Today, we live in a hyperconnected world, where everything is connected, largely as result of disruptive innovations in computing world. When computing systems were originally developed, they were meant for centralised computing. The risk factors during cold war era led to the need of decentralised networks, that could sustain sudden disruptions on the main computing facility. This resulted in the development of the internet and over time, the vision of a connected global community.
Early 90s more than 99% percent of the chips used to power PCs. However, pervasive computing’s capabilities ushered in a new era in computing. Pervasive computing means computing for anyone, anytime and anywhere. Means, it’s no more restricted to PCs and high computing systems. The quest of mankind for increased mobility and improved efficiency of systems he uses daily, was fulfilled by pervasive computing. If you look at our history, you could notice that our communities used to be mobile even during the olden agricultural era, as they used to move from one place to another. Communication technologies played a major role in this transition in modern era, especially with the sudden introduction of wireless. All these factors created a complete paradigm shift in semiconductor industry, where the industry started getting driven by demand from non-PC world.
In a globalised free market environment after 2000, we could see countries focusing on taking their value proposition to the next level, in order to maintain their economic competitiveness. As a result of the potentials of the information economy, big tech corporations arose. Oil businesses were even pushed out of market valuations. Later part of this phase, we started hearing about Industry 4.0 where everything is getting connected from device to device and machine to machine. People also started thinking about software defined devices where a software can replace even a hardware router. The size of software in devices began to grow, while electronics became increasingly complicated. With multicore systems, industry has found ways to go beyond Moors Law.
As the evolution of tech world reaches a new milestone, we have a new concept called 360 Degree digitization, where end-to-end product design, development, testing, manufacturing, delivery, user experience, maintenance, all phases of product life cycle getting digitalised. Concepts like Digital Twin is are now commonly employed in the industry now, to accelerate product development lifecycle as well as to save cost. Modern automobiles are software defined connected ones, driven by the 360 Degree Digitisation. You could see below how the automotive industry is transforming now.
The contemporary virtual environment has aided the shift, particularly in nations such as India. We are seeing a seamless integration of Operational Technologies (OT), Information Technology (IT) and Internet of Things (IoT), creating IIoT- Industrial IoT. Intelligent embedded edge devices play a major role here, bringing a seamless connection in our automation drive. But these connected Software defined subsystems pose new challenges on Safety and Security front for new designs as well as already deployed systems. New standards and regulatory frameworks are also getting momentum in this space. Some of the prominent global standards nowadays gaining momentum are ISO 26262 and ISO / PAS 21448 for road vehicles, as well as IEC 61508 and ISA/IEC 62243 for industrial systems, along with many other similar ones for respective industries. People are also recognising that security and safety are two sides of the same coin. That is to say, we cannot obtain safety without security
We are also seeing a huge demand for full stack engineers, with multi-disciplinary skills. Almost all systems will also have AI/ML algorithms incorporated in hardware or software, encouraging our systems to self-learn on a daily basis.
360 Degree Digitisation brings huge opportunities for new business models that could accelerate automation and virtualisation, powered by smart hyperconnected embedded devices. The current environment has hastened our journey towards 360 Degree Digitisation in multiple industries simultaneously, resulting in a surge in embedded chip demand. Personally, I have been blessed to be part of this interesting journey, throughout my career. Let us try to encash all the benefits this disruptive transformation bringing to our society.
About The Author:
“Shinto Joseph is currently working as Director – South East Asia Operations at LDRA. With over 24 years of experience in handling Embedded Software Life Cycle solutions, he has built many teams and companies in the embedded systems field. Working with cross-border delivery teams, technology partners and industry regulators in the defence, aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical, rail and nuclear sectors are his unique advantage. Today he concentrates on creating a healthy ecosystem in the mission, security and safety-critical systems domain in South East Asia.
