There was more activity at this year’s Embedded Systems Conference (ESC[]) Silicon Valley than I had expected given the economic slump. The number of exhibitors was down the second year in a row at about 250. Exhibitors’ comments varied, with some expressing concern about attendance and others remarking that the quality of the show was high even though the numbers were down.

When I met with the exhibitors to hear about their latest products and strategies, I asked them how they thought North America, Europe, and Asia are faring in this global recession. While almost everyone agreed that Europe is holding its own, they had mixed opinions on North America and Asia. Most of those who gave North America good marks serve the defense and medical markets. Surprising to me was the consistent comment that Japan is strong.

I have been harping on the lack of innovation in the embedded market lately, and my worries were confirmed at ESC. I usually run across one or two products that really get me excited, but I didn’t have that experience this year. It seemed like most companies were just trying to survive and not announcing any breakaway products. I’m guessing that many are waiting for signs of a turnaround.

Absent from the ESC exhibition floor this year were two anchor companies, Intel and Wind River. Yet in a way, Intel was all over the place with the Atom processor found on various boards throughout the conference. Also present were several products sporting the recently announced server-class Intel Xeon 5500 processor series. Wind River participated as a rather stealthy Signature Sponsor, presenting a virtual exhibition at its website while hosting a handful of presentations at the show.

Small form factor boards were everywhere once again. The PC/104 Consortium and SFF-SIG both hosted receptions to highlight some of their new activities. Frankly, I’m still unsure about the health of the board business. Most board suppliers today claim that 50 percent or more of their business is custom. When I questioned them about their design cycle times, I heard everything from three months for a derivative to two years for an original design. Virtually none of them are taking advantage of new design tools, preferring instead to rely on experience and ingenuity. I still get the impression that Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) and FPGAs are eating away at the board vendors with all the new simulation and modeling advancements in the semiconductor sector.

OpenSystems Media made a splash with our own product launch. The new HyperMag online magazine format addresses the continued migration of print to the Internet. We had standing room only crowds at our booth as we demonstrated the capabilities of this exciting technology. Check out www.opensystemsmedia.com/external/hypermagsite.

As keynote speaker Admiral T.K. Mattingly, U.S. Navy (Retired), discussed his involvement in recovering Apollo 13, he emphasized the importance of having simple and measurable goals and strong engineering practices to complete a mission – sound advice for all those embedded engineers who are striving to create innovative designs in a challenging economic environment.