Embedded systems: The future of the industry at electronica 2016

When the fair opens its gates in Munich from November 8^th–11^th, more than 2,800 international exhibitors will present the latest embedded solutions and products that pertain to key themes such as the IoT, industrial electronics and automation. Experts will discuss the industry’s latest developments at the Embedded Platforms Conference and the Embedded Forum.

Embedded is one of electronica’s most important focal points. The last time that the fair was held, 35% of its 73,189 visitors came from the sector for hardware and software development. Besides the Embedded exhibition sector in Hall A6, the Embedded Platforms Village is another visitor highlight where companies can demonstrate their know-how. Visitors can also expand their technical knowledge within the scope of the conference and forum programme.

The Embedded Platforms conference
Hardware and software developers, product managers and development managers agree: The Embedded Platforms Conference is a communications platform that revolves around components, tools and software. It takes place at the Press Center East during the fair, i.e. on November 9^th and 10^th. Participants at this year’s conference will exchange information on four key topics: The first day of the conference focuses on “IoT and Security” and “Microcontrollers and Peripherals.” In a presentation titled “A Holistic Approach for Securing Embedded Devices,” Andre Schmitz (Green Hills Software) will use recent examples to show what a secure software architecture can look like. For the Embedded Control sector, Keith Curtis (Microchip Technology) will present the latest alternative to DSPs and analogue solutions in a presentation titled “Core Independent Peripherals Super-Charge 8-bit Microcontrollers. On the second day of the conference, participants will discuss the “Power and Sensors” and “Embedded Communication” sectors. “Wireless charging: Cutting the last cord” is the topic of a presentation by John Leonhard (Nordic Semiconductor ASA). He will introduce various new ways to charge batteries for mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops wirelessly. Laurent Dardé (NXP Semiconductors Germany) will make a presentation titled “Combining the power of NFC and BLE” in which he introduces an exciting application for combining the two technologies, i.e. a new generation of hotel key-cards.

The conference schedule is available here.The Embedded Platforms Conference is supported by Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies and e2v.

Embedded Forum: New developments for embedded systems
From chips and components to tools and software to circuit boards and modules for various applications: The electronica Embedded Forum will present a diverse range of technologies, trends and product innovations that pertain to the latest issues and challenges. The focus of this year’s presentations will include IoT, industrial electronics and automation. The event primarily addresses designers, technical specialists and technical managers.

The Embedded Forums schedule is available in the electronica event database here. 

Cutting-edge technologies in the exhibition area of the trade fair
The innovations of industry will not just be showcased in the conference and the forum—exhibitors will also present a number of new solutions. One of them will be congatec, which will demonstrate the integration of radio technologies based on the latest embedded module standards. The company will present the IoT gateway module based on the brand-new embedded form factor standard SMARC 2.0. The module provides flexible wireless connectivity directly onboard to integrate antennas and every type of radio standard. congatec’s first high-end SMARC module integrates WiFi and Bluetooth. Exemplary system configurations to set up smart IoT gateways and embedded edge/fog servers in outdoor areas will also be shown for these computer-on-modules.

Application areas will include smart cities, smart grids and many other IoT applications into which radio technologies have been integrated. At electronica, congatec will present implementation options for a wide range of protocols.