IoT is poised to become the backbone supporting the operation and technological development of vertical markets around the world. However, IoT applications are becoming fragmented as they are being used by a wide range of different industries. To consolidate upstream and downstream demands for IoT applications, global leading CPU manufacturer, Intel launched the "Intel IoT Solution Aggregator" initiative in hopes of leveraging channel operators' professionalism and local networks to drive IoT promotion. WPI, targeting semiconductor component markets in Asia for years, has been chosen as one of the world's few Intel IoT Solution Aggregators for its solid strength in semiconductor technology and application. Through the aggregator role and its own partnership programs with system integrators, WPI will be able to help system integrators and enterprises needing IoT applications quickly bring IoT systems into reality.In explaining what Intel IoT Solution Aggregators mean to the market, Dennis Niu, vice president, IoT solutions department, WPI, notes, "A slew of IoT applications are being developed, including smart city, smart retail and smart manufacturing. The market is also seeing all types of artificial intelligence (AI) development kits to enable IoT solution development. However, these development kits need to be consolidated with the solutions to be able to meet market demand. This is what led to the Intel IoT Solution Aggregator initiative, aimed to help system integrators find suitable target users for their IoT solutions."IoT solutions enabled by aggregators can use Intel certified Market Ready Solutions (MRS) or RFP Ready Kits (RRK, an IoT development toolkit) to develop. According to Niu, MRS targets end users in specific industries. It has a full range of functions and mature architecture which are already market proven. It allows IoT applications to be up and running with only slight modifications by the user. RRK, on the other hand, targets system integrators with R&D capabilities. It can help system integrators design tailor-made IoT systems to suit specific needs.Both end users and system integrators can leverage Intel's MRS and RRK to quickly build IoT systems that meet their requirements. However, there are more challenges to overcome for these solutions to be put to practical use. For example, the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) can be an issue, said Niu. This is where WPI's valuable experience accumulated through years of market operations comes into play. Its deep understanding of the field enables WPI to help enterprises remove the obstacles one by one and get the system up and running. For example, WPI recently helped a large aquafarm operator in Taiwan build an IoT environment control system, which has also been successfully promoted to WPI customers in Southeast Asia.Aside from helping enterprises with its professional know-how, WPI is also closely working with system integrators to address the issue that IoT systems are overwhelmingly large and the IoT application market is strongly characterized by having a small quantity and large variety of solutions as well as requirements so an individual developer can hardly satisfy market needs by itself. As an aggregator, WPI brings together partners specializing in different links in the IoT industry chain to jointly build up a diverse ecosystem.Further to offering professional services and building an ecosystem, WPI is committed to refining its technological strength. With rising popularity of AI and the combination of AI concepts with Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, the scope and depth of AIoT applications are catching market attention. In view of this, Intel introduced the Intel OpenVINO platform, which is an open source tool to help developers conduct AI training, targeting machine vision applications. According to Hung-Cheng Lin, associate manager, smart connection, IoT solutions department, WPI, Intel OpenVINO features high flexibility and quick development while supporting common deep learning frameworks including Caffe and TensorFlow. WPI's own AI lab combined with the flexibility of Intel OpenVINO can help firms quickly develop AI solutions suited to their needs. It frees enterprises from having to choose a hardware architecture. They only need to focus on their own R&D. For example, an AI-enabled digital signage can detect a viewer's gender, age and emotion and accordingly display a suitable advertisement to deliver precise marketing. It can also monitor the surroundings and issue an alert in the case of a fire.In summary, with IoT applications being inherently fragmented, enterprises do not want a single device or system but a total solution. Through its aggregator role and partnership programs with system integrators, WPI has successfully built up a complete IoT ecosystem, which will allow governments and firms in Asia to share their successful experiences and quickly bring demand-side IoT applications to reality.Both end users and system integrators can leverage Intel's MRS and RRK to quickly build IoT systems that meet their requirements." says Dennis Niu, vice president, IoT solutions department, WPI

The use of smart antenna technology is an effective way to reduce interference, boost system capacity, increase data rate and optimize link quality of wireless communication devices. However, despite years of development, Wi-Fi routers today still largely use traditional static antennas, as the market lacks smart antenna solutions that are both technologically and economically feasible.Leveraging their complementing capabilities Lynwave and Adant, entered into a partnership and jointly defined an innovative low-cost, high-speed and high-reliability Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) smart antenna solution - sMART-2 for networking equipment and Wi-Fi device suppliers.According to Lynwave general manager Dallas Wu, smart antennas have the great advantage of enabling signals to get around indoor/outdoor wireless blockages by dynamically controlling the radiation pattern and thus always maximizing the signal to noise ratio at the receiver while steering clear of noise to avoid interference and ultimately maintaining exceptionally stable throughput."System integrators are all well aware of smart antennas' advantage but just do not have access to working solutions at reasonable cost," noted Wu.Due to the tremendous amount of R&D resources and time required to properly address all the complex implications involved with making a smart antenna system (SAS) to perfectly work and seamlessly integrate with the existing Wi-Fi routers and chipsets, very few Companies have been able so far of developing SAS solutions and the few that were actually proposed were overly expensive to be even considered by most system integrators."We have been selling Smart Antenna solutions for over five years to many networking equipment vendors worldwide. So far we have primarily addressed the needs of enterprise networking industry (B2B); with the introduction of our patented smart-2 technology we are making our technology and know-how available to retail equipment vendors and telecom operators at an attractive price compared to static antenna solutions" said Adant's CEO Daniele Piazza.Two market leaders join forces to reduce costsLynwave has established strong R&D antenna hardware development capabilities and is specialized in using advanced computer simulation to determine the optimal antenna placement and the most suitable type of antenna for a specific application. With strong presence on the Taiwan market for more than a decade, Lynwave has developed a solid technical and sales workforce serving a large Client base, providing comprehensive after-sales support to local Customers. Taiwan-based system integrators can therefore rely with confidence on Lynwave' s support to successfully design-in sMART-2 SAS into their products.Adant has been serving the wireless equipment market for over five years providing advanced solutions and products to a variety of Customers, including WiFi routers and mesh nodes, RFid integrators and IoT customers. With dozens of patents covering different types of antenna designs as well as many different smart antenna selection algorithms Adant is recognized as THE Smart Antenna leader.By joining forces, these two leading Companies are now able to offer the best performing and cost-effective smart antenna solution thus filling a long-existing market gap. For more information, please visit: official website.Leveraging their complementing capabilities Lynwave and Adant, entered into a partnership and jointly defined an innovative low-cost, high-speed and high-reliability Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) smart antenna solution - sMART-2 for networking equipment and Wi-Fi device suppliers.Lynwave general manager Dallas Wu (left) and Adant CEO Daniele Piazza (right) decided to join forces to build low-cost, high-speed and high-reliability Wi-Fi 6 smart antenna solutions thus best leveraging their complementing capabilities.

Lelon Electronics has reported that its March 2020 consolidated revenue reached NT$690 million (USD 22.8M) soaring 83% month-over-month and up 6.48% year-over-year.Lelon attributed the growth in March revenue to the low capacity utilization in early February due to the coronavirus outbreak. With production capacity gradually returning to normal levels beginning mid-February, the company was able to process delayed shipments in March. Furthermore, thanks to growing demand arising from 5G base stations, servers and healthcare applications, Lelon's products are in tight supply. Customer orders are lining up till late second quarter. The company expects this to fuel its revenue growth going forward.Investments in telecommunication infrastructure have become top priority as businesses and individuals demand higher bandwidth to cope with lockdowns and rapidly growing needs in stay-home economy, work-from-home, online learning and conference calls. For example, China is picking up the pace for its 5G base station deployment and thus has massive demand for 5G equipment. Having engaged in the telecom market for years, Lelon has become a strategic partner with major telecom equipment suppliers and is poised to capture burgeoning 5G opportunities.Having engaged in the telecom market for years, Lelon is poised to capture burgeoning 5G opportunities

Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, announced that it now offers a free e-book on the benefits of implementing Application Programming Interface (API) solutions, as well as a new ROI calculator to see the return on investment that implementing APIs can deliver.Digi-Key's APIs have long provided a complete digital platform for customers to automate and streamline procurement processes while providing real-time product information to procurement, engineering and design teams. Digi-Key's APIs are free to use, and digitally connect customers' systems with the Digi-Key system to provide automated, real-time product search, price and availability, quoting and ordering, barcode, product change notifications and more. Customers who have utilized Digi-Key's API calculator have seen an average of $50,000 to $100,000 in cost savings by implementing API solutions."Speed and access to information and data are critical in all forms of electronic product design and procurement, and an organization's time-to-market can mean the difference between a successful and marginal product acceptance," said Nathan Pray, senior digital product owner for Digi-Key. "Digi-Key's API solutions provide a competitive advantage to customers by streamlining the purchasing process and enabling procurement, engineering and design teams to all receive critical real-time information on products they need at lightning speed because it's automated through machine-to-machine connections. Customers using Digi-Key's API solutions save time so they can bring products to market faster and more efficiently, which boosts revenue."Fremont, California-based Sonic Manufacturing Technologies provides in-house board layout, prototyping and New Product Introduction (NPI) through full production in as little as five to 10 days. That speed to market necessitates a digital procurement strategy that not only enables a streamlined supply chain, but also supports good internal communication and collaboration. Every week, Sonic orders about 1 million parts to support its production line. Using Digi-Key's APIs and cloud-based procurement platform, Sonic has been able to automate 50% of its purchasing activity without adding staff. The team now focuses on more high-value activities such as selecting the best sources for the 60,000 line items the company buys annually; coordinating with engineering and design departments; and maintaining high customer service levels. Using Digi-Key's APIs and cloud-based platform, Sonic's cost to place an order (total landed cost) was reduced from a previous $40 to a current $9. While not every company will achieve 60% savings, even 20 to 30% savings on procurement costs of $400,000 each year will result in significant savings.Digi-Key Electronics now offers a free e-book on the benefits of implementing API solutions, as well as a new ROI calculator

How do you deploy IP-based video surveillance and security applications economically when facing existing buildings or facilities are hard to upgrade fiber wiring infrastructure? Proscend's VDSL2 Ethernet Extender Solution delivers high-bandwidth data over long distances by the latest VDSL2 technology and extends distances up to 1.2km over copper wire and distances as excellent as 1.8km over coaxial cable. This solution, expanding the capability of existent copper Ethernet-based equipment, has been applied to a wide range of harsh and light duty applications, such as traffic surveillance systems, and building elevator security management.Rugged design and ultra-speed transmissionWith wide temperature, DC power input, and DIN mounting features, Proscend's 110MI Lite Industrial Gigabit Ethernet Extender is equipped with 4 10/100/1000 Base-T Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet ports to expand IP-based devices, such as IP cameras, Access Points or IP Phones, and a unique 2-PIN Terminal Block/VDSL2 RJ45 connector to make flexible industrial-grade/commercial-grade applications. Featuring compact plug-and-play design, Proscend's 102MI Lite Industrial Gigabit Ethernet Extender is equipped with one 10/100/1000 Base-T Gigabit RJ45 Ethernet Port and one VDSL2 RJ45 connector.Simple configuration and reliable performanceProviding superior aggregated bandwidth up to 300Mbps, the 110MI and 102MI Gigabit Ethernet Extenders use traditional twisted-pair telephone wiring and help you save costs without rewiring. With 8 different profile settings of DIP switch, they can be flexibly suited diverse applications and offer the perfect balance of rates and distances for each device. Both of them are high throughput Long Reach Ethernet Extenders for service providers to deploy their IP-based networking services effectively.Easy operation and flexible deploymentMost remote cameras often deploy in the hazardous environments, and they must report to control centers that may be hundreds of miles away. Proscend's Lite Industrial Gigabit Ethernet Extenders are well suitable to fit Ethernet backbone applications for security & surveillance in different vertical markets where existing twisted pair or coaxial cable, special VDSL2 converters are already installed. Proscend is well-experienced to provide ideal Ethernet Extender portfolios that ensure secure, stable data communications from a complex network infrastructure.Proscend offers reliable VDSL2 Ethernet extender solutions

In the IoT era, device manufacturers or brands are strongly promoting network-enabled products while trying their best to shorten time-to-market. In their effort to speed up product development, they may overlook some blind spots in data protection and put devices with security vulnerabilities on the market. More often than not, such security vulnerabilities are discovered by foreign government agencies or hackers, which may not only cause harm to consumer privacy but also lead to litigations that damage to business reputation and brand image.Device vendors face increasingly strict government regulations, cybersecuirty standards and procurement requirements. Aside from functional tests, they need to incorporate Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SSDLC) to ensure compliance with cybersecurity requirements. However, most device vendors lack the capacity to engage cybersecurity operation, inspection and testing practices needed for them to overcome challenges after challenges and achieve regulatory compliance. In view of this, Onward Security, having accumulated years of experience in addressing cybersecurity issues with network-enabled products, introduced HERCULES SecFlow and SecDevice, which are automated product security assessment platforms aimed to help firms implement DevSecOps procedures and effectively meet international standards and customer requirements on cybersecurity.Product security assessment combined with DevSecOps development agility helps achieve cybersecurity regulatory complianceAccording to Jacky Lee, product development director and chief development officer, Onward Security, governments around the world are renewing their policies and regulations on cybersecurity in recent years. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Union have all instituted data security rules for medical devices. California introduced America's first Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity law (SB-327). The U.S. Department of Defense developed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). Moreover, many international network-enabled device brands have raised product security requirements to their suppliers. With these regulations and requirements in place, device manufacturers face increasing pressure in keeping up with regulatory changes and bringing compliant products on the market.To address compliance with the slew of regulations and standards taking effect one after another, device vendors are looking to incorporate DevSecOps in their development process for the purpose of accelerating time-to-market while enabling high-quality data protection. However, this requires specialists in product security assessment, secure software development and vulnerability detection and all of them in the three fields of expertise are indispensable. Most device vendors will have to overcome a high barrier and allocate tremendous resources to be able to build a professional team comprising all the needed specialists. Moreover, the process will take one to two years and thus it is a formidable challenge.Onward Security 's HERCULES automated product security assessment platform is designed to lower the threshold for customers and accelerate the time it takes to incorporate DevSecOps. HERCULES SecFlow is a product security management system aimed to address customers' needs with respect to security regulations. It enables information sharing and coordinates collaborations among the development team, data security team and operation team. It helps customers build DevSecOps practices into the development process while ensuring each development step complies with data security rules. For example, by implementing product security assessment mechanisms and keeping track of the latest network security risk information from external sources, SecFlow guarantees full control over the cybersecurity of every product. Aside from helping customers quickly establish a cybersecurity system, SecFlow also provides risk assessment for open source libraries, product vulnerability management and security incident response and handling to help product development teams, data security teams and operation teams quickly come up with countermeasures.SecDevice is an automated vulnerability assessment tool designed to address the timeliness issue of DevSecOps in product development and inspection. It performs quick and precise vulnerability scanning and testing on the development team's finished product by simulating cyber attacks, thereby allowing a thorough check on cybersecurity during product development before going to market.Integrating multiple patented innovations, SecDevice features unique and powerful fuzz testingAccording to Lee, there are other vulnerability detection and scanning tools on the market but they are common information systems designed for use by IT administrators to solve technical issues and fill some inspection and testing gaps. HERCULES SecFlow and SecDevice, on the other hand, are designed with a focus on security regulations and an emphasis on item-by-item compliance, aiming to address regulatory compliance in cybersecurity of IoT devices and accelerating time-to-market."More importantly, HERCULES is a product security regulatory compliance solution that is 100% developed by Onward security team. Not only does it demonstrate strong professionalism but it also features unique AI technology," noted Lee. For example, two approaches are adopted to conduct vulnerability detection. Vulnerability scanning discovers known issues by doing a comparison with information in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database. Fuzz testing aims to find unknown weakness so it is more valuable and imposes a higher technological barrier.Integrating multiple patented innovations, SecDevice features fuzz testing to discover unknown security vulnerabilities in IoT devices. First of all, a patented algorithm that generates non-repeated and targeted attack test cases can conduct effective vulnerability checks on the device under test. It can validate system stability and error handling ability in the most concise manner and the least amount of time. Furthermore, SecDevice also analyzes the condition of the device under test similar to a doctor checking a patient's respiratory rate. It learns and analyzes how the device responds to situations so that it can detect the device's vulnerabilities with a higher precision and thereby minimize errors that require handling by human testers.Incorporating AI machine learning, SecDevice can cope with increasingly diverse applications and different types of IoT devices being used in wide-ranging scenarios. It can quickly and easily conduct vulnerability detection for 5G or independently developed network protocols. The three unique strengths enable SecDevice to help customers complete product security check more rapidly, precisely and thoroughly, in line with the DevSecOps agility objective.The user base of SecDevice includes connected device developers and brand vendors. It takes connected device developers originally only having the capability to conduct functional tests less than two months to incorporate SecDevice and build up product security inspection and testing capability. Brand vendors that need to perform tests and acceptance checks on a slew of products and provide feedback to respective software development teams also spend a similar amount of time incorporating SecDevice and building up such capability despite their heavier testing workload.In general, to build up an in-house product security inspection and testing team, vendors will need to hire at least five full-time employees and purchase more than five enterprise-level testing tools. The process can take one to two years. SecDevice's most valuable advantage is that it significantly lowers the threshold so that firms can quickly establish the capability to ensure product security.Risk assessment on open source libraries preempts security threats and quickly eliminates security risksSecFlow provides a myriad of refined features aimed to help customers minimize security risks early in the product development phase, saving them from costs that they may have to bear if problems are discovered after their products go to market. For example, the development team preloads all product information in the module that performs risk assessment on open source libraries and continues to optimize the correlation. Then, when the operation team receives a report of a product security issue, the data security team can help the development team look into the issue and assess the scope of impact within a day and the two teams work together to resolve the issue in two weeks. The general practice is that the operation team or data security team assigns other teams to investigate a security incident after they learn of it, which could take three months at least. They may end up being unable to solve anything due to unclear roles and responsibilities. Now with SecFlow, the development team, data security team and operation team can work in synchronization to tackle all sorts of product security challenges today.Commenting on product sales, Lee indicated that a number of Asia-based device brands and manufacturers have successfully incorporated SecFlow and SecDevice, with international vendors in China, Japan and India to follow suit. Based on experience gained from each use case, Lee suggests that Asia-based firms phase in DevSecOps if they are concerned that a complete switch-over to DevSecOps will disrupt their product launch plans. They can start by leveraging SecDevice for product testing to ensure high-quality data security and then proceed to using SecFlow to build up product security management flows and mechanisms. Finally, they can obtain product security certifications with help from Onward Security's cybersecurity regulatory compliance service. Such an optimized flow will help improve corporate data security from the inside out.It should be noted that HERCULES SecFlow and SecDevice have been recognized with multiple international awards for their unique design concept. For two years in a row, SecFlow and SecDevice won InfoSecurity Product Guide's gold awards for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Internet of Things Security as well as CyberSecurity Excellence Awards' gold awards for Vulnerability Management and Incident Response, Embedded Security and ICS / SCADA Security.On top of those, in 2020, InfoSec Awards named SecFlow Best Product in the Incident Response and Vulnerability Management categories and SecDevice Next Gen Product in the Internet of Things (IoT) Security and ICS/SCADA Security categories. They are being honored mainly for their ability to precisely and effectively help customers build up a secure software development process and carry out product security inspection and testing work.According to Jacky Lee, product development director and chief development officer, Onward Security, through patented smart fuzz testing, Onward Security can effectively fill gaps in cybersecurity inspection and testing and reduce security risks of IoT devices when customized protocols are adopted.

Problem-free equipment operation is critical to maintaining optimum production yield and quality for common metalworking processes such as stamping and welding. If something is wrong with the equipment, or if the equipment unexpectedly fails, a large amount of output may have to be scrapped, or production shut down. In either case, the manufacturer will have to bear a significant loss.To address these issues, Good Tech Instruments combines its machine learning algorithm with ADLINK's MCM-100 edge inference device to build a smart production equipment monitoring platform. The MCM-100 enables metal processors to use artificial intelligence (AI) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) implementations for real-time monitoring on all types of metal processing equipment to enhance production performance.According to Vincent Hsu, Technical Manager at Good Tech Instruments, metal processing lines use a wide range of different equipment categorized as continuous or discontinuous based on operational use. Continuous machines like motors operate around the clock while discontinuous machines include large robotic arms, stamping presses and automatic welders. These machines are valuable tools to manufacturers, and any problem or failure can result in a large economic loss.Hsu takes automobile manufacturing as an example. Stamping is a common process in the manufacturing of automotive parts. A defect in a mold will influence output quality, but such an issue may not be discovered until a quality check is performed later in the workflow. However, by then, a large quantity of substandard items may already have been produced. Aside from financial losses, there is also time wasted when the production line has to be halted for equipment inspection and repair. These problems do not just plague the automobile manufacturing industry, but can happen to the production process of any metal parts, from screws to components for aerospace applications.A diverse range of smart equipment monitoring systems is available on the market to address such issues. These systems all make use of IIoT sensor networks and AI to detect and analyze equipment conditions to warn factory managers before equipment failure occurs. AI machine learning algorithms play an important role in these systems. Hsu points out that in a discontinuous metalworking process, sensors can be used to detect equipment conditions including vibration of stamping machines, and electric current variation of welding machines, which produce repeated, predictable patterns. In conventional manufacturing environments, machine operators develop a sense about such patterns from long-term experience. Smart manufacturing systems turn workers' experience into machine learning algorithms that can be used to warn factory managers when anomalies in vibration or electric current patterns are detected.AI machine learning algorithms require a large amount of data for training. As such, most of the systems on the market using machine learning algorithms need to first deploy sensors to gather data. Then, when equipment anomalies happen, the sensor data is marked to train the machine to learn from the data. This approach is undesirable in that manufacturers often have to spend a lot of time and money on data collection. However, Good Tech Instruments has developed an equipment monitoring system that can be up and running in an instant. According to Hsu, Good Tech Instruments preloads a trained vibration or electric current model on the end device, saving the manufacturer from having to collect the data. Then, the platform quickly learns from the range of data specified by the manufacturer. The system that has completed the training is capable of automatic tracking and detection, logging the operating conditions of every piece of equipment and reporting the data back to the manager, who can then adjust the equipment to optimize operation.ADLINK's MCM-100 plays an instrumental role enabling the ready-to-use design of Good Tech Instruments' equipment monitoring system. Hsu notes that conventional equipment monitoring systems do not come with end devices. Instead, manufacturers have to additionally purchase industrial computers and extraction cards and assemble them into a complete system after testing and calibration. This not only extends the development cycle but also puts extra burden on their engineers. The MCM-100 eliminates such hassles. Designed specifically for smart manufacturing, the MCM-100 is a ready-to-use vibration/condition monitoring platform for rotating machinery that features high-performance edge computing. With built-in four-channel 24-bit 128 kS/s simultaneous sampling of analog input, it can monitor signals sent from multiple sensors at the same time. It also supports a wide range of I/O interfaces for optimal interoperability. Leveraging the MCM-100's high level of integration and powerful performance, Good Tech Instruments can focus efforts on system development, allowing the system to be up and running very quickly.Hsu comments that "smartization" is the most important trend in manufacturing in recent years and equipment monitoring is regarded by most manufacturers as the first step to the introduction of smart manufacturing systems. With smartization being a new concept to the manufacturing industry, it takes tremendous resources for manufacturers to introduce and calibrate a smart manufacturing system. Delivering optimal performance through a high level of software and hardware integration, the AI-based equipment monitor platform built by Good Tech Instruments and ADLINK enables quick introduction at significantly reduced costs so that manufacturers can begin to enjoy the benefits of smart manufacturing sooner, and have a smooth start embarking on digital transformation.Good Tech Instruments' VMS-ML machine learning system enables real-time monitoring for stamping and punching processesAccording to Vincent Hsu, technical manager, Good Tech Instruments, equipment monitoring can significantly boost production line performance

The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) brought about the smartization trend that not only has transformed traditional manufacturing, but also challenges the manufacturing industry's thinking about business operation. With the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics implementations in place, equipment suppliers are now able to provide value-added services in addition to simply selling products to expand into a service-oriented business model.According to Zake Lin, product manager at ADLINK, to operate this business model, equipment suppliers need to have a comprehensive plan and commit R&D resources before they are clear about customers' intentions. This imposes an enormous burden on equipment suppliers. In view of this, ADLINK has recently introduced a remote monitoring solution targeting manufacturing equipment such as pumps and compressors. Featuring a complete range of functions, ADLINK's solution helps equipment suppliers quickly build up a system and create another wave of business opportunities.Reliability is a fundamental requirement for manufacturing equipment, especially pumps and compressors that play a vital role in production line operation. An unexpected equipment failure could result in production shutdown. To prevent this, manufacturers and equipment suppliers generally include regular maintenance terms in their purchase agreements. Manufacturers are usually willing to pay for maintenance services even after a warranty expires to ensure reliable production line operation.Regular maintenance can significantly boost equipment reliability, but still does not totally eliminate the chance of unexpected failure. The growing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) implementations in recent years make use of sensor networks, big data analytics and AI technologies for online real-time equipment monitoring and failure prediction. This allows managers to remotely monitor equipment condition and schedule maintenance accordingly to maximize production line uptime.According to Lin, a real-time remote monitoring system is a total IIoT solution that requires complete implementations from end nodes to cloud platforms to bring it into full play. However, the design and development of such a system is not possible without highly specialized expertise, which many equipment suppliers lack and are therefore unable to capture the emerging opportunities arising from real-time remote monitoring services.Furthermore, if equipment suppliers can quickly build a real-time remote monitoring system, they stand a chance of creating more business models. To help them achieve this, ADLINK offers a one-stop total solution targeting rotating machinery such as pumps and compressors. The solution includes everything from front-end sensors to the top-layer cloud platform while featuring high system reliability. More than that, ADLINK's team designed the system with significantly simplified introduction procedures so that equipment suppliers can have it up and running in no time.Lin points out that the solution is built with ADLINK's MCM-204 embedded edge device designed specifically for equipment monitoring as the end node. Its simple and compact mechanical design allows quick installation at the manufacturing site and therefore shortens system deployment time. Moreover, the system is optimized with ARM processors and data acquisition (DAQ) modules to enable one-stop sensor data collection, analysis and upload through a powerful edge computing capability and advantage. With no need for IoT gateways, users can enjoy savings in deployment costs.The solution uses integrated circuit piezoelectric (ICP) accelerometers to detect vibration, digital temperature sensors to detect temperature and tachometers to detect rotation speed. The cloud platform, DataConnect Pro, is built on top of Microsoft's Azure SaaS and features a full range of functionalities and plug-and-play usability, making ADLINK's one-stop remote monitoring solution the most powerful tool helping equipment suppliers tap into new business opportunities. Lin notes that the solution enables three main advantages for equipment suppliers. First, it helps them strengthen customer relationships by allowing them to add differentiating services to their existing product sales business model so that they can maintain their revenue stream. Second, it helps them expand service scope and create new business models. For example, they are now able to offer a fee-based (for example, by annual subscription) equipment monitoring service by upgrading their regular maintenance service program to online real-time monitoring and maintenance. This way, manufacturers can add extra protection for their production equipment. Last, it can help raise maintenance efficiency. With a full and instant grasp on equipment condition, manufacturers can flexibly arrange their maintenance schedule and precisely control component inventory, thereby making smarter use of corporate resources.Equipment suppliers are beginning to change their market positioning with the growing popularity of smart manufacturing. Simple product sales and maintenance services will not be enough to keep up with customer demand. Only suppliers that are able to provide diverse and satisfactory services will stand strong in the face of fierce competition. In today's business world, firms are increasingly specialized in their field of expertise. It is a smart strategy for a firm to leverage a third party's strength to give itself a competitive edge. By adopting ADLINK's remote monitoring solution, equipment suppliers will be able to boost performance with limited resources and expand business models, thereby bringing a diverse range of values to both their customers and themselves.According to Zake Lin, product manager, ADLINK, as a complete system with powerful functions, ADLINK's remote monitoring solution can enable whole new business models for equipment suppliersA real-time remote monitoring system is a total IIoT solution that requires complete implementations from end nodes to cloud platforms to bring it into full play

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, and Karamba Security, a leading embedded security provider for connected devices, today announced secure flash memory chips with integrated runtime integrity for automotive ECUs, and IoT connected consumer and industrial devices.Winbond's new W77Q includes hardware root-of-trust and secure, encrypted, data-storage and datatransfer capabilities. Embedded with Karamba Security's XGuard software, customers will benefit from pre-packaged, verified-destination, and runtime integrity checks of all binaries before being loaded to memory. With Karamba Security's XGuard, the solution enables customers to ensure that binaries' integrity is verified during runtime. The combined solution offers deterministic integrity checks, from development throughout the supply chain, starting from the silicon Fab, through deployment in the customers' manufacturing plant, to runtime, without requiring customers to change their development or manufacturing processes.Additionally, thanks to Winbond W77Q secure channel, Karamba's XGuard whitelist verification, and CFI validation, users will benefit from an out-of-the-box secured OTA updates, without requiring to invest resources in costly OTA secure channels.The W77Q series products are supplied in industry-standard packages and pin-outs, and feature a standard single/dual/quad/QPI serial peripheral interface (SPI). This means that they can be used as a simple drop-in replacement for non-secure SPI NOR Flash devices."Given to the rapid growth of security demand in IoT world, Security by Design is essential to address the security concerns in diverse IoT landscapes, value chain, and ecosystem. Winbond is excited to work with Karamba Security on creating an end-to-end security solution for the OEM and microcontrollers to strengthen supply-chain security," said Hung-Wei Chen, Marketing Director at Winbond. "Winbond endeavours to provide a certified and scalable secure memory subsystem and looks forward to working with industry partners for a secure and flexible solution to serve various embedded applications, such as automotive ECUs and industrial IoT.""Karamba Security is excited to partner with Winbond to deliver secured automotive ECUs and IoT devices" said Assaf Harel, Karamba Security's Chief Scientist and Co-founder, "securing supply chain is a critical issue for our customers. Winbond secure memory, together with XGuard runtime integrity, enables our customers to ensure the auneticity of their supply chain as well as provide endto-end solution for our OEM customers."Winbond’s new W77Q

STAr Technologies, a leader in semiconductor reliability test systems and probe cards, today announced the acquisition of Accel-RF Instruments Corporation located in San Diego, California, USA. This acquisition significantly enhances STAr Technologies' reliability test offerings with the addition of Accel-RF's industry leading high-temperature RF and high-voltage switching reliability test systems for compound semiconductors, such as Gallium-Nitride (GaN) and Silicon-Carbide (SiC).Founded in 2003, with cumulative experience base on decades of microwave circuit design, RF component reliability testing, and comprehensive reliability test methodology development, Accel-RF has been a facilitator for industry adoption of compound semiconductor transistors and MMICs into space, military, and the commercial wireless markets. Accel-RF has supplied reliability test systems to top-tier semiconductor and aerospace defense users throughout the USA, Europe and Asia. Accel-RF is the only provider of fully integrated, scalable, turnkey systems that provide dynamic, multi-dimensional, RF, DC and temperature tests on one platform through a powerful graphical user interface, in a small footprint."As a member of STAr's global connection, Accel-RF will solidify our commitment to providing a far-reaching and strong technical expertise to the compound semiconductor reliability community," said Roland Shaw, CEO of Accel-RF Instruments Corporation. "We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to a collaborative future with STAr Technologies in pursuit of advanced test solutions, that will reinforce our longstanding position as a leading RF and power semiconductor reliability test innovator.""We are very pleased to welcome Accel-RF to join STAr Technologies Group. The acquisition of Accel-RF is another step towards strengthening our presence in wireless industry markets including RF through millimeter wave applications. The combination of STAr Technologies expertise in DC-AC and now extending into RF with Accel-RF, creates a formidable platform for addressing rapidly growing applications such as 5G, LIDAR, photonics and advanced radar systems," stated Dr. Choon-Leong Lou, CEO of STAr Technologies.About STAr TechnologiesSTAr Technologies, established in August of 2000, is specialized in advanced reliability test systems and high-performance probe cards. STAr has delivered thousands of integrated test systems worldwide with widely varying applications such as SPICE modeling, DC-RF device characterization, reliability qualification and silicon photonics testing. Headquartered in Hsinchu, STAr has subsidiaries in the China, USA, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, and India.About Accel-RFAccel-RF, founded in 2003, is the world leader in supplying equipment for performing high temperature, long-duration reliability testing on compound semiconductors. These platforms are capable of identifying device wear-out and performance degradation to end-of-life (EOL) expectations. Accel-RF's test equipment has been an enabler for the successful technology development, product launch, and industry adoption of GaN transistors and MMICs into the space, military, and commercial wireless markets.