by Avery Matthews

When you speak to the average person and ask them what embedded technology is, it’s pretty safe to assume that they won’t know what you’re talking about. Essentially,an embedded system is a computer structure created for specific control functions within a larger framework that usually consists of real-time computer constraints.

Embedded systems vary in size. They can range from a small device on your hand to something the size of a telephone pole. These embedded technologies are rather ubiquitous everywhere in our technologically-advanced society. Everything from DVD players, MP3 players, dishwashers, telephone switches, mobile phones, thermostats, washing machines, traffic lights and other consumer electronics and public technical devices consist of embedded technology.

Embedded systems made headlines this Thursday when GM announced that it would be adding AT&T 4G LTE in 2014 in the majority of its vehicles. Both GM and AT&T equate this new feature with purchasing an iPad or a smartphone.

Exosite is a data management and monitoring firm that offers sublime software to remedy the paucity of connectivity between devices, networks and users. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Exosite has been developing embedded technologies for more than two decades and has a goal of analyzing and accessing data simpler than subscribing to a mobile phone.

Its premier service is One Platform, a cloud-based data platform that allows users to manage communications, perform calculations, store and access information, emit dispatches and process tenets. These systems, as Exosite states, “interact with the real world in real time.”

One Platform, which has a user-friendly interface and a web dashboard that makes it easier to analyze, log and monitor data, offers three primary custom applications and products for enterprises and institutions:

-       Portals for product developers that create device interaction

-       Canary for industrial installations that consists of real-time remote data monitoring

-       Intime for manufacturing facilities that establish automated factory information

Exosite, founded in 2009, also offers an array of its resources on its website. The company provides documentation and examples of its systems. It also works to find the necessary sensors, wireless technologies, gateway hardware, device software and the right components for the application at hand.

Since its establishment, it has partnered with numerous technology outfits and companies, such as Renesas Electronics America, Janus Remote Communications, Arrow Electronics, Redpine Signals and Synapse Wireless.

In 2011, Exosite began to provide One Platform cloud connectivity for Renesas development kits.This provision made it simpler for product developers to form cloud-capable products with Renesas’s RX microcontrollers (MCUs).

“By providing a production-ready cloud-infrastructure for Renesas RX MCUs, we’ve lowered the barrier-to-entry for engineers designing products requiring industrial-grade processing and cloud-connectivity,” said Hans Rempel, CEO of Exosite, in a press release. “This means that powerful cloud-connected applications involving real-world devices can be prototyped, designed and deployed in a matter of months.”

Meanwhile, last summer, Exosite announced its One Platform would be integrated with ClearConnex’s embedded management software platform.

“Traditional approaches to deploying cellular enabled products left customers facing a challenging and complex landscape,” said Erik Rorvick, business development manager for Exosite, in a news release. “With the addition of out of the box support for ClearConnex to Exosite’s One Platform, customers can now easily deploy and access data from their products over the Wyless network.”