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The World of an IoT “Architect”

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Being an  ‘Architect’ is a title with big meaning suggesting bold outcomes. After all, the architects of the world have left behind medieval cathedrals, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, and the Great Wall. Closer to or world engineering world are computer chip architects and telecommunications network architects whose titles sound more important than just designers. Architects seem to use more fundamental building blocks when they build, things like foundations, walls, pillars and domes to balustrades and architectural details producing a well-constructed attractive design that will withstand the wear and tear of the ages, or at least last for a couple of years. When it comes to the Internet of Things, someone even coined the ‘4 Pillars of IoT’ on which the Internet of Things Architecture rest. Big words yes, but there is something to breaking IoT into 4 architectural parts which make up any IoT implementation. From a system engineering perspective Things , Connectivities , IoT Platf...

The World of an IoT CTO

Being CTO in an IoT environment is not as glamorous as it sounds. Yes, it involves setting technology direction and making implementation decisions, but it also means overseeing the day-to-day creation and evolution of functioning and successful IoT based products and solutions. In many cases a new CTO is faced with existing implementations that may be old and to use a descriptive word, cumbersome, to work with. Modernizing existing IoT solutions pose particular challenges for a CTO that will be discussed in a follow up blog. Green Field IoT solutions may seem easier but are often as difficult as migrations. In migrations you after all an already working solution while with new ones you have to create one that works. That is often easier said than done. The main challenge is all the moving parts which in IoT can span from embedded programming of microcontrollers all the way to advance statistical methods used in deriving meaningful information from collected data. Add to that the nee...

What’s New in IoT Solutions 2022-23

IoT as a concept is nearing 25 but for most companies and businesses it is the last 5-7 years that make all the difference. The reason for this is that IoT has become viable from a technology, cost and business perspective. Behind this are advances in three areas: ·          Chip Technologies ·          Connectivity and Communication Capabilities ·          IoT Data and Application Platforms Let us take a look at what has and is happening Chip Technologies: Driven by Moore’s law, chip technologies continue to march down the road of more processing power AND lower power consumption. This has delivered the IoT SOC (System on a Chip) which combines 32bit microcontroller processing, a selection of connectivity technologies and specialized function on one chip. The recently released Renesas SmartBond DA1470x SOC combines ARM Cortex-M33 processing, Bluetooth 5.2 ...