SGET embedded standardisation gets underway
Following the announcement of the establishment of the group at Embedded World 2012 in Nuremberg in late February, the organisation was legally inaugurated in mid-April. 23 companies immediately signed up as members and since then, about half a dozen more companies have joined the group; interestingly, all of them are from Asia (Taiwan, China and India). The SGET Board has also been talking to numerous interested companies who have signalled a clear intention of joining in the near future.
At the beginning, there was a lot of groundwork to do. Before the workgroups – we call them "Standard Development Teams" (SDTs) – were able to start doing their jobs, extensive guidelines had to be drafted. We also had to purchase software for virtual meetings plus collaboration software for the work of the SDTs.
Next, we suffered a setback due to a bureaucratic issue: Our statutes included a subordinate clause that the German courts did not approve of. We simply deleted the clause, but were forced to reform for legal reasons. Thankfully, we have now overcome all obstacles: we have obtained all required legal documents and approvals, and are back on track. In addition to drafting a set of workgroup rules, we have launched our website www.sget.org and filled it with content.
Now the first standardization proposals have been tabled. With the new ARM module concept "ULP-COM" from Kontron, workgroup "SDT.01" was launched. Defined goals include the specification and branding of the module standard, development of a design guide, API implementation and expandable functionality to account for new market needs.
The Qseven development from congatec has led to the formation of workgroup »SDT.02«. It has adopted the current Qseven Revision 2.0, is also preparing a design guide and is working on a new revision with the aim of integrating new interfaces and a "feature connector", for instance for camera interfaces.
We will use the experiences gained from setting up the first two SDTs to optimize the SGET infrastructure in order to accelerate the process for future groups.
There are plenty more ideas for future standards. The discussions with many companies have raised some interesting points. Much to our delight, quite a number of suggestions focus on embedded software. For instance, the chipmakers are very interested in defining software interfaces (APIs) for new chips. Since these APIs are often developed by independent software vendors (ISVs), a subsequent standardization is in the interest of both sides. Thanks to such cooperation it is possible to implement more ideas in the APIs than if a chip manufacturer develops them alone.
Since so many SGET founding members are major hardware vendors, there’s a misconception that we are a hardware or module association. But we are open to all embedded technologies – therefore we are particularly pleased by the fact that the next standard proposals may be more software-related.
SGET aims to be a little more agile, faster and more flexible than comparable organizations. The embedded technology industry is constantly changing and quickly evolving – but that is inherent in the IT industry. The first months after the establishment of SGET were characterized by the usual groundwork. But the foundations have now been established, the tracks have been laid – and with the launch of the first SDTs the group is well on the way.
Bio
Engelbert Hörmannsdorfer is Chairman of the SGET embedded standardization group – www.sget.org
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