Digi-Key at embedded world 2023 with STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics are a massive team of more than 50,000 creators and makers of semiconductor technologies that are aiming to master the semiconductor supply chain with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. They work to offer new technologies that enable smarter mobility, more efficient power and energy management, and the wide-scale deployment of the Internet of Things and connectivity.

At embedded world 2023, STMicroelectronics spoke to Electronic Specifier about the convergence of intelligent processing, connectivity, and security at the embedded Edge.

The key applications emerging from the embedded Edge:

• Asset tracking and management
• Cost savings in design processes
• Data collection
• Firmware updating

Security at the embedded Edge

Security is a massive part of enabling more devices to be embedded moving forward, yet, as Newton highlights, “Security is hard, it’s a difficult discipline.”

“Connectivity is converging very hard, these devices, appliances, smoke detectors, or anything you use a microcontroller on need to connect to the internet. In order to connect to the internet, you need security as a base.

“Your typical application developers are focussed and concentrated on developing their applications, not so much on learning the security around it,” says Newton.

This is a part of what the team at STMicroelectronics is covering, tackling the topography, authentication, and integrity challenges faced by the ever-expanding connected world.

Improved capabilities of embedded devices

The development of embedded devices has also allowed them to handle more processes and tasks independently as well as enabling better connectivity. As Newton explains, “Most embedded system applications using microcontrollers today are standalone devices. There is a big push to connect everything. Everybody has a phone, so if I can connect my embedded systems to my phones, that’s great. Everything wants to connect to the Cloud, now the advantage is that they can do data collection.

“We even have AI coming… being connected allows you to do all of that.”

This is the connected world that STMicroelectronics hopes to pioneer in the not-so-distant future. One that sees embedded devices fully connected and integrated with one another, as well as us, in a secure and intelligent way.