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The design of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is no longer just a matter of connecting the dots. With technology advancing at lightning speed, PCB designers must incorporate cutting-edge techniques and adhere to the latest standards to maximize performance. From advanced software tools to thermal management techniques, the world of PCB design is full of exciting possibilities.

4 Important Stages of IoT Prototyping

IoT Prototyping is the first step to build an IoT product. An ideal prototype consists of:

Hardware device

User interface such as web frontend or smartphone app

Backend software which implements logic of the business

Connectivity

The Internet of Things is going to manage our homes, production units, offices and many other processes. To avoid any type of risk of failure while building a new product, businesses begin by process of prototyping. However, prototyping an IoT product is different from the actual prototyping process.

Confusion to be avoided– IoT prototype products are quite complex as the hardware that you use to prototype is not what you actually use in mass-producing IoT products. There will be many third-party integrations that have to be considered as the software is complex.

Building your own components -As there isn’t a defined road map to follow, you have to focus on paving your own way and innovations. One can’t solely rely on pre-existing architectures or libraries as developers will need to start from the scratch.However pre-built components will be available as the IoT industry grows.

Long term feedback loops and testing cycles – It is easy and simple to push the software to beta users and get feedback for any web or mobile applications. IoT products include a hardware and software layer, that needs to ship and deliver physical devices to your beta group. Furthermore, it is vital to provide detailed set up and user instructions as consumers aren’t familiar with IoT technologies. Generally, the testing and feedback is complex and longer when compared to traditional software products.

The 4 key stages of IoT Prototyping:

Choose the toughest problem first: It is vital to prepare your strategy with regard to your product risks when prototyping your IoT product. If you are not sure about a device compatibility, that’s the task you should first focus on. This will help you make important decisions beforehand rather than spending months into the development cycle and ending up with a faulty product.

Effective research & development: After understanding about the problems to be addressed in your prototype, you have to discover which technologies you are going to use to create the product, and this is just like an experimentation. In the process of your research, you will discover what technologies won’t work for a product.

Start building: After figuring out the main problems you intend to solve and which type of technologies to use, you can start building. This is one of the critical stages of the prototyping process. The main focus is to start building early and power through the gap.

The Importance of IoT Device Life-Cycle Management

The Internet of Things helps to increase the efficiency of the business and contributes to creating new innovative business models. With the real time data that is collected by devices, you will not only derive valuable insights but also fulfill their complete maintenance management remotely and automatically.

Surprisingly the connected devices are more than humans on this planet and this trend is expected to grow more and more. An ideal brownfield IoT device is expected to remain operational for many years without any need for replacement, which may or may not be designed for connectivity. This type of change needs a mechanism that enables you to deploy field devices that can be used remotely. One of the biggest concerns in the connected device network is the protection of device data.

IoT Device Lifecycle Management solutions/remote device management solutions are vital for IoT-based enterprises to meet the expectations of their end user with regard to service reliability. Managing devices remotely improves employee productivity as well as asset utilization and helps to reduce the services cost by improving customer satisfaction; reduces operational cost and enables product companies to scale at greater speeds.

Why do you need IoT Device Lifecycle Management?

Devices Health – IoT device lifecycle management platforms enable you to  track, secure,  manage and sustain all your devices. The device lifecycle management’s dashboard can be accessed from any location allowing devices to be decommissioned, managed and provisioned in real time.

Improve Productivity – It helps in effective asset utilization that enables employees to focus on core tasks and this helps in improving productivity of the enterprise.

Reduce Downtime – Device management helps to monitor any bugs and errors and fix them in real time and this helps in improving service reliability and minimizing device downtime.

Stay Updated – Device lifecycle management helps you to remotely configure and upgrade devices by managing the increasing device uptime. It gives you flexibility to effectively manage on field devices from any location.

Focus on Customer Reliability – It helps you to reduce time in resolving tickets and provide outstanding customer service. Better customer service enables us to build trust and reliability.

Data Feedback – As devices generate huge tons of data, device lifecycle management can provide individual performance of each device and analysis.

Let us now understand the Key Benefits of IoT Device Lifecycle Management

Multiple Device Support – IoT device management helps interfacing of multiple devices that enables a remote-controlled network.

Cost Saving – Reduction in support and operation costs through remote device maintenance and software upgrades.

Device and Communication Security – IoT device management includes layered security system which is hardware, software and data security.

Importance of Firmware Over the Air (FOTA)

Globally companies need flexible, efficient, and secure ways to manage IoT devices. Though there are mechanisms in IoT platforms that are used to manage devices, successful enterprises usually choose a device management protocol that helps in solving challenges. In device management the mechanism is the Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) update. This technology helps operators to seamlessly and remotely perform upgrades of the respective devices’ firmware versions which will enable them to fix bugs, be secure and add new functionalities if any. Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) is a vital feature supported by some network technologies. It helps in removing the need for computers or third-party program cables and helps to add features to the device.

Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) and its basic function help in remote updating of IoT enabled devices and machines by the concerned operator. The update helps in effective operation of the device and runs in the background which does not require any type of intervention of the end-user. By considering the average connection speed and the common size of a firmware file, the process of downloading all these updates over the air will not exceed ten minutes.

Firmware updates play a vital role in upgrading the devices adding new functionalities, fixing any issues, and configuration settings. The poor design of the firmware is a common vulnerability in internet-connected devices. Storing credentials or putting backdoors in the devices in an insecure manner can lead to hacking of IoT devices. It is vital to note that for developing a secure firmware package, the security guidelines are most commonly out of the scope of device management protocol specifications. One of the biggest responsibilities of the device manufacturer is to provide well-designed software and devices.

With the use of FOTA technology, service providers globally are able to effortlessly and seamlessly keep their devices secure and up to date. Firmware Over-the-Air is very useful to IoT systems, who have a huge number of connected devices that require updates frequently. Furthermore, it makes it simple and easy to release new updates in phases and this helps to scale operations and receive the latest updates automatically.

Benefits of FOTA from the manufacturer's perspective.

Manufacturer achieves the ability to remain compliant with the present as well as evolving industry standards. This helps in expanding product lifetime.

It helps to recall costs/reduce warranty by eliminating service center visits or any type of customer care calls for the IoT devices. By executing new updates swiftly, it helps in reducing complexity and costs.

Issues can be resolved remotely, and technicians can avoid traveling on-site to fix any type of bugs or problems.

Embedded Software and Firmware Development Services and its Benefits

An embedded device is a system that is built with an embedded firmware application. Firmware is a software that is carved into a piece of hardware and operates without going through device drivers, operating systems, APIs – by performing a set of basic related functions and tasks as intended. The most basic devices cannot function without firmware. Firmware comes in various forms and complexities and it can be found in devices such as graphic cards, basic input/output systems, hard drives, keyboards, etc. Firmware is stored on a Read-Only Memory (ROM) chip that ensures it does not get erased by any chance. Time processing power and reset sequencing, address routing, math coprocessing, and signal processing are some of the functions of embedded firmware.

In this era of digital disruption and industry 4.0 revolutions, embedded firmware software has become vital in machine and device development. One of the most outstanding benefits of using embedded software systems is that it helps to reduce the cost in terms of manual labour. For instance, the sensors that are embedded in the machinery on a production line capture the required operational data and a technician needs to understand and analyze the data which will help them in performance evaluation of the machinery. Furthermore, the data can also be used for predictive and preventive maintenance programs which will ultimately contribute to overall performance of the machinery and avoid any type of delay in production.

The solutions of embedded software development help in ensuring that the system is working safely and smoothly. It gives you necessary data from time to time which will enhance the efficiency of the process both in terms of productivity and quality. There are many challenges in embedded software development such as rapid market changes, lack of right talent and user awareness, improper device updates, lack of trust in security protocols and built-in security patches, etc.

Let us now understand the benefits of embedded software outsourcing

Scalability – In this present world of fast-evolving technology, it is important to be able to adapt. Embedded software outsourcing helps you adjust your organizational goals accordingly. Embedded software development services providers have a vast talent pool, which helps in scaling processes fast and easy.

Innovation – The outsourcing of embedded software development allows you to explore new technologies. Vendors that offer embedded software services typically have a plethora of expertise and experience, and it is always better to implement new technologies with a trusted vendor.

Security Issues – Enterprises that provide embedded software development have a security policy that is streamlined with all required international standard security protocols.

Cost Efficiency – It is a lot more cost-efficient to outsource to qualified third-party vendors when compared to hiring and training the right personnel for specific tasks.

Emerging Trends and Challenges to Look Out for in Industrial Internet of Things

In this era of Digital 4.0, Industrial IoT is expected to increase at an aggressive pace due to the high growth market and this will have an impact across various industries ranging from manufacturing, oil & gas, medical healthcare, energy and utilities, transport and logistics and many more.

Emerging Trends in Industrial IoT:

The Emergence of Wireless Technologies – The Industrial Internet of Things focuses on the connection between machines, industrial equipment, and applications. The impact of 5G regarding the connectivity of IIoT has been enhanced to communicate data at a faster speed with greater reliability, and increased security to support specific critical operations.

The Increased Usage of AI and ML – In recent years, AI is transforming the IIoT space and enterprises are deriving the benefits of implementing IIoT. Collecting, cleaning, and processing of the right data is one of the most important aspects of AI. Added to this, enterprises are now moving to Edge AI, where the data is processed from the same premise, stored, processed, and managed at the endpoints of the Internet of Things (IoT). This helps to make informed decisions for the Management at the right time. AI will be helped by increased use of ML (Machine learning) in which data from a respective process or device is sent to an AI algorithm.

Increase in Industrial Automation – Automation in industries not only helps in making tasks more productive and time saving, but also helps in decreasing human intervention as much as possible. When there is less human intervention, errors can be prevented. Furthermore, industries are focusing to invest more in industrial automation to reduce the number of operators due to the Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing.

Predictive Maintenance – Predictive Maintenance in the realm of IIoT helps to prevent asset failure by analyzing data and also predictive issues prior to their occurrence. It helps to achieve real-time alerts, analyze the nature of assets and enhance uptime and improve overall productivity. Earlier, manufacturers used to use scheduled maintenance to prevent downtime.

Remote Monitoring and Operations – Remote monitoring enables you to control and monitor equipment from anywhere and at any time. This helps in sound decision-making based on real-time insights irrespective of personnel location.

Challenges in Present and Future Industrial Internet of Things:

Cybersecurity Risks – With the rise of IIoT, cybersecurity risks are also on the rise. Any type of cybersecurity attack is not only a threat to sensitive data but also the production. It is vital to run a risk assessment at regular intervals during the Industrial Internet of Things device’s lifecycle.

Data Analysis – The IIoT devices such as connected devices, actuators, sensors, and gateways generate huge amounts of data. Organizing and processing data at the right time is vital to make sound decisions.