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| Connectivity has changed the needs of the embedded market |
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| By Stacey Higginbotham |
At Embedded World this week, companies are showing off embedded chips with more of everything: more memory, more performance, more accelerators, more software options, more cloud integrations, and yes, more security. What used to be a fairly staid and even somewhat dull market has exploded with options, and it's all thanks to connectivity.
When you pop a radio on a constrained chip you open up a world of potential. And that potential is causing both the humble microcontroller and the embedded software world to look more and more like the traditional CPU and IT market, respectively. |
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| — The entrance of the embedded world event. Image courtesy of NürnbergMesse/Heiko Stahl. |
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Unfortunately, the core needs of the embedded hardware market haven't changed. These devices are running our factories, water treatment plants, oil rigs, and life safety equipment. Whereas at one time they were mostly secure by way of obscurity and running highly specialized software, they are now getting connected to the rest of the world and getting additional jobs such as running neural nets used in AI.
I'm not at Embedded World, but I did have a few briefings and conversations with companies that have highlighted the big shift in processing and attendant software ahead of the show. First up, let's talk basic silicon. While there may be some use cases that still use old-school 8-bit or 16-bit microprocessors, it's clear that the ability handle more bits are better, despite 32-bit chips costing more. This trend is driven by the demands of adding memory and software to handle the security needs of the new embedded market and new jobs I mentioned.
Carsten Rhod Gregersen, founder and CEO of Nabto, told me that simply providing for encryption on a device requires 32-bit architectures. And most embedded microprocessors require some form of security, especially if they get connected to the Internet. That desire for security and the need to manage connected devices is also driving two other trends in the embedded world.
The first is a reduction in the number of RTOSes. The second is a need for high-quality open source software and software tools. I often talk about the reduction in the number of RTOSes that companies want to support, and it makes complete sense. If you're developing an application that needs to run across multiple devices (such as a suite of home appliances or different machines on a factory floor), ideally you're writing software to run on all those devices just once, which requires writing to just one RTOS.
And when it comes to the winning RTOSes Gregson believes open source options such as Zephyr are going to gain ground. He said that after the acquisition of FreeRTOS by Amazon and ThreadX by Microsoft, companies are worried about the potential for lock-in on the part of those behemoths.
Indeed, the desire to move away from proprietary systems extends beyond RTOSes to other areas of embedded software. For example, at Embedded World, Canonical showed off deals designed to bring open source Ubuntu to Mediatek's hardware. It also boasted that its OS had achieved ARM's initial PSA Level 1 security certification.
Thanks to greater performance, embedded devices are also performing a host of new jobs. What used to be control-loop functions and dedicated tasks have turned into using the available computing for flexible tasks. These tasks might include running some kind of software in a container, vision processing, or other AI.
In fact AI was everywhere, from the Tiny ML I get so excited about to specialty computing platforms designed for robots and automotive that can fuse camera data with other sensors to handle complex tasks industrial tasks. Renesas showed off demonstrations of an ARM-based microcontroller doing people detection, showing off one of the popular new jobs higher-performance microcontrollers can do for the embedded market.
As we connect everything, it's clear that the embedded world will look more and more like the traditional computing world. But even as it takes on new tasks and puts higher-level computing in more industries, we must figure out how to ensure that the glitches and best effort nature of today's computing infrastructure don't compromise the crucial world that embedded devices have to do.
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| What exactly is a unified LPWAN and why do we want one? |
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This is the year of the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN). And much like in home or even industrial networks, where multiple wireless protocols cozy up to one another, when it comes to blanketing large areas with low data-rate connectivity, users will have several options to choose from.
That's why Unabiz is creating what it calls a unified LPWAN comprised of its acquired Sigfox assets, LoRaWAN technology, cellular technology, and even satellite connectivity (not all cellular or satellite technologies are LPWANs). Customers around the world can go to Unabiz and get an array of options to build out a city-wide, country-wide, or even a global network. And this week, thanks to a deal with Senet, customers in the U.S. will also have this option. |
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| — The Senet network coverage map, courtesy of Senet. |
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Senet, which has a number of LoRaWAN networks in the U.S., has signed a partnership agreement with Unabiz that gives Senet customers access to Unabiz's devices and networks when those devices are located in other countries. Bruce Chatterly, the CEO of Senet, said that the plan is still to stick with LoRaWAN in the U.S. but if customers' devices have the appropriate radios they could travel onto Sigfox or other networks when they're elsewhere in the world.
Obviously the best use case for this is tracking, which has become an increasingly important line of business for LPWAN providers. Depending on whose data you use, the asset tracking market in 2022 was worth anywhere from $3.5 billion to $15.4 billion. What's certain is that it is growing, largely because the cost of modules and connectivity are decreasing while supply chain disruptions have become a more costly business disruption.
So what does a unified LPWAN look like? Philippe Chiu, CEO of Unabiz, said via email that in the short term the company plans to combine protocols at the middleware level, through Unabiz's UnaConnect software platform, which will let customers aggregate, manage, and decode data coming in from multiple networks. For example, The Things Industries announced at last month's Mobile World Congress that it had signed a deal with Unabiz to bring its software platform into the UnaConnect platform. Senet's network will be accessed the same way.
"Combining protocols at the hardware level is tedious, a long-term commitment (product development and industrialization) and expensive (components, batteries, etc.) and requires technology owners to come together," Chiu told me via email in explaining the current middleware solution. But he did offer some hope for more integrated LPWAN modules over the long term. "The long-term integration will soon be announced," he wrote, "so do watch this space."
In the meantime, Unabiz customers are building hybrid networks that combine cellular (LTE-M) and Sigfox or LoRaWAN and satellite to get coverage in all of the nooks and crannies of a deployment. "Cellular and satellite networks should be considered as value-added complements in our offer," said Chiu. "The integration of satellite networks and LPWAN is highly sought after as it addresses the challenges of tracking and location in areas poorly covered by LPWAN or cellular networks — while cellular networks are appropriate when notions of [real-time data rates] are at stake."
Unabiz, which is based in Singapore, has networks across the globe, with the exception of the U.S. This is where Senet can help. CEO Chatterly said that Unabiz customers can use Senet's network in the U.S. as needed.
Chatterly also gave me an update on the partnership it has with Helium. After users discovered that Helium's decentralized network paid out higher rates to founders and the earliest users (I was one) without being transparent about the earnings potential of later adopters, a lot of people dropped their hotspots.
But Chatterly said the network is still running and that it provides coverage for about 85,000 Senet devices. He said Senet uses the network to provide coverage for areas where its own network doesn't reach, and also that it acts as a "canary for future growth." By seeing where new devices pop up on the Helium network, Chatterly can see where demand is growing and provide Senet gear for those customers.
This is good for Senet, but probably less good for Helium hotspot providers who'd rather see the devices stay on the network and continue to pay into earnings. In addition to Helium, Senet has a partnership with satellite operator Eutelsat that provides wider area coverage as well as backhaul for gateways in remote areas.
Senet is also eyeing cellular, much like Unabiz has. Adding cellular should get easier since LoRa chip designer Semtech has acquired the cellular module business of Sierra Wireless. But while doing so makes sense in an era of unified LPWANs where LoRa will be combined with cellular and other options, it also poses a potential risk. As Chatterly said, "I'm hoping they're not going to become a competitor to their own ecosystem."
So the question to ask isn't why build a unified LPWAN product, but rather, who should build a unified LPWAN product. |
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| Episode 414: How generative AI could help the IoT |
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| We kick off this week's show with a focus on generative AI and what new models such as GPT-4 and even things like Stable Diffusion could mean for the internet of things. Along the way we disagree with an article trying to compare digital assistants such as Siri with ChatGPT, and highlight some of the opportunities generative AI provides, especially when it comes to robots. Then we discuss a new deal between Senet and Unabiz that helps drive the concept of a unified LPWAN. We even include a little dish on Senet's relationships with Helium. After that, we talk about how Google is screwing up Fitbit and the latest wearable sales figures. In smaller news, we offer thoughts on Best Buy's deal to install home hospital equipment and Amazon's plans to launch broadband service over satellite. Then we highlight a tiny chip that could attach to your teeth, a hack of Ring's doorbell, and an industrial attack that uses a speaker to send data. Kevin then shares his latest test of Home Assistant, which he found easier to install and better for HomeKit users. |
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| — An at-scale rendering of the wafer chip-scale packaging xG27 SoC from Silicon Labs. Image courtesy of Silicon Labs. |
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| Our guest this week is Nick D'Angelo, director of public affairs for Eaton's Electrical Sector. He's on the show to discuss how two new laws are incentivizing consumers and businesses to take steps to modernize the electric grid. We cover the concept of grid modernization and why it's necessary, the two laws that have the most relevance, and lay out some of the incentive programs that will be available at state and federal levels for things like replacing electric panels and swapping out furnaces for heat pumps. We also talk about how long the process of modernizing the grid will take and then conclude with what else will need to be done. Enjoy the show. |
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This week on the IoT Podcast Hotline, we answer a listener question about whether you really need a mesh router system for a 1,400-square-foot home.
The hotline is brought to you by Very. Harness the power of IoT with Very. Our design, development, and data experts help you work through the complexity of IoT engineering to deliver business value rapidly. Click here to learn more. |
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| Testing Home Assistant again shows improvement |
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| — Kevin tried Home Assistant for the second time and found his experience much improved from his initial foray into the home hub in 2020. He thought the installation was easier, the system found more devices, and the overall performance was still solid. For more, check out his review. |
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| News of the Week |
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Qualcomm releases 5G modules designed to work in the IoT: At Embedded World Qualcomm released new integrated 5G modules that support four operating systems found in the IoT. The new processors will support Linux, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows IoT Enterprise, and Android. Qualcomm also introduced two new processors designed for robotics with general compute, AI-specific accelerators, and wireless modems. The platforms both have built-in support for machine vision support for up to three cameras and can provide on-chip processing to meld camera and sensor data for features like autonomous navigation. (Qualcomm) — Stacey Higginbotham
This product from My Voice AI sounds really neat: I wasn't at Embedded World and for the first time I regret it, because apparently TinyML was all the rage including what sounds like a neat demo from a company called My Voice AI. According to Embedded.com the company showed off on-device voice recognition for use in access control. I'm not sure how well it performs, especially given all of the voice deepfakes leading to hacks right now, but I wish I had seen the demo myself. As a bonus, this links to the first day video overview of the show. It's a nice overview, as are the other videos covering Day 2 and Day 3. (Embedded.com) — Stacey Higginbotham
Brazil prevents the Flipper Zero hacker tool from entering the country: The Flipper Zero is a user-friendly hacking tool designed to let users infiltrate wireless networks and scan RFID devices. The marketing for the device emphasizes that it's good for security projects and penetration testing, but the Brazilian government has decided it could be used to hack security systems, doorbells, and other devices and so has redirected shipments of the device to its telecommunications regulator arguing that the tool violates wireless regulations. (Bleeping Computer) — Stacey Higginbotham
Technology will solve multiple woes in the manufacturing industry: Rockwell Automation's latest smart manufacturing report is out and offers a unique perspective because it quizzes executives about their manufacturing businesses' internal and external risks. The top internal risk is balancing quality and growth followed by deploying new technology, while the top external risk is inflation followed by managing the supply chain. Surprisingly, manufacturers (97%) plan to use technology to mitigate some of these risks. When addressing internal risks, technology adoption will help minimize disruption from workforce or supply issues (53%) and help shift their operations to the cloud to reduce cybersecurity risk and risks to business continuity (50%). When it comes to external risks like inflation, supply chain, and workforce shortages, survey respondents also believed technology would help. (Rockwell Automation) — Stacey Higginbotham
OQ Technology will launch 7 more satellites this year: I know that Amazon's Project Kuiper and SpaceX's Starlink constellations are measured in the thousands of satellites, but those are small sats designed to provide high-bandwidth, contiguous coverage. OQ, a company that I profiled a little over a year ago, is trying to build a network for low-data rate devices that just want to update sensors every few hours or so. The company currently has three satellites, but has announced its plans to launch seven more this year, which will give it greater global coverage and the ability to send more messages. The OQ technology makes satellite service look like traditional NB-IoT service for trackers or other sensors, which means that end devices don't need special modules, so that reduces their cost. (OQ Technology) — Stacey Higginbotham
Belkin WeMo says “no” to Matter: You’d think that after three years of waiting for Matter we’d see more device makers adopt the smart home standard. Unfortunately, that has not come to pass. For example, WeMo, the Belkin company, this week said it was instead going to “take a big step back, regroup, and rethink” its smart home strategy. In other words, although the company announced future Matter support at the 2022 CES event, it’s not coming any time soon. I wondered about this several months back when WeMo introduced a new light switch without Matter support or saying it would add it down the road. It appears the company can’t find a way to differentiate its products from its competitors, likely because Matter will commoditize many smart home devices. (The Verge) — Kevin C. Tofel
Reordering your favorite devices in Google Home is near: There’s good news for Google Home users this week in the form of a beta update of Google’s mobile smart home app that gives them the ability to reorder their favorite devices. This is something that really should have been there ages ago; I consider it to be basic functionality in any smart home ecosystem. Better late than never, I guess! Google announced in December that it was working on this functionality with plans to deliver it in the first half of 2023. So even if you don’t see the reorder option now, it should arrive soon. (9to5 Google) — Kevin C. Tofel
Future voice assistants might not need to hear your voice at all: Tired of your smart speaker thinking you said the magic wake word and randomly starting to talk to you? That could be a thing of the past if a research project from the University of Tokyo proves successful. The project is called SottoVoce and the idea is to let users communicate silently to a listening device. Wait, silently? How does that work? Your non-spoken speech is captured through a wearable ultrasonic sensor to sense movement of your larynx. The captured data is then interpreted as your spoken word, even though you didn’t make a sound. It’s a clever approach and the research team already has a video showing off how this works with an unmodified Amazon Echo device. (HackADay) — Kevin C. Tofel
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