology (IDT): In this booth there was a very impressive demonstration of  serial RapidIO technology being deployed in a number of different companies’ products. This is very important in cellular 3G and 4G deployments. Despite being handled by different protocols, hardware and connection methods the data travelled end-to-end efficiently and, most importantly without being corrupted.

Imagination Technologies:  We saw some really great examples of their IP used in mobile devices and applications. As people become more ingrained with mobile devices, high resolution videos, and larger screen sizes, it takes some pretty complex systems on chip to make it work. The difficult thing is getting the needed performance while not sucking the mobile equipments battery dry.

Inside Secure: As the market for M2M is growing there needs to be ways to ensure of the identity of the machines and people being connected. Inside Secure gave us a briefing on several of their security technologies that can be embedded into products to address these issues.

Lantronix: As an OEM is making design decisions on new products or looking to update older ones adding wired and/or wireless connectivity can be a problem. Lantronix briefed us on several of their products where the connective capability can be added to new designs or even old ones on an as needed basis. Almost as a proof of concept, Lantronix produced xPrintServer using technology they usually sell to OEMs to allow Apple devices to directly connect to existing legacy printers using a downloadable app.

Microchip: The VDC Embedded SW and HW teams had several meetings with Microchip and we were particularly happy to have an opportunity for a great discussion their President and CEO Steve Sanghi. As this blog looks to be running a little long, I will give the special focus to topics we covered with Mr. Sanghi in a blog next week. The hardware team learned a lot about some of the new Microchip MCUs that are adding analog circuitry such as ADCs, DACs, Op-Amps, and Comparators.  This puts more functionality into a single package while, at the same time often reduces device pin count.

Micron: I saw a detailed briefing on the latest about the Micron memory cube product. The through hole vias on the semiconductor dies that make this design possible are interesting in themselves.

National Instruments: This was another company that is covered in the Embedded Cloud report and, we saw that the Compact Rio product has some new, even more compact, product lines extensions. In the booth there was also a mock-up of a Siemens smart grid transmission line breaker module. The N/I Compact Rio was part of the design in that it could capture and transmit events that happened on the transmission lines. One of the neat things is Siemens/NI project is that the breaker can be reset remotely.

Netronome: If you ever want to see a place where powerful embedded processors are used in large quantities in high volume applications, a network flow processor is a good place to look. These impressive units we saw inspect packets and move internet traffic at extremely high rates.

Power.org: An interesting talk with one of the Directors at the IBM booth to learn more about this organization that unifies standards among its members around the Power Architecture technology with a goal of making sure that processors and communications products work efficiently as the scale of connectivity grow ever increasingly higher.

Silex: We saw some product briefings on their connectivity modules. With respect to M2M connectivity this is pretty interesting if for example you are a product designer supporting a legacy product that you want to add M2M services to or, in other cases, you are worried that a particular standard fall out of favor, and you want the product you are designing to be future proof.

SuperMicro: They have a very large line of products and the MicroCloud product was particularly interesting to us because of the embedded cloud report where we had profiled SuperMicro.  The MicroCloud product impressed us with its ability to scale up as a cloud service and/or the amount of machines being supported in an edge node application grows.

Texas Instruments: TI had a lot to show us with all types of embedded hardware products adding GPS and motion sensing as well as Wi-Fi and other connectivity. Anyone that has taken a portable device with GPS applications into a building, large city, or tunnel will realize that these types of products have a waiting market.  We also got briefings on some new process intensive DSP products that are becoming increasingly important to many markets. This is one of the topics I will expand on in the next installment of this blog series.

Next week, I’ll give a few last high level takeaways about things we saw and discussed at the show.

Perpetual & Pervasive Consumer Engagement Platforms Shaping Semi Market

From TVs, twitter, and mobile phones, the amount of electronic information with which we are presented on a daily basis has exploded and we have become increasingly conditioned to want this information on a at our fingertips real-time basis. We have almost gotten to the point now, however, that we – as a society – have developed a Device Attention Hyperactivity Disorder. So within the retail automation, at the same time that we want a more immersive consumer experience, it is becoming both more difficult and important to capture customer attention and loyalty.

Now enters the role of tomorrow’s digital signage. What were once nothing more than transaction facilitators or static standalone advertisement platforms have become a rapidly evolving medium for consumer engagement and market intelligence. The digital signage platforms of tomorrow combine artificial intelligence and real-time analytics in order to enable the more dynamic and tailored experience retailers want.

Imagine a world where you are in a mall and walk into a store and a digital signage kiosk can sense your preferences and suggest products to you as soon as you arrive in the store. Then you are presented with a range of potential product options that you can scroll through. Meanwhile, the digital sign pings the stores servers, an associate is paged, alerted to your presence, and given a heads up as to what of the products you are browsing through in stock.

As some of you all know, this type of M2M interaction is already starting to happen in some retail settings. So what does this mean to the embedded supplier community?

For one, there are new revenue opportunities presented through the enablement of this rich, connected consumer experience, but there is also an opportunity for embedded solution suppliers and their clients to access additional marketing revenue paid by clients hoping to have their specific brand promoted first within the digital signs.

Whereas these new functionality requirements can certainly help embedded solution vendors diversify their portfolio of products and services, the evolution of the semiconductor requirements for these systems is also helping to drive change in this market. Not only do these systems have higher performance media and graphics processing requirements, but the semiconductor technology needed to support them is becoming available at increasingly competitive price points that are reinforcing market opportunity growth.

Connect with VDC Research Group at the Design West/Embedded Systems Conference 2012!

VDC Research Group will be joining the Design West/Embedded Systems Conference 2012 exhibition and conference.  During the conference, we will be presenting the coveted VDC Embeddy awards to a deserving product in each of the 2 software and hardware categories. To make sure your product is considered, please make sure that:

• The product is formally announced at the show or, has been announced as of January, 2012
• That the VDC Research team will be briefed on the details of the product by your show staff.

VDC’s Embedded Hardware Team will be arriving March 27th and will be at the conference through March 29th.  During that time, we welcome the opportunity to connect with attending vendors.  We look forward to explaining VDC’s research methodology, learning about your latest product releases, and discussing your market research and strategic needs.

If you would like to learn more about the show, please click here.

If you would like to schedule a meeting around Embedded Hardware, please contact:

David Laing, Senior Analyst, Embedded Hardware & Systems Practice, VDC Research Group at: dlaing@vdcresearch.com or 508.653.9000 x146.

Or

Chris Rommel, Vice President, Embedded Hardware & Systems Practice, VDC Research Group at: crommel@vdcresearch.com  or 508.653.9000 x123.

If you would like to schedule a meeting around Embedded Software, please contact:

Jared Weiner, Analyst, Embedded Software & Tools Practice, VDC Research Group at: jweiner@vdcresearch.com  or 508.653.9000 x143.

GE’s 4th Quarter: The Industrial Crystal Ball for Embedded Hardware in 2012?

General Electric released its 4^th Quarter 2011 earnings today. As many know, GE has grown from its humble beginnings in light bulbs to provide a spectrum of products from aircraft engines to financial services. While GE Intelligent Platforms makes embedded hardware, GE as a whole goes far beyond the world of embedded.  As a former GE engineer myself, I have seen firsthand the world-class technology GE brings to market. Since it is a global company with diverse industries, it is typically seen as a bell-weather indicator for the general economy that drives the vertical markets of the embedded industry.

So, what can we glean about the future of the embedded hardware markets from GE’s 4^th Quarter Earnings announcement?

First, off, CEO Jeff Immelt mentions “continued volatility for 2012” and restructuring GE’s business in Europe to match market conditions. Obviously, volatility is never a reassuring term. And the situation in Europe appears uncertain. VDC expects that this will mean fewer embedded hardware shipments to Europe, shifting the market share percentages towards the US and Asia-Pacific regions.

Total GE revenues for the quarter were $38 billion - down from many analysts’ expectations, and down 8% from the 4^th quarter of 2010. However, this was mostly due to the impact of GE’s sale of its majority stake in NBC Universal. GE is most likely making the right decision to focus on its core competency: industrial products.

But, GE’s global direction aside, what do their division results say for the future? Energy Infrastructure was up 16% Y-o-Y, which is promising. This energy infrastructure would have opportunities for a host of embedded processors, from smart grid applications to wind farms to gas power turbines. For GE, that meant $43.7 billion dollars in revenue. Lots of opportunities going forward assuming this kind of growth continues. Aviation and Healthcare were a more modest 7% growth Y-o-Y, but still over $18 billion in revenue for each segment. Surely there is some embedded hardware associated with that project revenue as well: microcontrollers into engine related equipment; CPUs, GPUs, and more into MRI, CT, X-ray, portable medical equipment, etc. Perhaps most impressive from a revenue growth perspective is Transportation: 45% Y-o-Y.  In 2009 and 2010, this segment posted revenue declines. 

What are the embedded hardware opportunities in transportation?  First, a closer look at what GE defines as Transportation.  This segment includes diesel locomotives, transit propulsion equipment, motorized wheels for off-highway vehicles, and a variety of other motor and system devices.  As the BRIC economies continue to expand, they are no doubt demanding a range of transportation technologies such as the ones GE offers, which all will likely require embedded hardware at some point in their deployment, so the opportunities for embedded hardware here are substantial.    

Quanta Case versus AMD Underscores Importance of Component/Assembly Testing - Part 2

In the last week’s blog we looked at the semiconductor manufacturing process and the various testing steps that happen as raw silicon is turned into finished devices. In this week's follow up we continue looking at the testing process on the product manufacturing side. Last week we noted that Quanta was manufacturing notebook computers. Because of this, I want to make two observations about the product designs and manufacturing process for notebook computers.

• Notebook computer suppliers are continually trying to make them as thin and lower cost as possible. This means that Quanta might not have been using sockets and could be mounting the AMD/ATI devices directly on the circuit board. This can be a potential problem in some cases where the device was exposed to humidity before being heated as part of the surface mounted device (SMD) process as it can cause device degradation that leads to future failures.

• SMD processes increases costs with respect to failures as repairing a SMD CPU or Graphic component on a computer motherboard with hundreds of densely packed conductors is time consuming, difficult, and the scrap rate of the entire unit can be high.

• As the issue cited in the lawsuit is thermal in nature, it is worth noting that a higher power device such as a CPU or graphics chip often require heat sinks/cooling features to avoid problems. This is another area where manufacturing problems could have been introduced as these devices need to have excellent heat transfer to the cooling feature. Thermal pastes and a process to ensure optimal surface contact between the device and heat sink are needed.

Now, we will look at a few key testing steps on the product manufacturing side.

1.) Incoming Test: This process is considered as being redundant to supplier testing before shipment. Product manufacturers used to commonly test incoming components but, due to cost reduction pressures, that practice is now very uncommon outside the Mil/Aero market. Although it is not likely relevant to the Quanta vs. AMD/ATI case, counterfeiting and other supply chain related cases where lesser specification devices are re-labeled make incoming test more relevant again even in consumer type product manufacture.

2.) Circuit Board/Module Test: The fully assembled circuit board or module is tested before it is embedded in the final product. Thermal transfer issues can be identified by the use of infrared, optical, and or sensors. Repairs are expensive for problems found here but, it is still far less costly than having the product failing downstream.

3.) Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT): This is one last type of testing process that might have mitigated AMD and Quanta’s issue at either the packaged device, module/circuit board or completely assembled product stage. The unit being tested is put through extreme levels of hot and cold cycles while also experiencing other stresses such as vibration and g-forces. In this way, a myriad of potential production issues can be detected before the product ends up in customer hands and/or is in a mission critical role that embedded computers are frequently placed in.

In closing, HALT testing is an almost de-facto step in Military products let alone ones that might be launched into space. In Quanta’s case, you would never do this with all of the units but certainly at least a sample of them. If Quanta did not do this, the brand owner should have.  It does seem like a mystery to me about why this case is happening. It should be interesting to find out where the process became broken or which steps were skipped. If something interesting does come to light in the future we will surely revisit this case.

Quanta Case versus AMD Underscores Importance of Component/Assembly Testing - Part 1

This week I read of the lawsuit filed by Quanta Computer Inc. against AMD and its ATI division. The lawsuit alleges that components that they sold Quanta turned out to have heat tolerance related issues that caused the laptops they were used in to fail. It seems a little strange to me that Quanta is the only company with the problem unless they are buying a unique product or batch of products from AMD/ATI. Even so, with a multi-layered testing process the type of problem claimed by Quanta should not happen. The facts of the case will no doubt be revealed if additional claimants come forward and/or the case goes to trial.

Quanta is a Taiwanese contract manufacturer of notebook computers. Since they are a contract manufacturer this means that most of the finished goods they produce are someone else’s brand. They compete on the basis of cost and reliability/quality to get business from the owner of that brand. The damages they are seeking would be from their production losses from needing to repair or scrap finished products and/or subsequent damage to the perception of their own corporate brand.

This case has great relevance to the embedded hardware markets we cover and underscores the importance of a multi-tiered testing process. Therefore, I thought I would share some insights from my 30 year experience in the automatic test industry. I can safely say that despite the perception that testing increases cost, the costs of failure go up significantly at each step of the process between wafer creation and when the finished consumer/industrial product is completed. As one might understand, the absolute worst case is when the manufacturing/design failure occurs in the finished product when it is in the hands of the end customer. How can this be avoided? In this blog, I will look at the manufacturing process for semiconductor devices and, in next week’s follow up, I will look at what happens on the product manufacturing side.

1.) Raw Silicon Wafer: Optical checks are used to look for impurities and surface imperfections before the wafer goes through the extensive chemical/photo process that creates the semiconductor product. This test is very fast and it can save you the cost of chemicals and lost production time.

2.) Wafer Test: The semiconductor devices are still on the round wafer. The wafer is tested by using a probe mechanism that makes temporary contact with all of its contact pads. The tester than makes fairly extensive tests to make sure that the device is worth packaging. Tests can be made at various temperatures as part of this test cycle. In some cases, higher temperatures are used to speed up testing.

3.) Package Device Tests:

• Quick continuity and resistance tests are made to make sure the wire bonding/connecting process between the individual semiconductor dies and the package were good and that the device does not have any major faults.
• More detailed tests are then made to ensure the device works perfectly. Several cycles may be involved with the devices being subjected to high or low heat and less than optimal input voltages. The ultimate goal is to subject to the device to similar conditions to what it will see when it is installed in the finished product.

If the device passes through all of these testing steps, it is then further packaged for safe transport and easy assembly into the circuit board by the company like Quanta.In next week's follow up, we will look at what happens on the product manufacturing side.

UAVs, the “Social Networks,” of the Defense Supplier World, Attract Heavy Investment in 2012

New generations of sensors, high-capacity data networks, and integrated digital technologies emerging in military & aerospace markets have assured strong, continued investment for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies – even in the face of current budget cuts for the US Department of Defense.  Ranging from the sizeable, high-altitude Global Hawk and Predator Class UAVs to man-portable systems capable of launch by hand or bungee slingshot, this disruptive technology has reshaped military strategy around intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) applications.  

Viewed as the “social networks” of the defense supplier world, VDC expects coming years will see strong growth in UAV-enabling technologies, as new and existing players expand their portfolio of solutions targeted at the domain.  Much as early social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Myspace) attracted an influx of companies into social networking, VDC believes that increasingly sophisticated, real-time ISR applications – combined with the seemingly ubiquitous media attention given to UAV solutions – will drive even more players in the military & aerospace markets to invest in advancing UAV technologies.  

• Piloted remotely or - increasingly - autonomously, UAVs require high-performance computational systems capable of analyzing large amounts of data in near real-time.
• Advanced image processing and rendering technologies, including hardware accelerators, enable these systems to handle more processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) of data on the UAV.  For example, rather than streaming all gathered data to command centers for analysis, advanced UAV systems are capable of mining through this data to identify frames containing specific features (ex. green truck).  As this technology improves, UAV image processing will be accelerated to allow enhanced real-time transmission and analysis of mission-critical information.
• VDC also expects UAVs to be a prime market for small form factor embedded technologies, enabling potential growth for smaller CPUs (i.e. ARM-based, Intel Atom) and active backplane form factors (i.e. Mobile-ITX, Pico-ITX, PC/104).

VDC will soon be publishing a study analyzing the commercial market for embedded integrated computer systems (EICS) market within the military & aerospace industry (“Military/Aerospace:  Volume 4, Track 3: Embedded Integrated Systems Supplier Analysis”).  In this report, our analysts more thoroughly outline current macro, technological, and industry-wide trends impacting the military & aerospace vertical, and how VDC sees the market evolving.

Intel Joins I3A in Effort to Capitalize on Mobile Imaging Applications

Earlier this week, the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A), a not-for-profit organization composed of various industry participants committed to the imaging industry, announced that Intel will join the association at the highest level of membership.  As a “Strategic member,” Intel can obtain a wide range of membership benefits offered by I3A, as well as influence the organization’s Mobile Imaging Interest Group and its Camera Phone Image Quality Initiative.  Interest Groups such as these follow markets and technologies of interest to their members, enabling development of industry standards and the cooperation necessary to solve challenges that may arise around imaging.  The Mobile Imaging Interest Group focuses efforts on promotion and enablement of mobile imaging innovations.  

Although other embedded processor suppliers, such as AMD and NVIDIA, have gained a competitive marketplace advantage in developing and commercializing CPU graphics capabilities, VDC believes Intel’s decision to join this association highlights the company’s interests in the rapidly-growing graphics and mobile imaging arena.  Additionally, although Intel’s initial mobile strategy seemed to be centered on the netbook market opportunity, VDC sees the company’s leadership in I3A’s Mobile Imaging Interest Group as a sign of Intel’s strategic expansion into the tablet and smartphone spaces.  I3A President Lisa Walker’s description of Intel as “an innovator in the semiconductor industry,” underscores a valid global perception of Intel given the company’s strong position in embedded silicon technology, its long-standing interest in wireless networking and mobility, and its significant resources worldwide.  So, while Intel may not currently have a significantly large presence in graphics processing, the company’s determination to more creatively target the graphics space through I3A membership should not be underestimated. 

ESC Boston is Coming Soon - Schedule Time to Meet with VDC

The Embedded Systems Conference will be held this month (September 26^th-29^th) at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

VDC will be attending the conference once again this year and will be presenting our 7th annual Embeddy Awards for Best in Show live at the conference. The winners will be announced live ahead of Wednesday's morning keynote session.

So how can your company win the Embeddy award?

To be considered, you must schedule a meeting with VDC to discuss the announcement that you are making at the show. You can arrange a meeting time with VDC by doing one of the following:

Contact Stephen Balacco, Director, Embedded Software & Tools Practice, VDC Research Group by contacting Stephen at: sbalacco@vdcresearch.com or 508.653.9000 x 124.

Still need to register?

Online registration is still open and you can always register in person at the show as well.

We are looking forward to another great show.  See you all in Boston!

Next-Generation Embedded Computing: IBM Unveils Cognitive Computing Chips

On August 18, IBM researchers unveiled a new generation of experimental computer chips designed to emulate the brain’s abilities for perception, action and cognition. IBM believes this technology could yield many orders of magnitude less power consumption and space than used in today’s computing platforms. 

In a departure from traditional concepts in designing and building computers, IBM’s first neurosynaptic computing chips recreate the phenomena between spiking neurons and synapses in biological systems, such as the brain, through advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry. Its first two prototype chips have already been fabricated at its chip-making facility in Fishkill, New York and are currently undergoing testing at its research labs in Yorktown Heights, New York and in San Jose, Calif. 

In terms of technical specifications, one core contains 262,144 programmable synapses and the other contains 65,536 learning synapses. The IBM team has successfully demonstrated simple applications like navigation, machine vision, pattern recognition, associative memory and classification.  

Called cognitive computers, systems built with these chips won’t be programmed the same way traditional computers are today. Rather, cognitive computers are expected to learn through experiences, find correlations, create hypotheses, and remember – and learn from – the outcomes, mimicking the brain's structural and synaptic plasticity. 

To do this, IBM is combining principles from nanoscience, neuroscience, and supercomputing as part of a multi-year cognitive computing initiative, involving IBM's Dr. Dharmendra Modha, and leading academics at Stanford University,  University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center, and University of California- Merced.

The company and its university collaborators also announced they have been awarded approximately $21 million in new funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase 2 of the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project.  

Neurosynaptic Chips 

While they contain no biological elements, IBM’s first cognitive computing prototype chips use digital silicon circuits inspired by neurobiology to make up what is referred to as a “neurosynaptic core” with integrated memory (replicated synapses), computation (replicated neurons) and communication (replicated axons).  

VDC sees IBM and its cognitive computing initiative academic partners as achieving an important milestone in altering the future of the embedded computing landscape.  IBM’s overarching cognitive computing architecture is an on-chip network of light-weight cores, creating a single integrated system of hardware and software, a critical shift away from traditional, less power efficient embedded computing platforms. 

IBM’s long-term goal is to build a chip system with ten billion neurons and one hundred trillion synapses, while consuming merely one kilowatt of power and occupying less than two liters of volume. VDC applauds this advancement, but we also recognize practical application of such technology in the field to drive business and industrial process improvements is likely a decade away.