What’s Hot for Embedded Systems?

In a world where technology has taken the spotlight, it’s to be expected that certain trends arise. This is what we’ll be talking about in this article – the growth of embedded systems and how this tech is paving the way for smartness to take over a range of industries, allowing for better machine control and better monitoring, security and scalability.

The key characteristics of embedded systems include speed, security, size and power. The major trends in this market revolve around improving these characteristics.

So, what lies ahead for embedded systems? Let’s have a look at some growing trends.

Taking healthcare by storm – but safely!

The time for tiny and smart wearables is here and healthcare is on the path to become more patient-centric. There’s a huge rush for Big Data-driven healthcare systems and that potentially changes the way people interact, access and pay for services. Wearable gadgets are a common purchase as it allows us to monitor, track and be alert to the many health-related symptoms. Hospitals and clinics are making some of the quickest sprints to embedded technology-based innovations, like surgeon microbots and even sensory tattoos! With the increase in the number and variety of embedded systems applied to healthcare, security needs to be a top priority for manufacturers. The number of medical devices recalled is still increasing mainly due to software issues. Manufacturers are now aware of the new challenges, but a lot is still to be done in order to secure the safety of medical devices.

Smart everything! Embed that IoT!

Intelligent IoT is like the god of small things in embedded apps development – it reigns supreme! Today we’ve got robots, drones and smart vehicles, but IoT still has a lot of unexplored territory to develop in newer markets, such as growing smart homes, offices, factories and healthcare units. Embedded systems can truly be a versatile route to superior technical proficiency and cost-effective engineering.

What do we want? Improved security for embedded devices!

Developers’ primary focus is on security now that the Internet of Things (IoT) is rising exponentially. As embedded systems are ubiquitous in sectors like healthcare, space exploration, aviation, automotive and rail, cyberattacks could lead to catastrophic consequences. New advanced technologies will emerge to identify devices in an IoT network and to isolate security operations from the normal behaviour of systems.

Cutting down on energy consumption

Optimising battery-powered devices for lower energy consumption and maximum uptime has been a challenge for developers for a while. Right now, many solutions to tackle this issue are under development; these solutions include energy monitors to fine-tune embedded systems, as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules that consume less power.

Artificial Intelligence

AI’s market is unstoppable. We’re in quite the virtual race to reach it true potential and there’s a huge upsurge in AI-embedded development. The investment is astronomical – AI and cognitive systems will drive almost $50 billion by 2020 according to an IDC report! There are new smart devices released every month and we’re at a point where AI, in its most basic form, is at the heart of embedded devices, from smart home lighting systems to driverless cars.

The embedded systems industry is undergoing massive transformation and incredible innovations are already coming out of it. It’s almost impossible to guess what’s going to happen next and what impressive things we’ll be seeing a few years from now.

However, innovation always comes with a price tag and new challenges that we need to face. For embedded systems, security is the biggest one. In the past, there was the assumption that embedded systems were not vulnerable to cyberattacks or an interesting target. That’s not true now that many critical aspects of our society rely on these systems. From healthcare to transport, banking to communications, there are plenty of examples of cyberattacks. Vendors need to start embracing security concerns at an early stage of embedded systems development .

Embedded systems won’t stop aweing us anytime soon. We want this to continue to be for positive reasons.