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DISPENSING THE GOODS, EMBEDDED STYLE

by Todd Rytting

Start ý For Exampleý ý Development ý C/C++ ý Visual Basic ý Keep Your Change ý Sources and PDF

Thereýs a lot of talk about embedded Internet being the next wave, and how wonderful it will be when we can remotely access and manage the electronic devices we use every day. However, this wonderful vision will be a long time in coming if we rely on the current direction of the industry.

For example, if you want to Internet-enable your device, conventional wisdom would have you upgrade your processor, buy an expensive RTOS, add megabytes of RAM, purchase an embedded web server, and then pay huge royalties just to get an IP address on your device. By far, the majority of the devices we would like to enable will remain isolated simply because networking them would cost too much to develop, produce, and purchase.

Whereýs the sense in putting a Pentium in a thermostat? For the embedded Internet to become anything more than a ripple, there needs to be an appropriate solution for the millions of devices that have 8- and 16-bit MCUs.