2013年12月30日 星期一

The Reliable Software Developers’ Conference – UK, May 2014

Technology event organiser Energi Technical has announced that it will be launching "The Reliable Software Developers' Conference", scheduled for May 2014.
This one-day conference will provide an important forum for engineers and developers working in the development of safety critical systems and high availability systems. It is expected to attract software developers working in such industries as automotive, railway systems, aerospace, bankingmedical and energy. www.rsd-conference.co.uk
"In recent years, software has become so complex that ensuring safety and reliability is now a major challenge," said Richard Blackburn, Event Organiser. "Many systems now have millions of lines of code and will handle enormous amounts of data. Further to this, modern computer based systems will make millions of decisions every second and also have to be immune to interference and unpredictable events. This event will look at the MISRA coding standards, debug tools and software testing tools that are available to assist software programmers and engineers seeking to develop reliable and safety critical
systems."
The Reliable Software Developers' Conference will be co-located with the 2014 UK Device Developers' Conference. Both will be a one-day conference to be run in Bristol, Cambridge, Northern England and Scotland on May 20th, May 20rd, June 3rd and June 5th.
Delegates attending either event will have the opportunity to sit in on technical presentations and ½ day technical workshops and a attend a vendor exhibition of tools and technology for the development of real-time and embedded systems. www.device-developer-conference.co.uk
"Advanced Debug Tools, Code Test, Version Control, Verification Tools and Software Standards have been a growing feature of recent conferences, so it made sense to create a dedicated event," said Richard. "There will be a lot expertise available to delegates, and the chance to meet a broad range of vendors of test technologies and tools, all under one roof."
Developed in collaboration with MISRA (Coding Standards), the Reliable Software Developers' Conference will feature a number of presentations in the morning, followed by a half-day technical workshop in the afternoon. The presentations will be free and open to delegates of both Conferences, but the half-day workshops will be subject to a charge of £75. Delegates will learn about developments in coding standards, test and verification tools and best practices and it will also be an opportunity to meet with many industry experts.
Refer to:http://embedded-computing.com/news/the-uk-may-2014/

2013年12月23日 星期一

Acrosser wish you Happy Holidays and a very prospective 2014 coming soon!

As we near the end of 2013, Acrosser would like to send you our warmest New Year’s wishes! We wish you and your family health, comfort, and prosperity this holiday season.

We also thank you for keeping up with our latest products, sending us inquiries, and choosing our products for your integrated solution! In 2014, we hope you will continue to choose Acrosser. We look forward to assisting you and your company in becoming the leader in your vertical market, and building a win-win relationship together.

And don’t forget about our star product, AES-HM76Z1FL, and its upcoming Product Testing Event in January! Remember to mark your calendar, since Acrosser is lending the product for free only to selected participants! Please stay tuned for more event information in early January!

With your continuous dedication and our commitment to quality, Acrosser is always motivated to make your embedded idea a reality!

2013年12月16日 星期一

Comprehensive customization for network appliances: meet our rackmount and micro box!

acrosser Technology, a world-leading network communication designer and manufacturer, introduces two network appliances that deliver great performance and protection while simplifying your network. Each product has its own target market and appeals to a unique audience.

Acrosser
’s ANR-IB75N1/A/B serves as an integrated Unified Threat Management (UTM) device that covers all of your networking security needs. Featuring a 3rd generation Intel Core i processor, increased processing throughput is easily made. For integration with information security systems, the device also features functions such as anti-virus, anti-spam, fire wall, intrusion detection, VPN and web filtering, in order to provide complete solutions to meet the demands of various applications.

Key features of the ANR-IB75N1/A/B include:
‧Support for LGA1155 Intel® Core ™ i7/i5/i3 processor / Pentium CPU
‧Intel B75 Chipset
‧2 x DDRIII DIMM, up to 16GB memory.
‧2 x Intel 82576EB Fiber ports
‧8 x Intel 82574L 10/100/1000Mbps ports
‧Two pairs LAN ports support bypass feature (LAN 1/2 + LAN 3/4)
‧LAN bypass can be controlled by BIOS and Jumper
‧CF socket, 2 x 2.5” HDD, 1 x SATA III, 1 x SATA II
‧Console, VGA (pinhead), 2 x USB 3.0 (2 x external)
‧Support boot from LAN, console redirection
‧Equipped with 80 Plus Bronze PSU to decrease CO2 dissipation and protect our environment
‧LCM module to provide user-friendly interface
‧Standard 1U rackmount size

As for our micro box, the AND-D525N2 provides more possibilities for different applications due to its small form factor (234mm*165mm*44mm). Aside from its space-saving design, the other 3 major features of the AND-D525N2 are its high performance, low power consumption and competitive price. Please send us your inquiry via our website (http://www.acrosser.com/inquiry.html), or simply contact your nearest local sales location for further information.
Key features of the AND-D525N2 include:
‧Intel Atom D525 1.86GHz
‧Intel ICH8M Chipset
‧x DDR3 SO-DIMM up to 4GB
‧1 x 2.5 inch HDD Bay, 1 x CF socket
‧4 x GbE LAN, Realtek 8111E
‧2 x USB2.0
‧2 x SATA II
‧1 x Console
‧1 x MiniPCIe socket

Besides In addition to these two models, Acrosser also provides a wide selection of network security hardware. With more than 26 years of rich industry experience, Acrosser has the ODM/OEM ability to carry out customized solutions, shortening customers’ time-to-market and creating numerous profits.

For all networking appliances product, please visit:
http://www.acrosser.com/Products/Networking-Appliance.html

Product Information – ANR-IB75N1/A/B:
http://www.acrosser.com/Products/Networking-Appliance/Rackmount/ANR-IB75N1/A/B/Networking-Appliance-ANR-IB75N1/A/B.html

Product Information – AND-D525N2:
http://www.acrosser.com/Products/Networking-Appliance/MicroBox/AND-D525N2/ATOM-D525-AND-D525N2.html

Contact us:
http://www.acrosser.com/inquiry.html

2013年12月10日 星期二

In China, international brands are quite influential.


December 5, 2013 - The Chinese market for industrial Ethernet & Fieldbus Technologies grew by 18 million nodes in 2012. More than 3 million nodes used Ethernet and the remainder used Fieldbus technology.

Although Fieldbus has a large base of new connected nodes in China, the usage of Fieldbus is not as common as in developed countries such as Germany or the United States. This is mainly because Chinese customers are encountering networking technology much later than those developing countries.

However, the growing speed of Ethernet is quite considerable in China and we think it is a great opportunity for Chinese customers to upgrade their automation system under current market condition. Customers will just jump from old Fieldbus Technologies direct to Ethernet now and actually many of them are doing right now.  The Chinese market is currently engaged in extensive upgrading and new infrastructure construction, and that will require a great deal of Ethernet applications.

In China, international brands are quite influential. This is also true for industrial networking protocols because most of them having their supporting companies. For example, the most popular Fieldbus protocols in China are PROFIBUS and CC-Link, which are developed and promoted by Siemens and Mitsubishi separately, which command large market share in China.

On the other hand, some open protocols also have a large number of nodes connected, and the most representative ones are CANOpen, Modbus and HART. However, all three protocols don’t deliver strong functionality, and they are more likely to be used in low-end applications for easy connections.

With the upgrading of old facilities and the construction of new plants in China, customers also are being compelled to upgrade their systems using Ethernet. However, this move will not only be implemented by the customers, but also by the industrial automation vendors as well.

Most protocols have Ethernet variants. Because of this, many Fieldbus users will turn to the Ethernet of the application, for example, PROFIBUS to PROFINET, CC-Link to CC-Link IE. And the new automation products will also support those new Ethernet connections.

refer to:http://www.automation.com/portals/industrial-networks-field-buses/industrial-ethernet-growing-in-china

2013年12月1日 星期日

High Computing Performance for All Applications- F.I.T. Technology

The demand for computing performance in the IPC market continues to become stronger as the IT field advances. Acrosser’s new AES-HM76Z1FL has been designed to meet these demands.
The F.I.T. Technology used to build this new product reflects its 3 major features: fanless design, Intel core i processor and ultra thin frame. The fanless design not only reduces the risk of exposure to air dust, but also prevents fan-malfunction. With a height of less than 0.8 inches, AES-HM76Z1FL’s slim design makes itself FIT into every application.
As its structure and output interface show, AES-HM76Z1FL provides a wide range of choices, from HDMI, VGA, USB, and audio to GPIO output interfaces that suit almost all industries. For wireless communication needs, the AES-HM76Z1FL has a mini-PCle expansion slot which provides support on both 3.5G and WiFi.
Another fascinating feature of the AES-HM76Z1FL is its ease of installation for expansions. By disassembling the bottom cover, expansions such as CF cards, memory upgrades and mini-PCIe can be easily complete without moving the heat sink. Moreover, Acrosser adopts 4 types of CPU (Intel Core i7/i3, Intel Celeron 1047UE/927UE) for AES-HM76Z1FL, allowing it to satisfy the scalable market demands of different applications.
In conclusion, the AES-HM76Z1FL is truly a well-rounded product designed for diverse applications. To promote our star product AES-HM76Z1FL, Acrosser will launch a product testing campaign starting in January, 2014. Acrosser will provide selected applications with the new AES-HM76Z1FL for one month, and it’s free! For more detailed information, please stay tuned for our press release, or leave us an inquiry on our website at www.acrosser.com!

Product Information:
http://www.acrosser.com/Products/Embedded-Computer/Fanless-Embedded-Systems/AES-HM76Z1FL/Intel-Core-i3/i7-AES-HM76Z1FL.html

2013年11月24日 星期日

Automation vendors have announced various services

Service Dynamics
The primary objective of a service company should be to focus on the development a system solution that is uniquely suited to the idiosyncrasies of the client’s business without being tethered by particular product solution offerings. A big part of this is the ability to deploy technologies from appropriate sources using integration and engineering skills to achieve a superior result for the client. Service businesses need to have effective and refined project, personnel, and quality management systems. The growth and effectiveness of these businesses is directly related to adding and managing smart people and this is a unique business proficiency mastered by successful service organizations. Pure service businesses have an advantage of successfully maintaining alliances with a range of product vendors that cannot be logically achieved by product vendors who provide services. This separation positions a pure service business to use best of breed and get the most out of vendors. For comparison, consider you are a smartphone user and the only place to get apps was your phone hardware vendor.

refer to:http://www.automation.com/portals/factory-discrete-automation/can-automation-vendors-serve-two-masters-products-services

2013年11月14日 星期四

Acrosser unveils its ultra slim fanless embedded system with 3rd generation Intel core i processor

Acrosser Technology Co. Ltd, a world-leading industrial and embedded computer designer and manufacturer, announces the new AES-HM76Z1FL embedded system. AES-HM76Z1FL, Acrosser’s latest industrial endeavor, is surely a FIT under multiple circumstances. Innovation can be seen in the new ultra slim fanless design, and its Intel core i CPU can surely cater for those seeking for high performance. Therefore, these 3 stunning elements can be condensed as "F.I.T. Technology." (Fanless, Intel core i, ultra Thin)
The heat sink from the fanless design provides AES-HM76Z1FL with great thermal performance, as well as increases the efficiency of usable space. The fanless design provides dustproof protection, and saving the product itself from fan malfunction. AES-HM76Z1FL has thin client dimensions, with a height of only 20 millimeters (272 mm x183 mm x 20 mm). This differs from most embedded appliances, which have a height of more than 50 millimeters.
The AES-HM76Z1FL embedded system uses the latest technology in scalable Intel Celeron and 3rd generation Core i7/i3 processors with a HM76 chipset. It features graphics via VGA and HDMI, DDR3 SO-DIMM support, complete I/O such as 4 x COM ports, 3 x USB3.0 ports, 8 x GPI and 8 x GPO, and storage via SATA III and Compact Flash. The AES-HM76Z1FL also supports communication by 2 x RJ-45 gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 x SIM slot, and 1 x MinPCIe expansion socket for a 3.5G or WiFi module.
Different from most industrial products that focus on application in one specific industry, the AES-HM76Z1FL provides solutions for various applications through the complete I/O interfaces. Applications of the AES-HM76Z1FL include: embedded system solutions, control systems, digital signage, POS, Kiosk, ATM, banking, home automation, and so on. It can support industrial automation and commercial bases under multiple circumstances.
Key features:
‧Fanless and ultra slim design
‧Support Intel Ivy Bridge CPU with HM76 chipset
‧2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM, up to 16GB
‧Support SATA III and CF storage
‧HDMI/VGA/USB/Audio/GPIO output interface
‧Serial ports by RS-232 and RS-422/485
‧2 x GbE, 1 x SIM, and 1 x MiniPCIe(for3G/WiFi)


Contact us:

2013年11月4日 星期一

The essence of a Design model is the following

An in-the-loop testing strategy is often used as itemized below and summarized in Table 2:
1. Simulation test cases are derived and run on the model using Model-In-the-Loop (MIL) testing.
2. Source code is verified by compiling and executing it on a host computer using Software-In-the-Loop (SIL) testing.
3. Executable object code is verified by cross-compiling and executing it on the embedded processor or an instruction set simulator using Processor-In-the-Loop (PIL) testing.
4. Hardware implementation is verified by synthesizing HDL and executing it on an FPGA using FPGA-In-the-Loop (FIL) testing.
5. The embedded system is verified and validated using the original plant model using Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testing.
A requirements-based test approach with test reuse for models and code is explicitly described in ARP4754A, DO-178C, and DO-331, the model-based design supplement to DO-178C.
Introduction to model-based design
With model-based design, UAV engineers develop and simulate system models comprised of hardware and software using block diagrams and state charts, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. They then automatically generate, deploy, and verify code on their embedded systems. With textual computation languages and block diagram model tools, one can generate code in C, C++, Verilog, and VHDL languages, enabling implementation on MCU, DSP[], FPGA[], and ASIC hardware. This lets system, software, and hardware engineers collaborate using the same tools and environment to develop, implement, and verify systems. Given their auto-nomous nature, UAV systems heavily employ closed-loop controls, making system modeling and closed-loop simulation, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, a natural fit.
Testing actual UAV systems via ground-controlled flight tests is expensive. A better way is to test early in the design process using desktop simulation and lab test benches. With model-based design, verification starts as soon as models are created and simulated for the first time. Tests cases based on high-level requirements formalize simulation testing. A common verification workflow is to reuse the simulation tests throughout model-based design as the model transitions from system model to software model to source code to executable object code using code generators and cross-compilers.

refer to:
http://mil-embedded.com/articles/transitioning-do-178c-arp4754a-uav-using-model-based-design/

2013年10月28日 星期一

One of the biggest implications of Industry 4.0


We are facing a potentially exponential increase in the amount of data manufacturing systems will handle as vision systems, batch control, regulatory compliance, quality management and more will mean that the amount of data those networks have to handle is going to rocket.

As a result, we require sufficient bandwidth to allow for this increased use. At present, CC-Link IE is the only industrial automation network technology that can provide a gigabit (1 Gbit/s) of bandwidth, which makes it exceptionally well placed to deal with the demands of Industry 4.0.

To find an example of how data intensive these applications can be one only has to look at the needs of the leading Korean flat panel display manufacturers. Their tolerance for so-called ‘dead pixels’ is almost zero. To put this into perspective, a modern HD screen has 1080 vertical pixels horizontally and 1920 vertically. That’s 2,073,600 pixels on each unit. The manufacturing processes have to check each of these pixels, hundreds of times a day to ensure quality and control yield. It’s easy to see how quickly solutions like this will generate vast volumes of data.

As another example, the global automotive industry produces countless different combinations of each vehicle model at an incredible rate. It’s typical for an assembly plant to produce a complete vehicle at a rate of more than one per minute.

Producing these countless different versions at such a pace demands a huge amount of flexibility and a great deal of bandwidth to cope with both the production instructions and the quality control. Most models today have literally thousands of different model configurations depending on customer option choice. To complicate things further, it’s not uncommon for one assembly plant to produce a variety of models. Again, it’s easy to see how this puts huge demands on the networks that deliver this information to the assembly line systems that ensure the correct parts are fitted on the correct in-vehicle.

refer to:http://www.connectingindustry.com/automation/the-networking-implications-of-industry-40.aspx

2013年9月24日 星期二

To gaining boards conpetence


From the beginning, industrial board manufacturers architectures stressed lowest-cost, low-power hardware, with an emphasis on multimedia and graphics. This led the Raspberry Pi Foundation and BeagleBoard.org to adopt ARM architectures for the processing element in their embedded computer boards, resulting in similar architectures with comparable performance that catered to educational and hobbyist developers. Since then, variants have evolved to increase pin access and optimize performance for a range of development applications.

“All of the DIY ARM boards have broadly the same architecture – a System-on-Chip (SoC), which contains the processing, multimedia, and I/O in a networking appliance configuration, and one or two external chips to provide functionality that is missing from the core SoC,” says Eben Upton, Executive Director, Raspberry Pi Foundation. “There are a number of boards based on a couple of different SoCs that use Cortex-A8 cores at around 1 GHz; these can get ahead of the Raspberry Pi a little on integer and networking appliance, but lag behind on floating-point performance and multimedia, as A8s have a very weak Floating-Point Unit (FPU).”



refer to:
http://embedded-computing.com/articles/diy-pushes-open-hardware-kindergarten-kickstarter/

2013年8月26日 星期一

Fine positioning for the automation actuator market


In the "Drive to end position" duty, individual settings are available for technology end position. Depending on the settings, the motor either remains on or is switched off as soon as the actuator reaches its defined position and the brake is applied to stop the motor. With the help of the breakaway function, the embedded systems can make up to 200% of its rated torque or rated force available in the end position areas. This allows single board computer to be safely moved out of their end position. For most control loops, minimal valve movements near the end position make little sense from a technical perspective. If, however, process variables change at this actuating element position, the actuator will follow the resulting control commands and there is a danger that the single board computer will sustain permanent damage if it is approached too often. There is also a danger that valve positions very close to the end positions will cause technology cavitation.



refer to: http://www.power-eng.com/articles/print/volume-117/issue-8/features/opportunities-to-improve-efficiency.html

2013年8月19日 星期一

Automation service availability




JR Automation,  in business since 1980, is a rapidly expanding embedded system automation company with experience in creating a wide range of solutions, from stand-alone operator assist stations to highly automated assembly lines. JR will service and support customers in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and AWL will support customers in Europe and China. Both experts in the design and build of automated equipment  and industrial computer for the automotive and general industries, the pairing will now have the added ability to focus on their respective regions exclusively, giving the customer increased support and service availability.


refer to: http://www.automation.com/jr-automation-and-awl-techniek-join-forces

2013年7月30日 星期二

Barry Lock on the upcoming debug forum



Much of the content will be based around the embedded computers development and validation of Autosar compliant code and the development of code for specific devices such as the BOSCH GTM, the AURIX and Freescale's Nexus based Qorivva solutions. Some of the presentations will also touch on the debugging of code on multicore systems. Delegates will also have the opportunity to discuss their specific challenges and requirements. Furthermore, "For anyone working in the development of code for the automotive sector, this should prove a very useful day," said Barry Lock, UK Manager of Lauterbach. "There will be a lot of embedded computers expertise at this event, and the presenters will be discussing the very latest developments in chip technology, software solutions and debug tools."

refer to: http://embedded-computing.com/news/lauterbach-software-debugging-workshops/

2013年6月18日 星期二

WI-FI CERTIFIED Miracast in global in-vehicle market




The WI-FI CERTIFIED Miracast specification enables car manufacturers to wirelessly mirror smartphone screens to in-dash LCDs, creating an immediately personalized interface in the dashboard. Additionally, this in-vehicle standards-based technology allows consumers to safely control smartphones through the dashboard so they can answer calls and check text messages. Although NFC is often associated with cashless payments, its ability to deliver security features to IVI systems is instrumental in providing an optimal end-user experience. Digital Content Protection (HDCP) 2.0. Many of the device and in-vehicle discovery components of the protocol are built around the previously released Wi-Fi Direct specification. The WI-FI CERTIFIED Miracast specification enables car manufacturers to wirelessly mirror smartphone screens to in-dash LCDs, creating an immediately personalized interface in the dashboard. Additionally, this in-vehicle standards-based technology allows consumers to safely control smartphones through the dashboard so they can answer calls and check text messages.

2013年5月7日 星期二

The event (ESEC) will take place at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center in Tokyo


ACROSSER Technology announces our participation in 2013 the Embedded Systems Expo and Conference (ESEC) from May 8th to the 10th. The event will take place at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center in Tokyo, Japan. We warmly invite all customers to come and meet us at the west hall, booth number: WEST 10-61.

Industrial pc, Panel PC, single board computer



At the 2013 ESEC, Acrosser will highlight its latest endeavors on 2 major applications: networking and gaming. For networking, the latest Rackmount product from Acrosser, the ANR-IB75N1, will be on display during the entire event. As for gaming applications, Acrosser will exhibit its new All-in-One Gaming BoardAMB-A55EG1. The board features great computing and graphic performance, and high compatibility on multiple operation systems. In addition, Acrosser also stresses its focus on other product lines, including Single Board Computers and In Vehicle Computer AIV-HM76V0FL.

We look forward to turning your dreams into reality at the 2013 ESEC!
We cordially invite you to visit our booth and discover our outstanding products!

2013年5月1日 星期三

Static analysis...

fanless embedded systems, gaming platform, single board computer

When it comes to software development, the old adage is best spun in a slightly different way: better "early" than never. Accordingly, static analysis can help those developing in Java to stay one step ahead of potential coding problems.

Today’s software development teams are under immense pressure; the market demands high-quality, secure releases at a constantly increasing pace while security threats become more and more sophisticated. Considering the high cost of product failures and security breaches, it is more important than ever to address these risks throughout the software development process. Potential problems need to be spotted early to prevent release delays or, worse, post-release failures.
...
refer to:
http://embedded-computing.com/articles/static-helps-manage-risk-java/

2013年4月23日 星期二

Built using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) building blocks

In recent years, building, maintaining, and evolving proprietary network systems for telecom-grade applications that are highly available and "always on" have become increasingly prohibitive from the perspective of cost, risk management, time to revenue, and so on.
In vehicle pc, Industrial PC, single board computer
State of the industry
Wide adoption of several of these key standards has resulted in commercially viable COTS building blocks – hardware and software – that address various functional layers in a network-ready system quickly and cost effectively (Figure 1). This approach is being broadly employed by various industry players, and such platforms have been successfully deployed in networks worldwide. A few critical challenges, however, still remain:
In vehicle pc, Industrial PC, single board computer
Figure 1: The communications industry is migrating towards vertically integrated platforms.
There is increasing industry recognition of these challenges, and key players are stepping forward to effectively address them.

Network Applications Platform
The CSPs' need to bring innovative services to market quickly and at a competitive cost creates a direct challenge for NEPs to provide telecom network elements that meet their requirements. Not only does the approach of using platforms that are built with field-proven COTS building blocks help NEPs save R&D expense and time, it enables them to focus their precious resources on revenue-generating applications and services.
Oracle Corporation has been actively pursuing product programs designed to help NEPs transition to this approach. The Oracle Network Applications Platform (ONAP) is a pre-integrated, pre-tested engineered system using hardware and software assets designed to meet mission-critical communications network workloads. These COTS assets, that have already been deployed and tested in numerous commercial deployments in a variety of markets, span all layers of the platform – hardware, storage, Operating System (OS),virtualization, service availability, management, and a host of application services (Figure 2).
In vehicle pc, Industrial PC, single board computer
Figure 2: The Oracle Network Applications Platform provides high levels of availability by leveraging industry-standard COTS assets at all levels of the stack.

ONAP is designed with the objective of addressing the functional and non-functional requirements of a wide set of network and back office applications, and others. The extensible architecture of ONAP has been designed to provide resident applications with 5-nines and higher availability, end-to-end management, scalability, and reliability – all supported in multiple operating environments.
ONAP's architecture is designed to enable customers to maximize the value of their investments by leveraging a carrier-grade platform on which they can swiftly develop and deploy applications. It also provides optimized performance, High Availability (HA), and seamless integrated operations management for mission-critical deployments. ONAP accomplishes this by leveraging best-of-suite COTS technologies, including extensive use of the various services defined by the SAF to ensure continuous service availability of applications hosted on the platform.
The key tenets of the ONAP architecture are summarized here.
Unified Availability
ONAP implements a comprehensive availability management framework that, along with several supporting services, provides end-to-end availability lifecycle management for all layers of the system. ONAP Unified Availability monitors the health and availability of the platform infrastructure services, which affect application availability. This  to a cohesive availability management  that encompasses the entire stack – from hardware to the application – and drives the highest level of application availability. This is a unique approach that brings together technologies that offer carrier-grade service availability to telecom and IT applications. These technologies form the basis of two COTS products that have been field-hardened in a large number of telecom and enterprise applications worldwide for several years.
...
Through the use of the SAF Application Interface Specification (AIS)Availability Management Framework (AMF) and Cluster Membership (CLM) services, these two powerful products have been integrated within ONAP and offer critical functionality to ensure data and session integrity in a wide variety of network and back office applications.
ONAP abstracts the underlying platform from the application developers by providing a set of SAF AIS Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Clusterware interfaces as part of a Software Development Kit (SDK).
Unified Management
ONAP brings forth a set of COTS technologies and products, each with sophisticated functionality at various layers of the integrated stack. Managing such an integrated platform can be complex and challenging. ONAP implements a comprehensive management framework and related services that provide a consistent and unified approach to managing the entire platform – from hardware to the application(s) and the intervening middleware, Platform Service Modules (PSMs), application services, and so on. The Unified Management capability leverages field-proven technologies and products that have been widely deployed to provide management solutions to a variety of applications. Unified Management covers a broad set of management requirements of the platform
...
Extensible architecture
ONAP has been designed and implemented to meet the requirements of a wide variety of network and network-facing applications. Whereas the base platform addresses the common requirements of such applications, ONAP also provides the ability to optionally integrate other technologies and solutions from Oracle, as well as third-party databases, Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs), application services, and protocol suites, for example. Such solutions, referred to by ONAP as PSMs, become native to ONAP and enjoy the benefits of Unified Availability and Unified Management once integrated.
Operating environments
ONAP offers four major operating environments – an OS and CPU combination that exposes a particular Application Binary Interface (ABI) for use by the overlaying application
...
Virtualization of the operating environment is provided through the use of Oracle Virtual Server (OVS), which offers a broad set of capabilities:
...
Vertical Integration
ONAP's uniqueness is due to yet another important factor. Other than any potential optional third-party PSMs, Oracle owns the intellectual property of the ONAP engineered COTS system, offering several advantages to the user
...
Integration Development Kit
Integration of applications on ONAP is supported through a set of APIs provided by an Integration Development Kit (IDK). These API expose various capabilities of Unified Availability and Unified Management for use by the application integrator. This kit also provides tools necessary to create software releases for ONAP deployment. Once the overall configuration of the system is determined, the IDK is used to create an appliance ready for intended deployment.
A final word
In recent years the COTS hardware and software industry has made significant strides towards building and providing products that meet the functionality, availability, manageability, and scalability requirements of demanding applications such as telecom. Network elements built through integration of such components have become viable and are being deployed in networks worldwide. However, this approach is not without its challenges – NEPs and CSPs following this path often have to manage multiple suppliers, coordinate their developments, and navigate disparate and complex support structures. By adopting a platform such as ONAP, NEPs and CSPs can leverage the ecosystem effectively and save cost, time, and effort required to build or integrate such systems in-house.




refer to : http://xtca-systems.com/articles/engineered-cots-network-systems/

2013年4月9日 星期二

The using of power outlets: tough call!


Industrial PC, in vehicle pc, Embedded pc,












The main gaming challenges of using power outlets to connect devices in the home include a lack of industry specifications, multiple sources of electric noise, and difficulty passing through phases in the home. HomePlug technology has overcome these challenges by creating specifications with advanced, optimized algorithms that are realized in semiconductor technology. HomePlug AV addresses these shortcomings – and stay tuned for the HomePlug AV2 standard currently in development.
The reliability of a wired gaming  connection for high-speed connections has always been an advantage of HomePlug power line networking, and HomePlug AV and HomePlug AV2 include improvements to achieve nearly 100 percent coverage. Everyone enjoys the mobility of a wireless connection, but when a consumer is running a demanding application such as streaming video or online gaming, the wireless signal often isn’t strong enough. Appliances such as HDTVs, computers, or gaming consoles are most often stationary in the home, so HomePlug provides a perfect solution to deliver a gaming  broadband-strength network to these always-plugged-in devices simply via a nearby electrical outlet.


refer to:http://industrial-embedded.com/articles/plug-and-play-homeplug-homeplug-powerline-alliance/

2013年4月3日 星期三

The importance of the AFE

Industrial PC, in vehicle pc, Embedded pc
Another function of the AFE is to filter unwanted frequency ranges from the sensor, for example, to satisfy the Nyquist limit or to remove a DC offset. This embedded noise must be removed before the analog signal is converted to embedded digital. The AFE must employ low-pass filter circuitry to block out high-frequency noise and/or employ high-pass circuits to remove lower-frequency noise.
A second function of the AFE is to convert signals from one signal type to another. For example, typical sensors output a voltage, but some output a current. The MCU ADC circuits do not accept current inputs, so such currents have to be converted to voltages before going to the MCU. This current-to-voltage conversion is performed by the AFE circuit, called a transimpedance (I/V) circuit, which also amplifies the resulting voltage to levels usable by the MCU.
refer to: http://embedded-computing.com/articles/latest-afe-simplifies-interfacing-hundreds-sensors/#at_pco=cfd-1.0

2013年3月25日 星期一

What's boost the performance and trim down the size of embedded applications

Embedded PC, in vehicle PC, Industrial PC
In response to growing pressure to boost the performance and trim down the size of embedded applications, standards organizations meet regularly to optimize their portfolios in light of the latest available technology. These updated standards take advantage of new silicon architecture combining multiple processors, graphics elements, and complex I/O to deliver the next generation of preengineered, off-the-shelf modules to support many of the high-performance requirements of embedded product development.

 

2013年3月5日 星期二

Embedded software and today's medical devices (Minimizing risk)

Networking appliance, Console server, Embedded pc

Stephen covers key system software issues that embedded systems developers must address, including next-generation SoCs that contain multiple cores and methodologies to properly allocate the applications between several types of operating systems.

Embedded developers face several decisions when developing medical embedded devices, from selecting the best system software for optimal application performance, to understanding the interactions and limitations between the software operating system and target hardware. Should the software engineer use a small micro-kernel,Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), or a General Purpose OS (GPOS) such as Android or Linux? Other considerations include the physical size of the system for portability and functionality requirements, including faster performance, power consumption, data protection, and display (user interface) technology. And FDA certification and industry standards that affect embedded software selection come into the mix as well.

Modern medical devices are evolving at a record clip. From portable wireless units for patients to use at home to larger more complex devices used by healthcare professionals at a facility, there’s no question we are at the forefront of developing new ways to empower patients and medical professionals alike. How do we make sure the system software that controls these devices does exactly as planned with little to no risk of harming the patient?

At the heart of the matter: operating systems

Typically an Operating System (OS) manages a medical embedded device. An OS can vary from a simple “roll your own” built in-house by a few enterprising software coders to a more complex OS from an established vendor. A GPOS such as Linux or Android establishes a feature-rich platform for application development, but sometimes consumes more memory than necessary. An RTOS is also a good choice for modern medical devices, particularly when specific system requirements require a deterministic preemptive kernel and a small memory footprint. Somewhere in the mix there is an ideal candidate for your application and hardware. One thing is certain: Before selecting your OS, know exactly the intentions of your application and the hardware you plan to use.

How will the device be used?

One way to minimize risk when developing your embedded system is to first consider its use cases – not just how the end-user will interact with it, but also how it will be designed, developed, and tested. Will the device be used primarily by a healthcare provider, by the patient at home, or both?
Does the device have communication modes or is it purely a stand-alone? Depending on its communication needs, you may find that your preferred OS includes many of the modes you need, or you might prefer another OS, in which case you’ll have to port over the communications stack and/or the driver to attain the right mix of communications software.
Are there any real-time needs identified? For some devices, there is no requirement for real-time behavior. If an interrupt is serviced 100 milliseconds late, the results may be delayed by 100 milliseconds, but that’s not going to cause a failure. However, if it’s a laser involved in eye surgery, this can have catastrophic effects if the laser does not turn on and off at the precise time. If the laser has eye tracking guidance, the laser must move in lockstep with a predefined pattern even in the presence of eye movement.
Perhaps the device is a critical piece of equipment, so there is minimal sensitivity to cost. On the contrary, a device that is handheld and sold in the millions has a high sensitivity to cost. These types of considerations will directly affect the need to minimize BOM, which in turn results in possibly minimizing the memory you’ll need to effectively build the complete application with some margin.

It’s all about the hardware

Once the use cases have been defined, it’s time to find the appropriate hardware. Medical systems can be extremely small, with an 8-bit microcontroller clocked at less than 25 MHz, and use only 8K of memory. More complex designs can include feature-rich SoCs clocked in the hundreds of MHz and megabytes of memory. The range of systems encompasses hybrid systems that have special purpose processors or DSPs to systems that include numerous multicore chips.
What’s best for your design comes out of the use cases and expectations on how you want the system to behave.

Is multicore necessary?

To the two main reasons that come to mind for selecting multicore – pure processing performance and low power management – a third could well be added, the combination of the two.
If you’re concerned with low power you may want to use a multicore SoC simply because it can utilize all the available cores at a lower clock frequency rather than clocking a main processor at a much higher frequency. When not needed, it can power down the extra cores to save power.
While both power and performance are good reasons to use multicore, the question is more about finding the best way to allocate the CPUs. With symmetric hardware you can use a single operating system across all the available cores as a type of Symmetric Multicore Processing (SMP). Most GPOSes and some RTOSes have this capability. Using SMP could complicate the scheduling across the cores, however, as real-time hits due to cache misses in one core could cause a cache flush in the other core, which invariably leads to delays in the system. Features such as spinlocks are common to all SMP-capable operating systems. If not employed correctly, a spinlock can hurt system performance, as one core stalls for an indeterminate time waiting for the resource on another core to be freed.
The other way to build the system (even with symmetric hardware) is to apply Asymmetric Multicore Processing (AMP) techniques. This approach involves two or more separate operating systems (Figure 1) interacting through some type of communication channel using hardware like a series of FIFOs or through shared memory. There is a standard that makes the application development portable by the Multicore Association called the Multicore Communications API (MCAPI).

Networking appliance, Console server, Embedded pc
Figure 1: Distributing your application across multiple operating systems as in this Asymmetric Multicore Processing (AMP) example can relieve risk.
 

When hardware and software worlds collide

Consider the case where a medical device that has USB connectivity to a Windows host computer usually follows the USB specification, but when all the parts of the SoC are activated, the hardware intermittently starts signaling outside the specification in such a way that the host computer shuts down the port in the middle of a session causing failure at the most inopportune time – during patient data collection. With results lost, the patient, who made special preparations for the original procedure 24 hours in advance, must prepare for retesting.
Two fundamental reasons caused the port shutdown. First, the software assumed that the USB controller would not fail. And second, the system architecture had not planned for the case where the unit is unplugged in the middle of a session. Had the system taken either one of these use cases into account, the system would have stored the data locally, allowing for a transfer after the session was re-established, thus minimizing the risk to the patient of a possible retest.
The application relied on the USB controller’s flawless operation to prevent data loss. If the application had been broken down into several sections, data loss might have been avoided. With an architecture where data collection and data transmission are not interrelated, even if the link goes down, the data is still stored in the device, so when it recovers it can pick up where it left off and not lose any data. A write to a buffer before the transmission to the host, which would occur in the background, is one way to avoid lost data in this type of scenario.
If a software workaround to detect the USB bus suspension is used, the workaround can take the SoC pins out of USB mode and make them GPIO pins so that the host can detect a reset condition and force a re-enumeration of the device. The USB software would then resubmit the buffers, and the transmission would resume. The end result is that the data would not be lost, just delayed while the workaround took place.

Portability considerations

An OS manages the system’s resources both in hardware and software. The most basic management is that of memory and time. But where does the responsibility of the OS stop and that of the application start? While an application can have a device driver built into it and talk directly to the hardware, porting to new hardware becomes a challenge as the device evolves and newer hardware is employed. Therefore, it is recommended that most, if not all, devices in the system be managed by the OS in order to ensure future portability.

Regulations and patient privacy

The need for portability includes wireless devices like a GSM radio or an 802.11 wireless interface for connectivity. Others include Bluetooth and ZigBee, where these links must also be secure and provide patient privacy. Even in the device itself, it’s imperative that only doctors who are authorized to see a patient actually see the data of that patient. Disallowing unauthorized access is also a critical requirement of any device. Are the records secure, even for the technician who works on the equipment? Are there any modes where this data is not secure? True Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) compliance is making sure that the securityof information is paramount. Security inside the database of patient records is as well.

Conclusion

Medical devices are a special breed that will touch all of us in some way. We need to take extra care when designing these systems to ensure that the device does what it is intended to do. Does it make sense to use an RTOS or a GPOS to meet the requirements of determinism, size, boot time, power optimization, and the breadth of middleware available? Finally, to minimize risk we need to make sure that all regulations with both HIPPA and the FDA are followed.
refer:
http://embedded-computing.com/articles/minimizing-software-todays-medical-devices/