The story of the current economic recovery is largely one of rising manufacturing productivity. In the US, for example, investment in manufacturing technology has grown an astounding 35% over 2011 levels. This trend looks likely to continue as first-world nations seek ways to compete with developing regions, and as those developing nations face soaring labor costs .   These trends present a huge opportunity for developers creating factory automation equipment. To take advantage of this ...Read More

I spent last week at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) , and as usual I saw tons of cool new products and demos – including loads of new hardware , fun demos , and some cool software tools . The highlight of the show was the new Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 series , formerly codenamed Sandy Bridge-EP . These parts are the first Intel® Xeon® processors to use the latest-generation “Sandy Bridge” architecture found in 2nd generation Intel® C...Read More

Performance and power-efficiency are more important than ever for network infrastructure. Traffic is exploding and becoming more complex as video and web traffic increasingly dominate the network. Meanwhile, the increasing cloud connectivity of everything from enterprises source to consumer devices is creating a tempting target for hackers. At the same time, cost pressures are causing customers to make ever-greater demands on energy efficiency.   The Intel® Xeon® processors pro...Read More

Embedded markets of nearly every stripe are clamoring for a new generation of devices that can intelligently connect to other devices , to the enterprise , and to cloud services . Customers worldwide are discovering that Internet connectivity can help boost revenues , lower costs , and enable entirely new business models . In this blog, we’ll examine emerging connectivity requirements and design solutions for various markets, including retail , medical , automotive , manufacturi...Read More

As the number of intelligent embedded devices climbs into the billions, designers are refining the next generation of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications techniques to provide continuous, autonomous connectivity and effective remote management. M2M has been called the “next big thing” in embedded design and promises to revolutionize and standardize connectivity across many market segments including industrial, transportation, healthcare, utilities, retail, and consumer electroni...Read More

There’s a ground swell of “green” requirements taking a prominent position in modern electronics design. But there are some substantial benefits that can be obtained from improving energy efficiency that’s all wrapped up in the green part of the design. By selecting the right processor and systems software you can eliminate active cooling devices, reduce power supply needs, and reduce real estate requirements.   There are many applications that benefit from fan-less...Read More

In a November 2nd, 2010 E-cast on "40G and Beyond: Next-Gen Network Design with AdvancedTCA ", sponsored by the Intel® Embedded Alliance, a panel of experts discussed the latest hardware, software, and standards necessary to support the rapid rise in the number of  connected devices.   Curt Schwaderer, Technology Editor, moderated the event for OpenSystems Media. Panelists presenting were: John Long, Product Line Manager for ATCA Products at RadiSys Corporation, Brian Carr, Strat...Read More

Outdoor advertizing signs, also called billboards, are ubiquitous in many countries. The United States has more than 500,000 billboards in place along the nation’s highways. Historically, outdoor and indoor advertising in commercial settings has been updated and maintained by sign painters and sign installers. Now improvements in electronics hardware technology and software have improved the capabilities of the traditional signage application, and added creative new opportunities in the d...Read More