The next 10 years-2000 and beyond-will include market trends that will create a need for a new layer of embedded system technology. Those who understand this early in the market stand to benefit greatly from working it into both their short- and long-term plans, as history shows.

The trend through the 1980s was for everyday devices to get smarter. This caused the growth and maturation of the Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) as both a market and a commercial technology. The 1990s was clearly the decade of networking technology as evidenced by the proliferation of networked computers and the creation and growth of the Web.

The next market trend will be to network "smart" devices together so that as a networked whole, they provide an order of magnitude greater value than they can in isolation. This trend has already been seen in the data communications and telecommunications network infrastructure markets; it will soon also be felt in the office equipment, consumer electronics, "smart building," manufacturing, medical, and other markets as well.

Real-time operating systems are mature technology when it comes to stand-alone systems and devices. But now that nearly every device will have a network connection, they lack a robust mechanism for turning these standalone devices into "good Net citizens." As many network-equipment vendors have discovered and many consumer and office-equipment manufacturers are now learning, an "access and control" layer is required in addition to an RTOS to allow these devices to share information, share features and functionality, and achieve true interoperability. An embedded-software backplane fulfills this new requirement.

Connecting smart devices requires a new technology layer-an interoperability framework-to provide a robust bridge between networks and embedded systems. This new layer is a direct result of the collision of two mature technologies: networking and RTOSes. A combination of embedded and network layers provides a control chain that allow smart devices to hook into the network and negotiate with each other.

In data communications, the first instances can be found in the device-management arena. Most hardware vendors are looking for ways to make management and control of their equipment easier and more accessible, and they are using the Web browser as the GUI of choice for many reasons. Companies that are looking to the future, however, are taking an extra step to prepare for true interoperability: They are embedding a software backplane, an abstraction layer internal to their device, that handles the device's interaction with networking technologies.

An embedded backplane helps these companies in three key ways: First, it allows them to detach the internal, coded representation of data from the way the data is presented to and used by the outside world. Raw data embedded in the device and managed by the RTOS is exposed in a generic yet well-defined way through the backplane, allowing other devices on the network-SNMP terminals, Web browsers, Telnet terminals and other devices-to access and change that data using a consistent and reliable interface. This gives not only flexibility in representation of the data but also in how the data is used by outside entities. The embedded system does not need to know what type of device or user is on the other end of the connection, or even what type of networking technology they're connecting through.

Second, the embedded backplane allows developers to extend the functionality of their embedded systems by hooking cleanly into the network. While the RTOS manages the hardware and all the internal, deeply embedded data, the backplane acts as the device's agent when it communicates with the network and with other devices on the network. This allows the internal RTOS and application to focus on the core values they provide. For example, if the coffee maker is hooked up to the network, the coffee maker's RTOS and application focus solely on making coffee; the backplane takes all the responsibility for access and control, thereby providing the network interface to the coffee maker.

Third, a backplane extends the life of the device's internal design by making the device's embedded software extensible and scalable. If the embedded application or RTOS is responsible for handling all external data communication, it must be upgraded any time a new requirement is levied on the device. Communications-equipment manufacturers like Nortel Networks and Redback Networks have first-hand experience and enough foresight to plan ahead for this problem. By embedding a backplane into their devices, they are able to quickly create Web-based management and control interfaces that leverage all of their prior work done to support SNMP. When a new access and control protocol, such as XML, emerges as a market requirement these companies will be positioned to plug that right into the backplane without reworking the internal RTOS or application in the device.

First step only

The embedded backplane, however, is only the first technological step toward true and full interoperability between devices and higher-level systems. While the backplane- less similar devices interact with each other and with higher-level applications, soon the market will need disparate devices to run efficiently. In addition, the devices will have to interoperate with high-level business or process applications.

Service providers, for example, understand the need for multitiered pricing. When they sign up a customer for premier service, they must be sure the customers get that service from their networks. As a result the network equipment itself must be manageable by business policies. Network equipment with an embedded backplane is already in a position to be managed by these higher-level policy applications as they are built and evolve; equipment that does not include an embedded backplane is at a significant disadvantage and likely will have to be upgraded.

By bridging the gap between embedded intelligence and network communication, the backplane acts as an enabler of such higher-level applications. Although this is a necessary function and component of the networks of the future, equally important will be the software that takes advantage of the new capabilities. The backplane is the first link in a "control chain" that extends from the deeply embedded data up through a mediation layer in the network framework finally connecting to the high-level business process applications. It's this control chain-the combination of embedded backplane and mediation software-that will allow the real power of networked smart devices that will be required in the next decade.

Simply put, mediation software provides aggregation of embedded devices into conceptual groups, allowing not only one-to-one interoperability, but one-to-many and many-to-many interoperability at the low levels.

These requirements are just taking shape as various markets begin to understand the power afforded by linking different devices and systems. Companies building devices should plan for these new requirements and the systems that will provide the solutions.