Bench Talk

Arm TechCon 2017 is underway in Santa Clara, CA, much to the delight of the 4000+ embedded systems specialists anticipated to attend this year. Grant Imahara and electronics product experts from Mouser Electronics were in booth #603 in the Expo Hall to demonstrate how Arm-based products and technologies are shaping smarter cities. Day 1 kicked off with keynote speakers and industry-leading suppliers, technologies, and products.

Formerly known as ARM (a change that went into effect earlier this year), Arm has an exciting new security platform that includes something new in the Arm product line-up: Cloud management. Arm’s new platform security architecture (PSA) is a simple, secure, and scalable answer for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Arm offerings within PSA include the Mbed OS (operating system for Arm core devices), Mbed Cloud (Arm’s software-as-a-service, SaaS), and Mbed Edge for gateways. All three work together for much needed end-to-end security. Mbed Edge is an extension of the cloud. Along with Trusted Zone, Arm’s security starts at the physical layer on silicon and builds from there.

The first Keynote delivered on Tuesday was by Mike Muller, CTO of Arm, entitled, “There is Lots More to Come.” Muller talked about some of the advances that will open up new realms of possibility with a focus on a more turnkey security approach for Arm developers.

Among many IoT applications, Muller described a horizontal bar that mounts at ankle-level and is equipped with several cameras. Combined with intelligence, the device looks for warning signs associated with cardiac health—in particular, swollen ankles, which can help determine heart health. The device is meant to deter the potential for cardiac arrest by imaging the user’s ankles on a daily basis and comparing them to past data. Muller gave other examples of useful IoT. Muller remains confident there is lots more to come.

Muller was quickly followed by Dipesh Patel, President of Arm’s IoT Services Group, who delivered a presentation entitle, “The Road to 1 Trillion Devices: Simple, Secure and Scalable.” Patel’s softly accented voice was mesmerizing as he discussed how PSA is a means to consistently accomplish the challenging work of integrating IoT from device to edge to cloud, knitting much of it together and freeing engineers to concentrate on their areas of core competency.

Another keynote address came from Arm CEO Simon Segars (Figure 1), who talked about what Arm is doing to humanize technology and deter hackers, providing a much-needed, less-fragmented security solution for IoT devices based on the prolific Arm core. Segars talked about the life-changing potential of Artificial Intelligence as well, and how security is paramount.

Figure 1: Simon Segars, Arm CEO, during his keynote address at Arm TechCon 2017.

It is true that NATO has announced that Cyberspace is a “Domain of Operation” that must be defended. Arm is taking security very seriously, recognizing their leadership position in corralling the patchwork quilt that security has evolved to become. Arm began with TrustZone, which isolates privileged access to processors at the silicon level, and is moving up the value chain. The potential for de-fragmenting the embedded security space is tremendous.

Segars placed the impetus for security against hacking on companies, since you can’t entrust humans with updating the firmware for all of their IoT devices. In fact, Segars, who holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Computer Science, admitted on stage that he nearly bricked a $1,000 television set in trying to update the firmware himself—an incident that underscores Segars’ vision for Arm to be a facilitator for security. Segars has demonstrated Arm’s sense of responsibility regarding security, which Arm is not only encouraging partners to implement, but is also enabling embedded security with a holistic picture in offerings like PSA.

EXPO hall of exhibitors from Arm partner and ecosystem companies opened today after Segars’ presentation. This year’s exhibitors include Intel, Microchip, STMicroelectronics, NXP, Renesas and many design tool and software companies. What’s up next at the Arm TechCon and Mouser product experts in booth #603? We'll report back!

In Remembrance of Grant Imahara

Well known in the engineering community, Imahara has paired his engineering expertise with a Hollywood TV and film career. In addition to his roles on Mythbusters and Battlebots, Imahara is the inventor behind many famous robotic characters - including the Star Wars prequel-era R2-D2, The Late Late Show's Craig Ferguson sidekick -Geoff Peterson, the talking robot, and the rhythmic arms on the modern day Energizer Bunny. Up to his untimely and tragic death Grant was Mouser’s beloved spokesperson and brand ambassador who shared Mouser's passion to positively influence and support innovative design.