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Friday, October 11, 2013

Excessive security will kill the Internet of Things - Electronics Eetimes

Excessive security will kill the emerging Internet of Things warns the author of a new report.
“There’s a certain amount of panic around the Internet of Things, that you need maximum security or not do it at all,” said Prof. Jon Howes, Technology Director at Cambridge-based Beecham Research and author of a new report on machine to machine (M2M) security. “The problem with M2M is the business model is always tight so as we put tighter and tighter security in place it will kill the business model and make it uneconomic.”
The key is the end-to-end architecture, he says. This is even more important with the recent launch of low cost microcontrollers such as Silicon Labs’ 49¢ Zero Gecko that include an AES encryption engine to support security applications. "

More at Excessive security will kill the Internet of Things - Electronics Eetimes:

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

5MP camera bundles boost Raspberry Pi multimedia - Electronics Eetimes

5MP camera bundles boost Raspberry Pi multimedia - Electronics Eetimes: "RS Components has released two new product bundles featuring the Raspberry Pi Model A board and the Raspberry Pi camera module."


By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

First details on Intel’s Quark IoT processor

First details on Intel’s Quark IoT processor 

Quark, Intel's new Pentium-based architecture, is aimed head on at ARM in applications such as the Internet of the Things (IoT), and there's been a lot of interest in quite what it means.

The fact that it uses ARM's AMBA bus interconnect underscores the vital importance of the ecosystem. It runs alongside a legacy serial bus to blocks such as the GPIO and real-time clock, separate from PCI Express and other serial interfaces.

The first instantiation of the core is used in the X1000 SoC. The specification, which was released at the end of last week, raises more questions than it answers for the SoC business, especially when you bring the IoT into the equation.

The way Intel has addressed the software ecosystem, with ports of Linux and VxWorks from Intel-owned Wind River and security from Intel-owned McAfee, highlights part of the challenge. Some SoC designers will welcome a ready-made software ecosystem, but this is primarily for Intel's customers buying the chip, rather than the core. Intel has said it will be a good long while before the IP is available on TSMC's technology.
Even then, there are key questions: How does this work as a multi-core device, both in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems? Exactly how the interfaces to graphics and security co-processors that need to be tightly coupled will work is not clear.
Having a synthesizable core helps with this. But creating an effective, multi-core IP solution for third-party SoC designers could take a signiifcant amount of work, and both ARM and Imagination Technologies are well ahead. Of course, a multi-core-enabled device (perhaps the X2000), could be in the roadmap.
Another issue is where this new architecture will actually compete. SoCs based on ARM's M0+ Flycatcher core will not run Linux, although they do hit the sub-50-cent price point for the IoT, including security engines and targeted peripherals.
With cache, wait states, legacy bus, and a larger area, Quark is unlikely to compete on area, price, and power. And with such price pressure, coupled with the memory and power issues, these are not going to be on the leading-edge 20nm and 14nm processes.
Atom is firmly aimed at the IoT gateway devices, and if Quark cannot get down to the silicon dust price point, it's not going to make a significant dent in the IoT market.
It seems Intel has a few large customers, including itself, lined up for Quark for wearable devices. But as exciting as it is to have a new architecture in the embedded SoC market, the opportunities for the wider market appear to be quite limited.
A smartwatch running Linux (which should really mean WindRiver Android) is interesting, but are we likely to take the hit of Android for a sensor controller in the IoT? That's unlikely, since the space between the ultra-low-cost sensor/controller and gateway is not really clear, while a heterogeneous multicore version will play well in low-cost smartphones and smart devices, alongside Intel's wireless IP.
This first part is an exploratory device with lots of options. The dedicated, optimized SoCs will come when Intel actually gets to focus on its end applications.

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Implantable 'lab on a chip' monitors health via Bluetooth

Implantable 'lab on a chip' monitors health via Bluetooth

Researchers in Switzerland have developed a tiny personal blood testing laboratory on a chip that gives an immediate analysis of substances in the body and transmits the results over a mobile phone. 
The device integrates five sensors for different proteins, a radio transmitter and a power delivery system into a few cubic millimetres so the device can be implanted under the skin of the patient. Outside the body, a battery patch provides 1/10 watt of power, through the patient’s skin so that there’s no need to operate every time the battery needs changing. 


By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Lime wants a Raspberry Pi for RF - Electronics Eetimes

Lime wants a Raspberry Pi for RF - Electronics Eetimes:


RF chip developer Lime Microsystems wants to make its configurable RF hardware as ubiquitous as the Raspberry Pi low cost computer by making it open source.

The company, based in Fleet, has provided all the schematics and documentation for the board for an open source project called Myriad-RF, and is looking for partners to make more boards to bring the cost down. The board is currently made by Taiwanese distribution partner Azio but costs $300.


By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Monday, January 14, 2013

Search Engine Project Finds Internet-Facing Critical Infrastructure Devices

Two US researchers have identified over 7,000 critical control devices that are accessible via the Internet and so may be vulnerable to attack.
The researchers from Infracritical built a suite of scripts that includes 600 search terms for equipment built and managed by close to seven dozen manufacturers of SCADA equipment and support systems for SCADA. The pair found not only devices used for critical infrastructure such as energy, water and other utilities, but also SCADA devices for HVAC systems, building automation control systems, large mining trucks, traffic control systems, red-light cameras and even crematoriums. They initially approached the US Department of Homeland Security with a list of close to 500,000 devices; DHS helped pare the list down to search terms for 50 critical systems it believed were relevant. That eventually shrunk the list of devices to 7,200.
Shodan Search Engine Project Enumerates Internet-Facing Critical Infrastructure Devices 

'via Blog this'

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk