SMART MANUFACTURING
HOW WILL ASIC TECHNOLOGY ENABLE THE FUTURE OF IIOT?
As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) rapidly advances, it is crucial for manufacturers to have the right technology in place to support its implementation. Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) are pivotal enablers — these specialised chips are poised to allow more efficient industrial automation and interconnectivity. Here, Ross Turnbull, director of Business Development and Product Engineering at custom IC design and supply specialist, Swindon Silicon Systems, delves into the imminent trends shaping the IIoT landscape.
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y 2030, 86 per cent of manufacturing executives believe they will use smart factory technologies to drive competition, according to insights from Deloitte. While ASICs and the IIoT are both well-established, as with
any technology, their use cases and features are constantly evolving. So, what applications are emerging, and why should manufacturers consider ASIC technology when realising their smart factory goals?
A GREATER DEGREE OF INTELLIGENCE The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionise IIoT applications. Most AI applications focus on analytical AI, to leverage predictive analytics and enable proactive maintenance, fault prediction and optimisation of industrial processes. Such capabilities not only drive operational efficiencies, but also pave the way for autonomous decision-making in dynamic industrial environments.
But analytical AI is not the limit to its potential, as generative AI will also become a tangible tool for manufacturers. While it is difficult to determine the exact impact of generative AI within industrial operations today, early adopters have shown that it will be a key tool for organisations looking to become more flexible, efficient and intuitive. One possible use case for generative AI is
its use in conjunction with digital twins, to create warehouse designs and production scenarios faster. When it comes to digital twin implementation, cost, complexity and compatibility are three of the most common customer concerns. The scale of data that would be produced means that the processing tasks carried out by the IoT sensors are becoming increasingly complex. In these applications, ASICs provide a compelling solution, not only collecting analogue data, converting and digitising it for transmission across the network, but doing so in an optimised way.
ASICs offer compact size, low power requirements and optimised functionality, making them the ideal fit for complex, high- volume IoT applications, like generative AI and digital twins.
INCREASED SECURITY As IIoT continues to grow, so do the cybersecurity risks associated with it. Industrial systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, which makes them more vulnerable to cyber threats. So, having a robust network that is protected from such risks is essential to a secure, functioning smart factory. For manufacturers that are at the forefront of IIoT deployment, it is crucial that they protect their intellectual property (IP) from replication. While patents are a first port of call, enforcing them can be expensive and time consuming.
Autumn 2024 UKManufacturing
As manufacturers innovate, ensuring the security of their IP will become more and more essential. ASICs also offer higher intellectual property (IP) security than off-the- shelf PCBs due to the circuits being much harder to reverse engineer. With decades of experience in delivering custom ICs, especially in industrial applications, Swindon has an abundance of circuit block IP. Most of this IP is proven in the
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