The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming product companies into service businesses. These companies are discovering that launching, managing, and expanding an IoT service comes with unique challenges. The adoption of cloud, analytics, Big Data, mobile, and social technologies compels solution providers and their partners to deliver increased business value. This pace of change shifts the landscape in terms of technology sales and implementation. Partner organizations that fail to maintain and enhance their employees' technical and sales skills will be unable to successfully apply the best technologies to match the evolving business requirements.During a recent DIGITIMES organized Embedded Technology Forum, Tony Tsao, CEO of Global Channel Resource Corporation, said that with cloud services and different mobile apps, opportunities lie in the creation of new business designs by blurring the digital and physical worlds. As the technological revolution accelerates, consumers have completely changed how they shop, how they make purchasing decisions, and what they expect from product distributors. Differentiation between purchasing channels is introducing a series of changes.The current channel maintains the flow from product vendors, distributors, system integrators and telecom services providers, before finally handing over to the customer. But Tsao remarked that in the future, the role of distributor will be shortened to form a path from product vendors and system integrators straight to a Managed Service Provider/Telecom operator and then to the customer. Tsao dubbed this model Channel 3.0. Managed service providers will play a notable role in the ecosystem by improving operations and cutting expenses by outsourcing day-to-day management responsibilities and functions. This can include outsourcing human resource activities, production support, and lifecycle management activities, which speed up the process flow and improve efficiency.The Channel 3.0 concept will enable progressive changes in IoT service business models. Solution providers deliver applications from single to integrated solutions, or even massively migrate to collaborative solutions. And the system platform has been transformed from Machine-to-Machine (M2M), focusing on serving individual machines with better quality, and aggregating systems to remove redundant information already transmitted by other machines. New service models will emerge by adapting complex applications driven by open collaboration architectures, Tsao said.GCR is a company which offers a cloud-based service platform and online marketplace to help SaaS, ISV and pre-integrated IoT solutions deploy services worldwide. GCR's solutions and services create a platform that ties up with a regional and local business operations to reduce the physical demand gap between worldwide ICT channel partners and global buyers, said Tsao.Tony Tsao, CEO of Global Channel Resource CorporationPhoto: Digitimes

At the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF), Kamal Khouri, AMD marketing director of embedded solutions, delivered a keynote where he provided AMD's view on the challenges and opportunities represented by the expansion of smart devices and supporting IoT infrastructures. He also elaborated on roadmap highlights and development plans AMD has for delivering near- and mid-term computing solutions called "Ambidextrous computing." This new roadmap combines powerful graphics performance using a shared, flexible infrastructure to enable both the x86 and 64-bit ARM core ecosystems.Khouri also noted that AMD is seeing key trends for the upcoming year on the development of the IoT market.The first trend seen in the IoT (Internet of Things) area is that more and more smart client devices are enabling realistic natural human communication. Smart cloud services are connecting tens of billions of devices in real time, and Smart Things are extending IoT technology across multiple platforms without human input. Taking medical imaging machines as an example, Smart Things from small sensors to cloud applications are creating a revolution in the electronics industry.The second important trend is virtualization powering IoT applications. Visual information is much more efficient for humans dealing with Smart Things. The market for digital signage and gaming applications massively relies on visual features and is creating tremendous growth momentum for the electronics industry. Moving into the future, utilizing the GPU to accelerate applications will play a more important role than before.The third trend is the dominance of two key CPU architectures. While the interaction between IoT devices involves massive data collection and software processing capabilities, computing power requirements will be very different than the programming methods used in the past.From AMD's internal analysis based on historical and projected combined revenue shares across processor architectures for mobile devices to cloud servers, x86 and ARM-based solutions will account for 80% of the CPU market and dominate the future computing world.The question is not which CPU architecture is better. The real question is how quickly you can develop IoT devices and can the ecosystem support your needs using this architecture in order to accelerate time-to-market?These aforementioned trends have made AMD realize the nature of future computing will take both serial and parallel paths at the same time. Ambidextrous computing, the new AMD product roadmap in 2015, reveals a design framework that features x86 cores and 64-bit ARM cores that are pin-to-pin compatible, allowing the motherboard to run off both SoCs and APUs. And the versatile form factors fit the various requirements of IoT and embedded solutions. The wider range of devices covered span simple wearable devices to sophisticated cloud servers.Project SkyBridge, the first AMD Ambidextrous solution in 2015, will feature the new family of APUs and SoCs based on low-power 20nm Cortex A57 cores with AMD's GCN core architecture. In simple terms, Project SkyBridge will allow these low-power 64-bit ARM based SoCs to run on the same motherboards as x86 low-power SoCs and will feature AMD's upcoming Puma+ cores which were recently introduced as a part of the AMD Mullins and Beema APU lineup.These new AMD APUs and SoCs will also be among the first to feature full support for Android OS platforms, Microsoft Windows, RTOS and Linux operating systems. So this could help AMD to soon enter the mobile sector as technology becomes more favorable for small form factor based IoT products.Khouri ended his keynote by noting that Internet connected devices are forecast to reach 26 billion units by 2020. And the question he asked to everybody was, "How do we handle the technology challenges for managing communication among all of these devices? It seems AMD is trying to answer the question by using Ambidextrous computing to link software, hardware solutions and the entire ecosystem.Dr. Kamal Khouri, AMD marketing director of embedded solutionsPhoto: Digitimes

With higher reliability, greater capacity, comparable effective lower costs and faster read/write speeds, solid-state storage devices (SSD) are fast moving into embedded applications, leading both to more alternatives as well as a move toward standardizing interfaces. Robert J.C. Lee, Apacer senior director of R&D, remarked on three major factors that consumers and industrial-grade applications can consider when deciding to implement SSD solutions. They are reliability, performance and endurance.While the quality and durability of successive generations of flash memories have tended to drop, how an SSD device is tested is becoming a very important matter for developers and electronics device makers.Taking the performance test of SSD as an example, SSD controller needs to manage multi-channel NAND memory access and consider internal or external DRAM cache memory operations. The performance is decided based on how an SSD's random IOPS (Input/output operations per second) requirements have improved. The core issue of performance is speed. And the same scrutiny applied to reliability is also used for data integrity; endurance is the main concern of product life.Talking about Apacer SSD solutions in 2015 at the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF), Lee introduced the company's full product lineup covering network storage, server, embedded systems and smart devices. There are several unique Apacer features to enhance the product's functionality. The first one is HyperCache technology. HyperCache enables data written in SLC page first and ensures the optimized write performance. It then moves data to an MLC area when the device is idle. The leverage of SLC and MLC memory makes the best fit for SSD solutions.Industrial customers are often only willing to use costly SLC memory, which limits SSD capacity for industrial control applications. Apacer has incorporated SLC-Lite memory technology which is 3-10 times more durable than MLC, as well as key technologies that can maintain and monitor program/erase (P/E) wear leveling. This technology also integrates data security features such as SATA link CRC, ECC on DRAM, data plus ECC code on buffer memory, stored data plus ECC code on NAND memory. It allows the SSD to be integrated into lightweight industrial control applications, while SLC-Lite memory will become the new darling of industrial control applications.The next important consideration is that power matters. Unexpected power failure will cause data loss and raise a direct impact on SSD operations. To deal with unexpected power failure situations, Apacer provides a feature of power failure mechanisms with implementing protective CorePower circuits to guarantee all cache data will be flushed into flash memory safely.Apart from the above technologies, Apacer provides enterprise SSD products with high capacity up to 2TB, supporting both UltraSpeed SATAIII and PCIe interfaces and other traditional connections. For server solutions, Apacer also provides small form factor Disk on Modules for 1U servers with a cableless design for fitting operating system backup or cache operating purposes.Lee also highlighted Apacer's patented 7+2 pins power socket design, eliminating the power line of the socket in motherboard layout. This patented technology has been implemented to the Intel Grantley server board family covering the Intel S2600CW Family, Cottonwood Pass, Taylor Pass and Kennedy Pass motherboards.Non-volatile Memory is another area where Apacer's unique designs combine SSD and DIMM technologies together. There is one DIMM memory equipped with SSD and DDR memory altogether, or a Non Volatile DIMM, which is best suitable for backup or for restoring DRAM data.The operation procedures are using DRAM memory addresses visible to the host during the power on state and the NAND memory keeps data for persistency during the power off state. Once the power returns the data will be restored from NAND memory immediately. These products are trying to enhance the reliability of DIMM product lines to create a special purpose memory solution in the embedded systems. Apacer is committed to providing flexible memory solutions to service IoT and embedded solution providers.Robert J.C. Lee, Apacer senior director of R&D

Mouser Electronics, a Texas based company and part of the Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, is an authorized distributor of semiconductors and electronic components for over 500 electronic component suppliers. Specializing in the rapid introduction of new products and technologies for design engineers and buyers, Mouser introduced an extensive product offering of MultiSIM BLUE software tools to help engineers speed up the process of selecting, purchasing and designing products during the recent at the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF).Neil Su, technical support manager of Mouser Electronics Asia, presented the strength of MultiSIM BLUE in this session. In collaboration with National Instrument, Mouser showed how MultiSIM BLUE is a powerful tool to add features and functionality to provide engineers with an industry-standard SPICE simulation environment of electronic circuits using Mouser Electronics' distributed components.First of all, MultiSIM BLUE will include a database of more than 100,000 electronic components with intuitive simulation features and SPICE analyses. Engineers can visualize and evaluate linear performance, making this critical development step of circuit design easier, faster and more productive. With MultiSIM BLUE, engineers can easily create schematics, simulate circuits and build printed circuit board layouts. MultiSIM BLUE gives the ability to scheme and simulate, plus it handles PCB layout, Bill of Materials (BOM) and purchasing.The second, design specification simulation is driven by the same parser technology as NI Multisim software with support from BSIM and other advanced parameters. The simulation tools use a friendly interface to tap different instruments and plug into various circuit designs while also checking the signaling status.Once the simulation is done, MultiSIM BLUE helps with the PCB (printed circuit board) layout process. It generates different gerbers, generic files accepted by any PCB fabrication house for engineers to produce prototype PCB easily.The most important service through MultiSIM BLUE tools is providing instantly on-line component purchasing services, even in small-quantity orders. Users can easily send a BOM to a shopping cart on the Mouser website. Neil Su remarked, Mouser Electronics' website is updated daily and searches more than 10 million products to locate over four million selective part numbers available for easy online purchase. MultiSIM BLUE now supports a wide range of component types including passives, discretes, analog ICs, discrete signal ICs, mixed signal ICs, sensors, power ICs and protection devices. It helps every circuit designer with the latest components on the market.There is one feature called "Share this Cart with a Colleague" In the Mouser's Shopping Cart page initiated by a simple click in the web page. After following the instructions on screen, an e-mail will be sent to a chosen colleague so that they can access a copy of your shopping cart and place the order for you, which will save an immense amount of time for engineering teams to work together.Unlike other tools, MultiSIM BLUE provides a fully interactive schematic interface with a full-right-click menu. Electronic component selection is just a click away along with a fully integrated wiring and reviewing platform.Mouser offers customers 20 global support locations and the latest, advanced components for their newest design projects. Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.Su highlighted Mouser's strong commitment to customer service. Besides the value of having a knowledgeable person and informative online component database and interactive design tools, Mouser can deliver small quantity orders and redefine customer-focused distribution. Su also suggested that people in the audience register an account on the Mouser website to access the services. The website address is http://www.mouser.tw/Neil Su, technical support manager of Mouser Electronics Asia

Everybody is talking about IoT, and a slog often heard these days is "IoT is everywhere". With the development of sensors, mobile devices, embedded systems and cloud servers, the technologies of IoT have been widely used in various industrial marketing sectors including emerging areas such as Smart City, Smart Grid and multiple other Smart Things in the world.The true value of IoT is realized when these connected devices and sensors communicate and share data with each other and the cloud, analyzing information and transferring it to applications or systems that can change our everyday life.Srini Gadgil, AMD senior systems architect, presented the challenges of today's IoT gateway solutions in the afternoon session at the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF). The intelligent IoT gateway is a mission-critical component for smart homes and IoT solutions.According to a Gartner report, there were 8.7 billion connected devices in 2012. And the research house foresees this total to expand to 26 billion devices by 2020. The immense connectivity to sensors, actuators and control devices spanning multiple communication protocols, as well as connectivity to the cloud servers for big data services and analytics, will change the ways things are done compared with the past. Things to be considered are the conversion and processing of raw data with a combination of CPU and GPU processing capabilities.The conventional models of IoT networks are many-to-many infrastructure, Gadgil remarked. Any device including mobile phones, PCs, sensors even RFID tags will be able to dynamically join the network, collaborate and cooperate efficiently to achieve different tasks. The many-to-many communication paradigm is characterized by multiple devices contributing and receiving information, with the information elements often interlinked across different networks. Because this many-to-many paradigm, it is difficult for systems to apply security policies within the current paradigm of mobile devices.AMD provided embedded solutions and cultivated the embedded system market for a long period of time. The more devices become connected every day, the more companies face increased challenges because fragmentation, interoperability and security threats. To address this, AMD is focused on developing an IoT gateway solution that offers integration of multi-protocol networking, embedded control, enterprise grade security, and application integration in an effective platform. AMD is trying to deliver integrated hardware and software solutions specifically designed to meet market needs.The first thing, Gadgil said during the session, is multi-operating system support with cross platform support. AMD sees that IoT Gateway solutions are focus on building local intelligence in the IoT gateway. This will use fast CPU processing power combined with GPU capabilities.The second factor is the form factor to support devices from home Wi-Fi routers to home control center. AMD proposed an IoT Gateway system based on multiple network protocols such as Zigbee, Wi-Fi and GPRS according to the typical IoT application scenarios and requirements from telecom operators, then presented the data transmission between wireless sensor networks and mobile communication networks, provided protocol conversion of different sensor network protocols, and control functionalities for sensor networks, and finally gave an implementation of prototyping system and system validation in 2015.The third key point is that software architecture will be scalable. The flexible user interface is an important consideration to accommodate different software platforms. Gadgil presented some home gateway product scenarios as a good example in the seminar. AMD is working on developing and deploying home gateways that connect different mobile devices and provides common interfaces and seamless communication between devices and the cloud.Targeting Smart Home markets, the first set of gateway solutions will feature versions based on the AMD G series SoC product family and will be available in 2015. It will provide integrated and pre-proofing hardware and software that help develop, prototype and deploy application services faster so companies can focus on creating new, value-added services.Srini Gadgil, AMD senior systems architect

Cameron Swen, segment marketing manager for medical applications in AMD's Embedded Solutions Division and Colin Cureton, senior manager of AMD's embedded product management team, spoke at the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF) about working with customers and partners to help define the products and strategies necessary to meet the needs of a variety of embedded markets, and discussed how today's (and tomorrow's) powerful processors are helping businesses stay on top of these needs.In 2014, AMD announced a game plan for computing solutions that pull together the best characteristics of both the x86 and ARM ecosystems, and called it "ambidextrous computing." The foundation of this roadmap is AMD's 64-bit ARM architecture license for the development of custom high-performance cores for high-growth markets.AMD's view on the challenges and opportunities - represented by the expansion of intelligent devices and support for Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure - is to develop and deliver truly unmatched ambidextrous computing and graphics performance using a shared, flexible infrastructure to enable its customers to blaze new paths of innovation for the embedded, server and client markets, as well as for semi-custom solutions.There is definitely strong market demand for these types of solutions and AMD is positioned to serve the needs of the market. Essentially, as a leader in processor technology, the company knows how to deliver dedicated hardware better in terms of size and performance per watt.AMD's ambidextrous IP leadership could also affect other brands. "Our innovative ambidextrous design capability, combined with our portfolio of IP and expertise with high-performance SoCs, means that AMD is set to deliver ambidextrous solutions that enable our customers to change the world in more efficient and powerful ways," Cureton stated.The AMD embedded solutions strategies include developing innovative embedded platforms and enabling leadership system solutions. The company's unmatched visual embedded technology leadership, along with the industry's only 64-bit ARM& x86 portfolio, are helping it undertake the change of computing paradigms.Meanwhile, AMD embedded fundamentals offer more than 20 years of delivering solutions into embedded applications and the modules are impressive, featuring longevity, low power, tech support, reliability and optimized embedded designs. AMD calls it "flexibility without compromise."AMD's combined x86 and ARM computing roadmap - a new "high-performance, low-power" ARM core that will take deep advantage of AMD's ARM architectural license and 64-bit designs.According to AMD, the market is ready for its new chip designs, as ARM and x86 processor sales are expected to grow to more than US$85 billion by 2017. The processor leader said it believes it will be the only company capable of delivering differentiated solutions capable of addressing the breadth of this market.It's all about automation, connectivity and interconnectivity. For the new face of AMD's business the best example of automation is the smartphone. You can automate a calendar, task list, navigation or even transactions. Connectivity is the key and the evolution of connected devices is phenomenon.Interactivity is vital regardless of profession or personnel. Interacting with people, across industry, in the operation room, from the office to the hospital to the factory floor, the demands for higher levels of instant connectivity at work are increasing.Employees have become accustomed to touch screens, constant Internet access, and attention-grabbing graphics. In addition, businesses are demanding higher levels of interconnectivity - instant information that can be analyzed and shared - but with heightened regulations regarding security. So in order to secure your business, security and surveillance play a pivotal role.AMD is confident that retail automation is the new trend and everyone will be in style. Ambidextrous computing is helping and will continue to improve intelligence in POS/KIOSK applications; interactivity in digital signage; intelligence on the factory floor; interactivity in thin client applications and increase intelligence in medical applications as well.Cameron Swen, segment marketing manager, medical applications AMD embedded solutions divisionColin Cureton, senior manager AMD embedded solutions

Cloud computing provides diverse services and applications delivered over the Internet using shared computing resources rather than local servers or personal devices. With cloud computing, users are able to access vast amounts of information directly 'through the cloud'. And because applications and data are stored remotely, all you need is a Web enabled device and an Internet connection.Smartphones and tablets have swiftly changed the way we live our lives, but their impact, as such, is trivial compared with the potential of IoT combined with cloud computing. Cloud computing will empower IoT by providing flexible computing power, storage and networking. The massive volume of data generated from IoT devices can be analyzed in the cloud to gain insights on patterns of usage and behavior of machines and humans. Ultimately, IoT will bring enormous business opportunities, according to Aaron Su, Product Director, Advantech, who spoke at a recent a recent DIGITIMES organized Embedded Technology Forum.Cloud computing will form the support system for IoT. This has already begun to take shape and it is changing the way we conduct our professional and personal lives. Su said that cross-industry cooperation is the key to this new evolution, and partnering with solution providers to simplify IoT deployment is one of his strategies. According to Su, IoT presents a mass-niche market; a market where a lot of sensors, gateways, intelligent systems, and cloud systems are deployed, and where each market, such as machine automation or retail, will require vertically-focused solutions. As a result, achieving real benefits from IoT deployment depends on the cooperation of multiple players.Su also described the fundamental nature of IoT applications. "IoT is not about starting from scratch, it's actually about extending existing applications towards better utilization of information via the cloud."Advantech has launched its WISE-Cloud platform, an integrated solution to connect IoT applications with the cloud. It is designed to gather data wirelessly and convert it into services for effective use in business intelligence. Advantech has collaborated with Microsoft's Azure using SUSIAccess, a remote software management tool. In addition, Advantech provides WISE-Cloud Open API packages for easy development and deployment. With Open API packages, customers can set up and deploy their applications quickly, easily, and flexibly.IoT is evolving, so how can we all profit from IoT applications? Su described solutions in the areas of: Sensors & Controllers, Data Collection, and Value Added Services. The planet is getting smarter and devices are becoming intelligent and interconnected, so high-level data analysis and cross-application services will be the new growth engines. "That's why Advantech has collaborated and partnered with strategic partners such as Microsoft, and Linear Technology to build an IoT Value Chain. Advantech firmly believes this IoT Value Chain will bring enormous business opportunities with our integrated IoT solutions and services. We have established new business models and we are partnering with solution providers to simplify IoT deployment," said Su.The global cloud computing market is expected not only to grow and accelerate but also to become the primary mechanism for delivering IT services going forward. The key question we ask is who and what will dominate, which enterprises and entrepreneurs? And will these disruptive technologies ultimately change consumer behavior? Without a shadow of a doubt, the cloud and IoT will bring massive opportunities to all of us, Su believes.Aaron Su, Product Director, AdvantechPhoto: Digitimes

IoT devices, which have been receiving a great deal of attention from the global ICT industry have several major characteristics: versatility, reliability, security, small-size, mobility and connectivity.The true power of IoT devices becomes apparent when they combine with cloud services and datacenter operations, which opens them up to more applications including Big Data analytics. But in these applications, the entire IoT framework and architecture require a smart storage solution. During a recent DIGITIMES organized Embedded Technology Forum, Charles Lee, InnoDisk senior marketing director of embedded flash business, listed the benefits of adopting SSDs in a smart storage solution.SSDs are becoming increasingly popular in IoT solutions because of their small size and multiple form factors. SSDs are silent, rugged, durable and reliable, and also offer a faster and lower-power consumption experience.SSDs have no moving mechanical components, and therefore can withstand considerable shock and vibration and produce no mechanical noise, making them ideal for use in noise-sensitive applications such as medical bio-detection and other wearable devices.InnoDisk supports many traditional interfaces including PCIe, PATA, SATA, USB, SD and micro SD to make it easier to adopt SSDs in various IoT systems and devices. In 2015, InnoDisk's product roadmap will further extend its product lines to an advanced series of storage solutions supporting M.2, nanoSSD, eMMC card, SATAeDOM, ServerDOM and PCIeDOM.These new product series will continuously improve the data transmission rates of storage peripherals. Taking M.2 as an example, it will support USB 3.0, PCIe Gen3x4, or SATA 6.0 Gb/s interfaces with faster data speeds and a small form factor especially suitable for slim and compact systems.nanoSSD is a single BGA chip solution with one integrated IC combining a NAND Flash controller and NAND Flash memory chip. Data speeds are up to 6Gb/s with a SATA lll interface. Intel has endorsed this solution in 2-in-1 notebooks. The BGA solution provides extra physical space for additional features, which is important for small form factor and slim systems.Meanwhile, industrial control applications under general commercial temperatures (0-70-degrees C) require constant read/write capabilities and a five-year quality guarantee, to this end InnoDisk's nanoSSD solution has a wider working temperature range than other alternatives.Most ARM-based processors support the eMMC interface. eMMC places greater emphasis on energy saving, information security and stability of operation as compared to general SD cards. The uniqueness of eMMC includes features such as reliable writes, bootablility, sleep mode, multiple partitioning, write protection and double-data-rate. Adopting an eMMC card-based storage solution in an IoT device can reduce development costs and simply works more efficiently with strong flexibility.SATAeDOM, ServerDOM and PCIeDOM are three Disk on Module products. They are cableless and reliable, support booting and are compatible with different operating systems. Most IPC motherboards have an extra PCIex1 slot or SATA Express slot which can be used to house an InnoDisk SATAeDOM or PCIeDOM freeing up HDD bay space for other storage peripherals.InnoDisk's ServerDOM is designed for dedicated PC server solutions with SATA III interface support. Considering the space restrictions of 1U and blade servers in data centers or server farms, ServerDOM has a tiny sized of 30.7 by 20.2 by 6.6mm.Charles Lee, InnoDisk senior marketing director of embedded flash businessPhoto: Digitimes

The need for optimal synchronization between command and execution systems is increasing as electronic forms of transmission replace face-to-face and paper-based transmissions. With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the evolution of corporate networks the demand for solutions delivering deterministic, hard real-time functionality has soared.IntervalZero, Inc. (http://www.intervalzero.com/) is a good example of a company providing these solutions. It develops a native hard real-time operating system (RTOS) with symmetric multiprocessing. This RTOS, called RTX or RTX64 for 64bit, adds real-time functionalities to Microsoft's general purpose Windows OS.At the recent Digitimes Embedded Technology Forum (DTF) titled IoT equipment and embedded automation system design technologies, IntervalZero Taiwan Branch senior software development engineer, Yves De la Broise, provided an introduction on how it is not only possible but also simple to develop an inexpensive yet powerful real-time automated control system using IntervalZero's KingStar platform (http://www.kingstar.com/). This platform is currently popular for developing robotic arms and industrial automated machines, as it is easy-to-use and greatly helps to reduce costs.IntervalZero's embedded software solutions are deployed worldwide in many different fields, such as industrial automation, military, aerospace, medical devices, digital media and test & measurement. Data on the usage shows that nine out of the top-10 aerospace & defense companies worldwide are IntervalZero customers, as is a top-2 industrial PLC manufacturer, seven of the top-10 medical device manufacturers, five of the top-15 auto manufacturers, a top-5 test & measurement company, three of the top-10 industrial control suppliers, two leading full-flight simulation companies, two top digital mixing console manufacturers, three leading semiconductor equipment makers and more than 20 top machine tool manufacturers.With over three decades of expertise in real-time embedded computers, a worldwide customer base and strategic relationships with Microsoft and Intel, IntervalZero continues growing. To maintain innovation and diversify its revenues, IntervalZero has developed a cardless platform called, KingStar, which allows users to save AD/DA, Motion or Vision card costs, as well as replacing expensive cables with Ethernet. Based on RTX, De la Broise says it maintains the highest levels of reliability and performance. This was proven when Siemens earned a TÜV SIL-3 safety rating for their soft-PLC WinAC RTX F without the need for any specific hardware.De la Broise explained that the KingStar platform is easy-to-use and allows for cost reductions while maintaining the highest performance and reliability, as it takes advantage of the most leading technologies available on the market. It features x64 multi-core processors which allows for the isolation between the real-time control in RTX64 and the interface under Windows on the same computer natively (without needing any virtualization). This architecture also enables the use of many cores and RAM space in real-time symmetric multi-processing for high-end vision and flight simulation applications.KingStar also uses the EtherCAT protocol for communication. This motion and automation protocol developed by Beckhoff is an open standard and is widely adopted by motor manufacturers in Asia. Performance is optimized and scalable, as it can support hundreds of stations in one network and maintain very short cycle times (~100us), or dozens of stations while keeping the stations synchronized (at a jitter <1us).Improved automation removes many limitations and enable the computer to perform more tasks. One example is the development of robotic controllers, the card-less solution provided by KingStar allows the controller to be more performant by easily gathering position, velocity and torque information from the hardware. It also renders the controller more scalable, as it can control one or multiple robots without any hardware modification in the computer. The application also becomes much simpler as every motor in the machine can be connected to a single controller, thus removing synchronization issues between the different components.IntervalZero is determined to make systems simpler and easier to maintain, saving time and money. It is time to discover this new approach to technology development that cuts down the amount of resources needed for development and testing.IntervalZero Taiwan Branch senior software development engineer, Yves De la BroiseThe "KingStar" can manage your robots, conveyor and vision in one PC.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has grown rapidly in just a few years from simply PCs connected to the Internet to one of the key technology trends of the future. After a burst of rapid growth, networked devices exceeded one million units in 2000, and in the years following, increasing demand saw the number of smartphones, 3G-connected tablets, notebooks and other Internet-capable devices causes a paradigm shift to the mobile computing era. By 2010, networked devices had exceeded 10 billion, and by 2014, the vision of the Internet of Things (IoT) evolved and gained further recognition. It is predicted that growth will continue to flourish over the coming years.The Internet of Things (IoT) market size will reach US$2.9 trillion by 2016, according to various market analysts, and will surpass traditional embedded systems and intelligent devices. By 2020, estimates of global IoT devices range from 25 billion to as high as 50 billion."Will the Internet of Things change everything?", "How should we prepare for this major transition?" and "What is the role of IoT in our Lives?" These questions are all coming together to mark a technological revolution.On January 29, DIGITIMES organized the Embedded Technology Forum focusing on IOT applications with embedded technology, and to discuss how to stay at the forefront of this rapidly evolving sector.AMD has led the development of advanced technology for decades as a provider of innovative graphics and processors. The company envisions its embedded solutions for compute innovation in terms of growth in compute with a complimentary 64-bit ARM and x86 portfolio, graphics acceleration and the merging of ecosystems.Dr K Khouri, director of marketing for AMD's Embedded Solutions Group and responsible for worldwide product marketing as well as market development for AMD's embedded gaming vertical, provided a forward-looking glimpse into AMD's view of new customer paths to innovation for the embedded, server and client markets as well as semi-custom solutions.Cameron Swen, segment marketing manager for Medical Applications in AMD's Embedded Solutions Division, and Colin Cureton, Senior Manager of AMD's Embedded Product Management team, shared a session to introduce AMD's 20-years longevity embedded solutions, which offer with low-power, technical support, and reliable embedded features based on the industry's only 64-bit ARM and x86 portfolio.The emergence of almost instant, easy information sharing greatly increases security concerns. During the forum, AMD explored some of these trends in domains such as interactive digital signage, and also discussed how today's (and tomorrow's) powerful processors are helping Thin Client and medical applications stay on top of these needs.Demand for automated machines is growing at a rapid pace, but market-related systems are far more complex and difficult to operate. IntervalZero, developer of the world's leading real-time operating system (RTOS), provides Windows Embedded solutions to reach a global customer base. IntervalZero Taiwan's APAC senior software development engineer Yves de la Broise gave an induction on how developing a simple, inexpensive but powerful real-time automated control system is achievable.Tony Tsao, CEO of Global Channel Resources, gave an opening speech at the seminar offering an overview of how to realize the future vision of the Internet of Things. Tsao additionally identified market development opportunities for IoT, and trends in IoT applications. Tsao explored how IoT is driving new business opportunities, and the evolving field of industrial ecology, for instance, Cloud Enabled Business Transformation.Charles Lee of Innodisk Corporation's Lead Flash BU discussed how the company's Storage Networking Solutions (SNS) enhance the value of smart devices storage technology.Robert Lee from Apacer offered a few tips for using SSD applications in storage and embedded systems. Lee discussed the trend of replacing traditional HDDs with SSD solutions, as well as the challenges and opportunities these trends offer the SSD industry.Advantech's Aaron Su, an experienced computer and information systems manager, gave a lecture of how while facing great opportunities and big challenges, critical design and innovative development (IoT WISE-Cloud Platform) hold the keys to embedded products.Mouser's Mr Su gave guidance on how optimal design and accelerated innovation are eye-catching, but stressed that the bottom line is design tools. Mouser's powerful MultiSIM BLUE tool is an indispensable tool for circuit simulations; allowing designers to scheme, simulate, layout PCBs, and manage BOM and purchasing all in one integrated tool.Dr Ebony Huang, CEO of Brickcom Corporation, highlighted the benefits of building out a smart home leveraging technologies such as HD video, storage, wireless, smart devices and the cloud.Finally, Jiang Yihua, Tze Chiang of the Foundation of Science and Technology (TCFST), a future technology evangelist discussed key trends in the home automation market, and identified environmental transformation, versatility, and ease-of-use as core values to target when designing solutions for this market.