Embedded Executive Podcast

It’s time for an update on Wi-Fi. On this week’s Embedded Executives podcast, we take a look at what’s the latest, what’s coming, what’s real, and what’s not so real, all as it pertains to Wi-Fi. To get answers to these questions, I spoke with Sivaram Trikutam, Senior Vice President of Wireless Products at Infineon Technologies. Sivaram and I went through the latest protocols to understand how things like range, power, frequency, and bandwidth will change (or not) going forward. To that end, Infineon just launched its latest Wi-Wi-Fi transceiver, the AIROC ACW741x product family, which the company claims is the industry's first 20-MHz tri-radio device optimized for IoT applications.

There are lots of different ways that IoT devices can communicate. In some instances, that’s a good thing. But in other cases, it’s hindering the growth of IoT devices. And that’s a problem, at least according to Mike Rohrmoser, a Vice President at Digi. In this week’s Embedded Executives podcast, Mike explains how protocols are evolving and what needs to occur to ensure interoperability between all devices, including those that may have been in the field for decades.

There’s no moss gathering under the Connectivity Stands Alliance, as the group recently announced the latest rev of the ZigBee spec, version 4.0. This new version enhances the security efforts from the previous generation, and also takes a hard look at smart energy in the latest devices. One of the keys, as you’ll hear, is the backward compatibility that’s been maintained. Faisal Bhaiyat, the Co-Chair of ZigBee Working Group, Connectivity Standards Alliance, and also a Senior Software Architect with Silicon Labs, fills me in on the details on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast.

You’re likely aware of many of the great things AI can do for you. And I’m guessing you’ve seen many of the nefarious things it can be used for. I was just brought up to speed on one of the latter items, and it’s something you should be aware of as well. In my discussion with Marcus Webster, the Founder and President of Webster and Webster Associates, I learned that people are using AI to help them get jobs, and in some cases, they are jobs that they should not be getting, for security reasons. People are submitting fake resumes and even conducting fake video-based job interviews. Honestly, it’s both fascinating and scary. Check out this week’s Embedded Executives podcast to learn more.

Most of the RISC-V offerings that I’ve seen have been pushing very high performance, with lots of cores and lots of chips. Upbeat Technology is taking a different tack by looking at very low power levels. In my discussion with Jerry Chen, Founder and CEO of Upbeat Technology, he explains the reasons for that approach, and, as you’ll hear, he tells it like it is and explains why the company partnered with SiFive. The applications that make sense for the Upbeat offering include always-on IoT, wearables, drones/UAVs, smart audio, predictive maintenance, and edge-AI sensors, basically anything battery-powered. Hear our discussion on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast.

It’s not the first time this has occurred, but it is the latest—a previously commercial real-time operating system is now being offered as open source. In this case, it’s SMX from Micro Digital. If you’re wondering, like I was, where the company would choose to go this route, check out this week’s Embedded Executives podcast with Ralph More, the Founder and President of Micro Digital.

There are lots of semiconductor vendors that do a great job of providing AI hardware. But unfortunately, for many of them, their offerings end there, requiring developers to source software and tools from multiple sources. It’s no secret that designing a system with AI is complex enough. Having to go to different vendors for different pieces just adds multiple layers of complexity. Analog Devices is taking a different tack, where they are providing just about everything the developer needs, thanks to its CodeFusion Studio, which includes an IDE, a software development kit, and coding tools. Hear more about it on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast, where I spoke to Rob Oshana, Analog Devices’ Senior Vice President of Software and Digital Platforms.

Every IoT device should comply with the Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA) Matter standard, but we know that’s not the case. For some developers, doing that is a no-brainer. However, there are some developers who struggle with the process. For that latter group, the CSA recently released a Matter-compliant platform certification that should help them get to market far more quickly. To explain how that works, I spoke to Jon Harros, who leads the Alliance Certification and Testing team at the CSA, on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast. Jon goes through the need for the program, how it’s implemented, and what developers need to know.

Compilers and ADAS aren’t often used in the same sentence. For developers, that anomaly can represent a design challenge, as compilers in general are not designed for this particular application, which also happens to be at the top of the safety and security checklist. To understand how these compilers should be tested and implemented, I spoke to Sjoerd van der Zwaan, the Chief Product Officer at Solid Sands, on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast. Sjoerd explains how and why compilers for ADAS are different from general compilers, and why you need to run your compiler through an appropriate series of tests to ensure compatibility.

AI at the endpoint gets yet another boost from EMASS, a fabless semiconductor company that recently emerged from stealth mode. Having your processing at the endpoint presents a few significant challenges, namely the amount of processing that can be made available and the ability to run from a battery. EMASS has come up with a way to do this a little differently from what’s been done previously. They can attach their RISC-V processing element to any sensor, making the device an AI accelerator. It’s a little difficult for me to put into words here, so check out this week’s Embedded Executives podcast, where I spent some time with Mark Goranson, EMASS’s CEO, who explains it in detail.