My last two posts have been about some high-level tech trends that Accenture had identified. In this post, I take a look at some trends that are closer to home, with my summary of (and take on) a piece by TI’s Sameer Wasson “3 trends impacting the future of embedded processing technology.”
While there’s plenty of overlap between the Accenture trends and what Sameer sees – for one non-surprising example, there’s AI – his focus is more specifically on the role of embedded tech.
Embedded technology has been transformative, changing the way we all live: at home, at work, at play, and changing the way the world around us operates. And there’s more to come. To realize the promise of technology, Sameer sees that embedded technology will need to evolve. It will need to become more energy-efficient, making electronic devices more environmentally sustainable. They will need to do a better job integrating technology with the human element. They’ll need to keep up with an exponentially-increasing amount of data – not just capturing that data, but analyzing and acting on it. And, overall, embedded technology has to promote greater accessibility, ease of use, and affordability, making all the wonders that technology brings with it more universally available.
As Sameer sees things – based on his observations of the industry, and conversations with TI cu
stomers, “three trends stand out as crucial capabilities that a comprehensive embedded processing portfolio should deliver.”
The first trend he identifies is more integrated sensing capabilities. These capabilities will capture more, better data, that will be used for smart cities in application areas like building energy systems that both save money and reduce waste, and emergency response systems to promote public safety. More integrated sensing will also come to the fore in smart homes, improving energy efficiency and security, and enabling myriad personal uses (entertainment, day to day chores, etc.) As Sameer observes, “the value of embedded intelligence working with real-time data is only starting to be understood and realized.”
As promised, another trend is enabling artificial intelligence in every embedded system. TI finds that “adding intelligence to every system is becoming a norm.” Automation is ubiquitous – make that smart automation – means that engineers are adding capabilities “that must process ever-increasing amounts of data, make intelligent decisions and respond quickly.”
Intelligence at the edge will be at the heart of smart, automated systems. This means that data is computed close to the sensor where it’s captured, leading to more secure, faster and reliable processing.
Intelligence at the edge means eliminating the latency involved when data is sent to the cl
oud to be analyzed.
In this section, Sameer points to TI’s AM6XA vision processor family, which is also the device at the heart of Critical Link’s latest SOM family, the MitySOM-AM62A System on Module. The MitySOM-AM62A offers customers all the features of TI’s AM62A processor, with the added benefit of faster time to market, lo
ng-term product support, and reduced supply chain headaches.
The final trend that Sameer includes is ease of use so designers can get to market faster. Since Critical Link was founded, this has been our mantra.
Embedded processing portfolios and the ecosystems that support them must be easy to design with, along with support that is robust enough to help customers with all their embedded needs, reducing time to market and allowing designers to spend more time innovating.
Sameer concludes by writing “I’m excited about the future of embedded processing technology…and seeing how our customers will unlock new ways of creating a better world.”
So am I!