It’s good to be back! Reunited at Embedded World 2022
NUREMBERG, Germany — After going digital in 2021, Embedded World was back as a live event and attracted companies large and small.
The exhibition and conference showcases the latest trends in the embedded electronics sector and provides companies an opportunity to meet customers and engineers looking to accelerate product development.
Four Avnet companies exhibited: Avnet Embedded, Avnet Silica and EBV, which hosted Avnet Abacus. Looking at the amount of activity in the exhibition halls and on the exhibitor stands, everyone was glad to be there in person.
A year in the electronics industry can be a long time, even during a pandemic. The excitement and enthusiasm of visitors was clear as they were eager to learn about the latest developments.
The pace of technology is often reflected by the activity at Embedded World. The recent slowdown was only apparent by a return to the basics. As in past years, a good number of exhibitors were suppliers of embedded system building blocks, such as connectors, displays and antennas; many of which are on Avnet line cards.
More embedded software companies were present. Embedded software development is served by a combination of supplier development environments alongside partners with additional tools. Software test, analysis and verification are important parts of the software development process, but they stand apart from mainstream development solutions. There seemed to be more companies offering these solutions than in previous years. It could be an indication that software reliability is becoming more important for OEMs outside the usual sectors of automotive and military & aerospace.
A couple of milestone anniversaries were celebrated. Embedded World is in its 20th year and the hugely popular Raspberry Pi single-board computer (SBC) turned 10. Launched at Embedded World in 2012, the simple format has been influential in part because of its low selling price. The Raspberry Pi and similar boards that came after it have redefined the way manufacturers and engineers think about SBCs.
Boards and modules are where Avnet Embedded excels. Avnet showcased a range of solutions it developed for customers. A great example is an electric vehicle (EV) charge point, aimed at electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) suppliers.
The continued interest in Artificial intelligence (AI) was apparent at Embedded World. Although the emphasis this year was on getting back to business, some notable examples highlighted how AI and machine learning are becoming more popular. The Avnet Silica booth featured a series of demonstrations showing AI and machine learning solutions running on devices from AMD Xilinx, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics and Microchip.
One of the significant announcements in the field of AI and machine learning came from STMicroelectronics, with an update to NanoEdge AI Studio. It now supports on-device learning and inferencing on ST’s new range of smart sensors. These MEMS sensors feature an intelligent sensor processing unit (ISPU). The ISPU feature enables sensors to learn, recognizing anomalies using AI running in the sensor itself.
Klika Tech showed three AI-based platforms it created with partners. All the platform partners appear on Avnet’s line card. They included an Industrial IoT anomaly detector that sits at the edge, which uses Klika Tech’s tinyML machine learning technology running on a STMicroelectronics microcontroller. Another platform, developed with Quectel, targeted asset tracking and a third also performs anomaly detection at the edge but in this case for HVAC systems running on an XMC Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller from Infineon.
NXP Semiconductors announced two new real-time processors designed for the next generation of vehicles. The move to domain and zonal architectures in automotive will reduce system complexity and the need for large and complex wiring harnesses. These software-defined vehicles will require greater real-time control, which is where the S32Z and S32E processors will be used to provide control with safety and security. NXP stated that Robert Bosch GmbH was a key partner in the development of the S32Z and S32E processors.
Avnet and AWS collaborate on IoTConnect
Partnerships are becoming more important in a fully connected world. Avnet announced it entered into a global strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that will enable OEMs to access the features of AWS through Avnet’s IoTConnect® Platform. Avnet already integrated IoTConnect with Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. With the completion of the integration with AWS, Avnet will be able to offer a truly cloud-agnostic solution for OEMs looking to deliver fully connected solutions without the complexity of managing the underlying cloud configurations.
“Today, Avnet lives at the intersection of connected technology by regularly working with leading hardware manufacturers and building our expertise at the edge and cloud. With our help, OEMs don’t have to go it alone to deliver simple, fast and secure IoT implementations,” said Lou Lutostanski, vice president of IoT, Avnet. “Our collaboration with AWS will help OEMs design, build, deploy and manage cloud-connected devices, applications and solutions at scale.”
This announcement is significant because it endorses the value of IoTConnect as a universal abstraction between cloud platforms and edge devices. The integration with AWS will provide OEMs easier access to the features cloud connectivity offers, without the pain of configuring every aspect of those features.
Read the full press release here: Avnet Announces Global Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Amazon Web Services | Avnet, Inc.
