Industrial Computing Reference Materials

Description: Oh what a strange time it is. None of us can say that we've ever lived through something like this before, because nothing like this has ever happened before, certainly not to this magnitude. ...

Description: Here's something you may not have been aware of: industrial flash options can have a huge impact on your embedded computing design. Far too many developers take the flash memory in their systems for ...

Description: The future of testing requires adaptive and scalable platforms to monitor, capture, analyze, and react to any data in real-time, regardless of the volume, combining edge-computing, big data handling, ...

Description: Although a recent MIT paper introducing the concept of cybersafety is not light reading, it is must reading for anyone serious about industrial control system cyber security ...

Description: Embedded World 2020 was unique on many fronts, to say the least. The COVID-19 virus was in its early days, and some companies had pulled out of Embedded World. But many, upwards of 80% of the total, ...

Description: We have a lot of ground to cover here, so we're going to split this into two parts. Here in Part 1, we'll look at some of the basics of how and why PC104 can enable the rugged Edge of the Industrial ...

Description: I feel a little bit guilty about throwing something this technical out there in the middle of the summer, but Adam Taylor's recent article in EE Times, "10 FPGA Design Techniques You Should Know" was ...

Description: Ingress Protection (IP) ratings are very important in industrial computing environments. This rating classifies the amount of protection a device has against intrusion of foreign objects that could ...

Description: In a recent Dark Reading feature, Kelly Higgins Jackson describes how cyber threats to aging industrial operational technology have advanced from simple malware vulnerabilities and lack of security ...

Description: Traditionally, most oil and gas production sites used a flow computer at the wellhead for measurement and simple control functions, and a PLC at a central facility for more sophisticated control. ...

Description: Advantages of Power over Ethernet, IEEE 802.3 explained, and what's next for PoE. ...

Description: Dr. Rida Hamza, VP, Critical Infrastructure Protection at the global engineering firm Parsons, sees the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) unlocking new levels of productivity, helping organizations ...

Description: The City of Lynchburg Wastewater Treatment plant finds inspiration in its Bedrock® platform - leveraging its power, flexibility and simplicity to deliver multiple solutions faster and more cost ...

Description: Applied Risk, a Netherlands-based engineering firm specializing in cyber security for operational technology, has developed a report on The State of Industrial Cyber Security 2019. It analyzes the ...

Description: The city of Hot Springs, Arkansas projected that its antiquated filter controls would not be adequate to meet anticipated future demands. The open object-oriented system design capability of Bedrock's ...

Description: This document defines the assessment criteria, and processes used to produce a quantitative evaluation of different vendor's Industrial Control System (ICS) offerings. It is intended to be used as a ...

Description: Three things to know about Windows 7 End of Support and what version of Windows to choose next. ...

Description: Teguar Engineers, Tom and Will, explain how capacitive and resistive type touchscreens work. ...

Description: Don't know whether you caught the news, but earlier in the year a consortium of tech companies released the specs for a new Internet of Things (IoT) sensor platform, M2.COM. The entities include ARM ...

Description: When dealing with Industrial IoT (IIoT) networks, particularly for manufacturing systems and utility grids, each connected device must typically execute multiple processes, such as data collection, ...

Description: As demand increases for long-term product availabilityâ€"especially in the military, medical and industrial sectors, OEMs are responding by extending product life by either performing workarounds or ...

Description: Once again, we've posted an article on the ARM Connected Community info forum. This time, we explored the Total Cost of Ownership for a single board solution vs. a System on Module (SOM) solution. Our ...

Description: For all the software guys and gals out there, earlier this week, I saw a somewhat funny, somewhat cranky, and mostly insightful article by Jack Ganssle, which appeared on embedded.com. His topic? How ...

Description: TPM provides the highest level of security for a computer. TPM is a hardware security measure that is already being utilized by many organizations in the industrial and medical industries. Learn about ...

Description: There are two main solutions to industrial computing: a one piece, all-in-one solution, and a two piece solution consisting of an embedded box computer plus a touchscreen monitor. Learn about both ...

Description: With cloud computing, data is typically sent from the devices on the periphery of the IoT to a central server for analysis and some decision making. Then, the results or decisions, including the ...

Description: In this blog, 5 experts at Teguar Computers explain what features are needed for 5+ year computers. ...

Description: Over the last few months, I’ve been writing articles about the various aspects of industrial embedded computing, and the systems that drive those application spaces. However, it makes sense to ...

Description: A rugged industrial computer is one that's designed specifically to operate reliably in a harsh environment and/or harsh conditions. That could be an environment that's subject to lots of vibration, ...

Description: When the time comes to update assets and related processes, the path forward can be daunting; however, systems integration makes it easier. By extending the life of pre-existing assets through ...

Description: In part I of this two-part series, we outlined the concerns people juggle when deciding to update industrial infrastructure and the associated costs of their chosen path. In this piece, we'll discuss ...

Description: New technology is supporting campus safety, enhancing the partnership between public and private security teams. Three key technology industries have contributed to these updates: Big Data - and its ...

Description: As more mission critical defense activities operate in harsh environments facing peers and near-peers in combat, the burden to keep defense technology durable has grown. To function competitively over ...

Description: The demand market says, "have what you want, when you want it, where you want it," and the rise of this slogan is called the Amazon Effect. The ruling paradigm in consumer markets such as retail and ...

Description: The first step to choosing the right CPU is knowing your priorities. What is most important to you, cost savings or having the highest available performance? Do you care about number of cores, the max ...

Description: Cory Hovanetz answers questions about sunlight readable displays, TFT LCDs, and optical bonding. Cory has his Master's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of MN and 16 years of ...

Description: Companies are acutely aware of cybersecurity's importance, especially those operating via cloud and edge computing models or utilizing IIoT technology. The subject has introduced anxiety for business ...

Description: A few weeks back, Tim Iskander, one of Critical Link's senior engineers, sent me this link to a video that Tektronix made in 1969. The video, which Tim found on the Museum of Vintage Tektronix ...

Description: How do fanless computers dissipate heat? Intel CPUs have built in protection called thermal throttling to protect themselves from being damaged by excessive heat. ...

Description: With the recent announcement of Apple Watch, we're seeing a lot more talk about wearable computing. While this is not the market the Critical Link generally focuses on, it's still pretty interesting ...

Description: An awful lot has been written - including by us, in this blog - about the Internet of Things. All very exciting stuff, especially when you consider Cisco's Carl Sagan-esque forecast that, by 2020, 50 ...

Description: A few weeks ago, I saw a post over on EE Times on Network on Chip (NOC) The main point the post made was that System on Chip (SOC) designers can optimize their products by incorporating NOC ...

Description: Last week, I blogged about the tablet technology that the NFL will be fielding this season. What I didn't mention in that post is that referees are also getting some new gear, wireless headsets that ...

Description: People often imagine public safety as stalwart uniformed officers or emergency response teams. However, public safety is also a vast critical communications network operating 24/7/365 behind the ...

Description: This is my fourth and final post in a series of blog posts based on a series of articles by Rob Oshana and Mark Kraeling on "Optimizing Embedded Software for Power Efficiency" that ran in Embedded.com ...

Description: This is the second in a series of blog posts based on a series of articles by Rob Oshana and Mark Kraeling on "Optimizing Embedded Software for Power Efficiency" that ran in Embedded.com in May. Their ...

Description: This is the third in a series of blog posts based on a series of articles by Rob Oshana and Mark Kraeling on "Optimizing Embedded Software for Power Efficiency" that ran in Embedded.com in May. In ...

Description: As anyone who knows me - or reads this blog - can tell you, I'm extremely interested in innovative uses of technology, whether it's things I use directly - like the Nest thermostat - or things I may ...

Description: Given the nature of the applications that our customers develop, we don't typically run into competitive situations where Critical Link System on Modules (SoMs) are going head to head with products ...

Description: In May, Embedded.com ran a series of articles by Rob Oshana of Freescale Semiconductor and Mark Kraeling of GE on managing embedded software design's power requirements. Taken as a whole, the articles ...

Description: 3D NAND is on the way, but it's not going to be here tomorrow. Last week, Toshiba and SanDisk announced that they were jointly investing in a production facility in Japan, coming on line in 2016. This ...

Description: In late February, the Mobile World Congress was held in Barcelona. No, I wasn't there, but since I'm both personally and professionally interested in the Internet of Things, I did enjoy reading about ...

Description: Moore's Law - "the number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months" - has been around now for 50 years. (Look for Intel, and the semiconductor industry, to make ...

Description: When we build our SoM's, we rely on our partners for the best available components. For WiFi, that partner is LS Research. ...

Description: In Console Server mode, when connected to a serial port device using Telnet/SSH or SDTConnector, you are connected via pmshell. ...

Description: Users with Linux or programming experience may be more comfortable configuring and operating the console server from the command line. Only Administrators (users in the admin group) have command line ...

Description: Step by step instructions on how to install PowerAlert NMS for Windows ...

Description: A factory reset will reset your console server back to its original factory default settings. The IP address will reset to 192.168.0.1. There are three ways to reset the console server to factory ...

Description: If you supply products for GSA Schedules and other government contracts, those products must comply with the federal Trade Agreements Act (TAA). TAA requires that products originate from the United ...

Description: Does "mity" have some special engineering meaning ...

Description: While the idea of the "Internet of Things" (IoT) has been around for a while, as everything (except, perhaps, human beings) keep getting smarter, the buzz around IoT is on the rise. ...

Description: An industrial computer is a computing platform that has been ruggedized for specific industrial applications that must function in sometimes harsh environments. Its computing capabilities are ...

Description: Attacks on consumer IoT in connected lighting and white goods, have demonstrated the broad capability for attacks and the rapid impact of fear on consumers as they react to perceived loss of control ...

Description: In the last twelve months, if you, your corporation or institution has not been victim of a cyber security attack, there can only be two reasons. Either you are complying with a comprehensive and ...

Description: Best practices for endpoint security in industrial applications under the broader scope of industrial internet security. ...

Description: This document will detail the graphics and image processing capabilities present in the Apollo Lake family of low power SOCs. ...

Description: Organizations that rely heavily on data are increasingly likely to use cloud, fog, and edge computing infrastructures. These architectures allow organizations to take advantage of a variety of ...

Description: New encryption mechanisms should already be considered for devices with long lifecycles that are installed nowadays. ...

Description: High temperatures, excessive airborne particulates, multiple obstacles, and long distances are special challenges for wireless communications in industrial environments. But often, the cost and ...

Description: Industrial control is a designation for the devices that interface with machinery such as welders, mixers, generators, lathes, and packaging machines. Unlike most of the information technology (IT) ...

Description: The entire concept of smart factories hinges on security. The success of smart factories and Industry 4.0 as a whole depends on manufacturers' ability to cryptographically and securely identify ...

Description: Anyone that works in a food or beverage manufacturing/processing facility knows that these environments are a nightmare for computers, especially those that are not designed to operate in this type of ...

Description: FAQ: Microsoft Excel. ...

Description: In manufacturing industries the IoT becomes the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) often referred to as Industry 4.0 in Europe. The IIoT is differentiated from the IoT as the IIoT is referring more ...

Description: This tech brief gives an overview of activities that increase IT and facility complexities. ...

Description: PID controllers are used in most automatic process control applications in industry. They can regulate flow, temperature, pressure, level, and many other industrial process variables. This Application ...

Description: Deployment of kiosks and a population better trained to optimize their use makes for a burgeoning industry. Deployed in many different public venues, interactive kiosks give customers self service ...

Description: Data center power and cooling infrastructure worldwide wastes more than 60, 000, 000 megawatt-hours per year of electricity that does no useful work powering IT equipment. This represents an enormous ...

Description: It is no longer practical or cost-effective to completely engineer all aspects of a unique data center. Re-use of proven, documented subsystems or complete designs is a best practice for both new data ...

Description: Data center electrical efficiency is rarely planned or managed. The unfortunate result is that most data centers waste substantial amounts of electricity. Today it is both possible and prudent to ...

Description: The consolidation of one or more data centers into an existing data center is a common occurrence. This paper gives examples of what is becoming a standard architecture for preparing the physical ...

Description: Rack power of 10 kW per rack or more can result from the deployment of high density information technology equipment such as blade servers. This creates difficult cooling challenges in a data center ...

Description: A touch screen is an assembly that is mounted in front of a video display. It is activated by touching, with a stylus or finger, the selected area on the display that indicates the desired function. ...

Description: In order to supply the components of the system with their required DC voltages, power supply units (PSUs) are built into CompactPCI systems. The tasks of the PSUs include the following: to provide a ...

Description: This technical case study describes the MetroAOC service, a cloud-based advice of charge solution from Metronet. Provided in the Software as a Service (SaaS) paradigm, the MetroAOC service is powered ...

Description: In 2007, the PCI SIG released an external cabling specification enabling interconnection of PCI Express systems at 2.5 Gb/s (Generation 1) and 5Gb/s (Generation 2), facilitating access to PCIe ...

Description: The marine industry's mandated transition to the Electronic Charts Display and Information System is a revolutionary development in ships' bridge systems. In this white paper, we show you how ...

Description: Corruption of system software - whether in the OS or in local, user-specific applications - can be equally catastrophic for both remote industrial installations and sites with mass deployments of ...

Description: Corruption of system software - whether in the OS or in local, user-specific applications - can be equally catastrophic for both remote industrial installations and sites with mass deployments of ...

Description: It is no longer practical or cost-effective to completely engineer all aspects of a unique data center. Re-use of proven, documented subsystems or complete designs is a best practice for both new data ...

Description: Data center electrical efficiency is rarely planned or managed. The unfortunate result is that most data centers waste substantial amounts of electricity. Today it is both possible and prudent to ...

Description: The consolidation of one or more data centers into an existing data center is a common occurrence. This paper gives examples of what is becoming a standard architecture for preparing the physical ...

Description: Rack power of 10 kW per rack or more can result from the deployment of high density information technology equipment such as blade servers. This creates difficult cooling challenges in a data center ...

Description: Ethernet is rapidly spreading across a wide range of industrial environments. This standardized, plug-and-play technology is easy to install and it works 99% of the time. But when it doesn't, it is ...

Description: There are few things more heartrending than buying liquid crystal displays, ensuring their safe transport, and handling them with extreme care, only to damage them irreparably during the mounting ...

Description: A how-to for retooling commercial AMCs to meet rugged requirements. ...

Description: This article describes the evolution of the PC/104 form factor and its advantages in applications which require high performance, low power and small form factor. ...

Description: Small form factors are becoming more popular in embedded military applications, allowing reduction in size and weight for rugged embedded systems. There are many different standards for small form ...

Description: Shedding light on Virtualization for the industrial market. ...

Description: Shedding light on Virtualization for the industrial market. ...