VDC Research: Embedded Microprocessor, Board & Systems Market Blog

Sandy Hook & Aurora Theatre - Can Embedded Technology be a Part of the Solution?

In yesterday’s blog we looked at some pretty creepy applications for situational awareness technology. Now, let’s look to how these systems can be employed in a much more socially acceptable manner. In the wake of the Sandy Hook School and Aurora Theatre tragedies, President Obama has made a governmental call to action with a task force being formed to examine every possible solution. Gun control will be considered as well as the NRA’s plan to use more armed guards.  Neither extreme is likely to be a good standalone solution.

Embedded computing could be part of a more optimal solution. Situational awareness technology similar to the signage and Verizon patent could be used as part of surveillance and security systems. In large urban areas, systems that detect and precisely locate gunshots are already being successfully deployed.  When these Gunshot Location (GSL) systems are coupled with remote controlled high definition cameras it is makes it much more likely that a perpetrator can be swiftly apprehended.

In an indoor setting like a school and movie theatre a GSL system would be presented with challenges that they would not have outdoors. The acoustics of walls and hallways will require sophisticated Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capabilities to account for the echoes and make a precise location. If we take the movie theatre into account, there would have to be some feedback of the movie soundtrack back into the GSL system to ignore the gunshots in the movie.

So, would this situational awareness and GSL technology be the complete solution? Unfortunately the answer would be no. What it would be is a mitigating factor allowing in some cases a much more timely response from security and/or law enforcement. The emergency responders would immediately know the identity and location of the threat. It is also possible that a situation could be prevented if the situational awareness presented an actionable alert to security before the shooting starts. Angry shouts, rapid changes in the area population’s mood / emotions could be possible triggers. Camera systems that identify possible guns being carried could also play a part but they would need humans as a backup. Even so, these surveillance systems would have the constant attention that no human could consistently apply over long time periods.

Regardless of the exact details of President Obama’s task force findings and the resulting US government legislation and response that follow, there are a few elements that are certain. Money will be appropriated and visual and acoustic data from widespread camera and microphone installations will need to be tightly integrated to provide the actionable data. Therefore, there will be clear opportunities in 2013 and beyond for embedded component, system and software suppliers. Those suppliers that already are participating in Digital Signage or Digital Security and Surveillance markets will have an advantage but new or innovative technology can easily disrupt the incumbents so complacency is not an option.

That TV You are Viewing Might be Looking at You

This blog related to a Verizon patent application is a follow-up to a previous VDC embedded hardware blog talked about the embedded computing capability being added to signage. The Verizon patent application is for similar applications/technology related to set-top boxes.

If the Verizon technology described in the patent is deployed, that same type of technology mentioned in the previous blog on signage might one day apply in your living room.  The Verizon technology would monitor the TV viewing area using microphones, cameras and or sensors. These sensors could be located in the set-top box, TV, and/or mobile device. Verizon’s overall goal would be to gain situational awareness of the TV viewers to allow targeted advertising.  

Deploying this type of situational awareness technology will have to be done very carefully to avoid offending customers. The deployment will also need to be extremely securely to avoid any risk that the system would be hacked and expose customers to remote eavesdroppers/peepers. The risk that law enforcement would want to leverage such as system for court approved wiretaps can also not be discounted. To be clear, Verizon has only applied for the patent, there is no indication that this is close to an actual product at this point.

Verizon certainly would not be the first company with home intrusive-technology. If you have ever played Xbox360 Kinnect, you have seen that it snaps pictures of game participants. In addition to showing them on-screen after the game action finishes as entertainment, the Xbox 360 transmits some of these back to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform where the data is stripped of identifying elements but is often used by game developers as a part of a feedback process.

Embedded processors and situational intelligence will have an increasing presence in our home lives and certainly some of this is likely to be a bit creepy. In tomorrow’s blog, we will examine how this technology can be deployed for excellent non controversial causes such reducing the number and severity of tragedies like Sandy Hook and the Aurora Theatre.

That Sign You are Viewing Might Be Looking at You

While doing some research on small form factor embedded computers for our M2M reports, I ran across something I thought was very interesting, and I think you will find it interesting as well. I saw that a recently released Kontron embedded computer targeted at the digital signage market was pre-validated for use with Intel’s AIM Suite software. I thought that it couldn’t be AOL’s Instant Messenger so I wondered what it was. As it turns out, AIM stands for Audience Impression Metric and it uses video from outward facing cameras in the digital signage. By using the AIM software, the material being presented can be changed to improve response.

The keynote speech given by MIT’s Rosalind Picard at this year’s Design East/Embedded System Conference underscored the incredible amount of information that can be automatically generated from a video feed. As part of experiments refining the technology and testing reactions, the MIT media lab installed several of these systems to measure ‘happiness levels’ in several MIT public areas. One of Ms. Picard’s presentation slides showed that facial analysis software can even measure the pulse rate of the people based on minute changes in facial coloration.

How can M2M empowered signage work in practice? First of all, one fear of any company purchasing public advertising is that not enough people will see it to justify the expense. Now, assurances can be made and contracts written based on the number of people that truly look at the signage. Which graphics and message will have the best impact? Now multiple versions can be deployed and based on real time information, all of the signage can be changed to the best versions and possibly changed again when people show they are tired of them. It is even theoretically possible to change the advertisements dynamically in response to the demographics of the people in the vicinity. It could be a simple as adults versus children or more complicated analysis based on personal characteristics and what people are wearing or carrying. Pretty interesting isn’t it and perhaps a little scary?

If this topic is of interest, this previous VDC blog also covered M2M in digital signage.

Overcoming The Hurdles of Big Data

With the growth of the Internet of Things through the proliferation of connectivity, a massive amount of data traffic is being generated. But it is not only the volume of data, but the vast variety of data as well. This amount of data is creating huge burdens for networks and challenging the business models of service providers. Individual users are increasingly online for more minutes per day and utilizing more bits/user than ever before, and this trend will only continue. The necessary investment in backhaul technology is slow in catching up the needs of this demand, and this hinders service providers ability to capitalize on their existing investments. This demand for data and rich media content is also shifting the hardware priorities for OEMs towards enabling greater connectivity and the ability to manage systems of remote connected devices.

But ultimately this massive data traffic creates huge opportunities in the form of Big Data. The connectivity now coming into the market provides access to data that was previously locked away. Machine to machine (M2M) communications is providing an industrial kind of Big Data that previously was inaccessible to most companies. Big Data is also important for managing these fleets of connected devices to ensure optimal alignment of resources with demand at all times of day.

Big Data is not without its challenges. First the connectivity has to be in place, which is obviously a major hurdle and investment drain. Beyond this factor, survey respondents indicated a number of major obstacles to the development of Big Data solutions. First, there is the need to improve the performance of solutions. How quickly and accurately the data can be digested and transformed into useful information is the real value of any Big Data solution. Security is also a highly cited concern to ensure the quality of the data collected and that only the right people have access to this valuable information. Another area for improvement is reducing the cost of Big Data solutions. Overcoming these hurdles will of course take time, but they provide priorities for developers of Big Data analytical tools.

A Quick Follow-up on the Scary M2M Blogs

I was reading the paper today and saw a story in the Boston Globe about people being shocked to find out that their Facebook account has them liking Mitt Romney, Jay-Z, Danica Patrick, and Grey Goose Vodka. Now this could be the result of having too much Grey Goose and not remembering that late night Facebook session, I have another possible explanation related to my Halloween blog post.

What if, people using using sniffer applications on public Wi-Fi networks were selling the session cookies they stole? I am not sure whether they can be re-used in all cases but, if they can be, this might be the way that some entities are increasing their popularity on Facebook.

I imagine a re-useable M2M session cookie like one that controls door locks in someones house would be really valuable to someone with criminal intent. Therefore, M2M sessions should always be encrypted and session cookies made worthless after the session is logged or timed-out. As a basic rule of thumb you should never, ever do anything M2M or otherwise on a public Wi-Fi without establishing a VPN tunnel to a safe network resource. This avoids man in the middle exploits.

Death by Defibrillator? - 2 Scary M2M Risks - Part 1

As we continue our VDC FastForward report on the Internet of Things (IoT), security continues to be a major focus point for all of the market ecosystem participants. This week, I saw an interesting article that highlights the challenges of securing mobile equipment that needs to be connected to each other and/or the cloud.

Implanted medical devices need to be connected wirelessly in order to be monitored and adjusted but, need to be protected against being hacked. The worst case a hacker or rogue organization could broadcast signals causing implanted medical devices to go haywire to the detriment of the owners.

OEMs encounter many challenges when implementing M2M features on their products. In many markets including like medical or industrial automation, safety concerns are added to the ever-present priorities of data security.  If there is summation of the problem, it is that properly authenticated users and equipment have to quickly and securely connect to other devices like a defibrillator in an emergency situation. Furthermore, you don’t want the risk of any unauthorized users or devices connecting to that same defibrillator at any time. 

The best solutions often use hybrid combinations of software, hardware and even cloud-based elements in order to be reliable and, at the same time, resistant to hacking.  Within this medical context, the healthcare facility equipment reads the serial number of the embedded unit using RFID technology.  That serial number is then looked up using cloud resources to provide the encryption key for the facilities equipment to interface with the embedded unit. Before doing so, the cloud resources would verify that the facility, equipment, and possibly even the operator were authorized. One method that could increase security would be an embedded hardware component of some type that would be a unique identifier for the facility equipment.

If you are really interested in M2M security, you don’t want to miss the upcoming VDC Webcast Engineering Best Practices for Creating Secure Devices with Chris Rommel. This will be broadcast on November 8^th at 2PM ET.

On Halloween, if we still have power after hurricane Stacy, I will post the second part of this blog with a 2nd scary risk related to M2M and many popular web enabled applications.

A Big Week for Telecom in M2M - 2 Key Announcements

This week there were several interesting developments related to M2M and cloud services. The first was the announcement of an agreement between IBM and AT&T that effectively provides a comprehensive connectivity and cloud services package. Why is this deal significant? The primary answer is security. If there is one main barrier to M2M adoption, it is the concept of moving sensitive data through the internet. The other related barrier is about exposing a machine or thing to outside access through that same path.  One example of security loopholes would be a “man in the middle” access and this is highlighted in the recent US House Intelligence Committee report looking at the entry of Huawei and ZTE into the US market. That report examined the risk that data passing through the Huawei or ZTE equipment could be remotely disrupted by and/or hi-jacked to a 3^rd party which, in this case, would be the Chinese military.

 In a recent VDC survey on the embedded cloud that examined the use of edge computing to support M2M connectivity, we found that security was cited as challenge to implementation by 25 – 30% of respondents. This was significant when we considered that, in addition to the typical edge processing roles of communication, data aggregation and pre-processing, 49% of IT and End-Users surveyed would include firewall/Virtual Private Networking functions in those units. In other words, you can never have too much security.

M2M connectivity often involves cloud based resources and after the connection from the machine to the edge of the network is solved, you then have to make the connection to the cloud. The IBM & AT&T collaboration will give potential customers a secure private connection to the IBM cloud services. The customers will get an integrated solution without having to deal with two completely separate organizations to complete the implementation. This is of huge value to the M2M market because many of the machines/things being connected are mobile and this places extra layers of wireless connectivity in order to complete the M2M solution.

Speaking of mobile equipment connectivity, this brings us to a second notable announcement from this week. On Tuesday, we saw that Digi International had announced collaboration with Deutsche Telecom to enhance their M2M solution portfolio. As part of this agreement, Digi will be the first to integrate DT industrial grade SIM cards into their connectivity products. This removes many layers of complexity in a mobile M2M project as the complete solutions can likely be installed directly out of the box and automatically connect to the Digi cloud services using the DT cellular network.

So, in summary, we see two very similar partnership announcements that are changing the M2M ecosystem in ways that will accelerate the pace of m2M connectivity. This is precisely one the theme of the VDC FastForward: Insights for Leaders report on Securing Your Place in the Evolving Internet of Things Ecosystem that is due to publish shortly. In 4Q of this year, the Embedded Hardware practice will also be covering the OEM perspective of M2M and the Internet of Things through our Voice of the Customer service.

From the Big Dig to Big Data – Can M2M Cure Road Rage?

On my way into the airport today to attend Oracle OpenWorld (running late as usual), I found myself once again grateful for the ways technology has changed our lives and, more specifically, my commute. In this case, I cruised past a long line of cars waiting to pay tolls at exit 14 on the Mass Pike. Empowered by the EZ-Pass sitting on my dash, I skated through the tolls and was one step closer to Logan Airport. Although I find it hard to believe that there are still people who opt to pay cash for their tolls, I gladly accept the opportunity to pass them. But aside from this fleeting competitive advantage (and, yes, driving around Boston is highly competitive) that will eventually fade away as more drivers FINALLY see the light, I am left wondering how our infrastructure can adapt to finally make all of our commutes – and lives – just a little bit easier.

Eisenhower’s interstates are outdated, crumbling, and over capacity. While the quality of the drivers around Boston surely makes all of these issues worse and less tolerable, the number of cars on the road is at the heart of the problem. Isn’t it?

Well, a recent article on IEEE suggests otherwise, stating that traffic could be greatly reduced if our cars were just a little bit (OK, a lot) smarter. Just last week, California, following the highly publicized launch of Google Drive in Nevada, endorsed the future legality of self-driven cars on its roads. The widespread deployment of these autonomous automobiles holds the key to cracking the congestion code – not just for its ability to take control away from bad drivers, but also because the real-time responsiveness of these intelligent systems. Theoretically, via M2M communication and swarm computing, these cars would be able to travel much closer to each other at high speeds, thus potentially all but eliminating the stop-and-go traffic to which we’ve all grown accustomed.

Widespread deployment and network effect timelines aside, this explosion in M2M connectivity requirements would clearly present a boon to embedded hardware and processor vendors. However, such a commitment to more intelligent systems from not only the tech sector, but also our government is a critical step to our ability to achieve this vision of greater efficiency. So while we’re all waiting for this connected car r/evolution, where should ‘intelligent system’ solution vendors look for more immediate payouts?

Our research series, M2M Communications – Connecting Next Generation Systems, will provide that answer and provide both suppliers and OEMs insight into what best-in-class companies are doing, using, and thinking. Please let us know if you have any specific questions that you would like us address as part of a future post or within the research program in general.

Securing Your Place in the Evolving Internet of Things Ecosystem

With the start of the 4^th quarter of 2012 VDC’s Embedded Hardware Practice is kicking off the project to produce the 3rd exciting volume in the FastForward: Insight for Leaders series. We look forward to your participation as we look to profile several dynamic companies that are active in the ecosystem that is driving the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution.

Does your company have an interesting success story that involves some of these elements?

• Solving problems through M2M connectivity
• Monetizing data that had been stove-piped in embedded systems
• Partnerships between your organization and others to provide advanced product packages that involve M2M/IoT
• Cloud based resources
• Green initiatives to save and/or generate energy
• Interesting solutions that involve mobile devices
• IoT connectivity solutions in Mil/Aero, Medical, Retail, Transportation, and/or Infrastructure related markets

If so, one element of this report will be detailed case studies of interesting IoT solutions as they demonstrate the evolving ecosystem of market participants and the technology and business strategies that are being employed.  This VDC report will be a key platform to showcase your company and your IoT success stories to VDC’s  typical audience of suppliers, investors, and potential customers. Please share your story with us and, if possible, we will include it in the report.

If you are interested in participating by contributing and/or purchasing, the full proposal is included here:

 

The Internet of Things is fundamentally redrawing the lines that have defined the embedded computing industry for years. Once the domain of specialized, niche-focused technology suppliers, embedded computing is now attracting enormous attention from virtually every major enterprise IT player (as well as a wide range of start-ups), all of whom increasingly recognize the huge business opportunity resulting from the emerging Internet of Things. At the same time that these major new entrants are appearing in the once staid embedded marketplace, established embedded technology vendors are finding themselves increasingly uncertain regarding how to defend their hard-won turf in specialized verticals and applications, as well as how to stake a claim to a part of Internet of Things explosion. For this report we will develop an industry roadmap that projects the future of the IoT vendor ecosystem, with our view on the changing roles of established embedded industry participants, and the role new entrants are likely to play. In addition, the report will identify core capabilities that established players will need to develop in order to be successful and to secure a prominent position in an industry that could look radically different than it does today.

Are Server Cooling Problems becoming “Things of the Past”?

As is well known in the industry, cooling comprises one of the biggest problems in embedded computing. Although use of multi-core and low power RISC processors has somewhat mitigated the issue for applications and systems that do not require massive computing power, other applications are still faced with the daunting task of keeping components cool without incurring major costs. Data centers, which may include hundreds or even thousands of rack mounted “pizza box” servers, are particularly impacted by this problem. Air cooling is often insufficient, particularly in larger installations in warmer climates, and liquid or spray cooling has, until now, been both cumbersome and expensive.

It now appears that a solution is not only on the horizon, but is on the verge of being readily available.

A small company called Green Revolution Cooling, based in Austin, Texas, has developed a novel approach to liquid cooling utilizing a bath of a specific, but non-proprietary,  formulation of dielectric mineral oils called GreenDEF. With GRC’s solution, the servers are mounted vertically and totally submerged in the coolant bath. The firm claims that their system can reduce cooling energy costs by ninety to ninety-five percent, and also reduce server power by ten to twenty percent! That sounds almost too good to be true.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Intel has, over the past year or so, conducted a fairly rigorous test of the GRC system at its Rio Rancho NM facility. The firm submerged seven servers in GreenDEF, rigged such that the oil would circulate through them (GRC’s CarnotJet system circulates the oil through a pump module and heat exchanger). Seven other identical servers utilizing air cooling were run as controls, and both batches were subjected to the same workloads.

Typically, when air cooling is employed, the cooling means consumes an overhead of approximately sixty percent of additional energy (above that required to run the servers). Intel found that the overhead required by the GRC solution was only two to three percent. In addition, because the servers were maintained at an almost constant temperature, their performance and reliability were enhanced. When the servers were disassembled after a year of use, they showed no detrimental effects from the oil bath submersion. In fact, servers remain cleaner than their air-cooled counterparts because the circulating oil carries away dust which might otherwise accumulate; dust can decrease operating efficiency by as much as two percent, and also cause premature failure.

GRC claims that the only modifications required to prepare a typical server for use with CarnotJet is removing the fan and the conductive grease between the processor and its heat sink, and sealing the hard drive. The facility in which they are to be used need not have chillers, raised floors or other special architectural features. Servers can continue to operate for several hours even in the case of a failure of air conditioning power.

Is there a down side? Well, yes – if a server requires maintenance it must be drained of the oil, which can be a bit messy. However, the GreenDEF itself is rated 0-1-0 by the NFPA (presents no health hazard, high (343° C) flash point, stable even under fire exposure conditions and not reactive with water).

I’ve saved the best for last. It costs less to build a facility utilizing CarnotJet than one that utilizes air cooling and, in many installations, there is a one-to-three year payback in energy savings alone.

I know that this blog sort of sounds like a commercial, but I’m quite impressed. If this is as good as is claimed, one of the industry’s biggest problems may be finally going away.

Word is that SuperMicro plans to offer “oil ready” servers in the fairly near future.