How will ASIC technology enable the future of IIoT?

~ A custom approach is crucial to successfully adopting IIoT technologies ~

As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) rapidly advances, it’s 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.

By 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 isn’t 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’s 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.

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 field, working right now in billions of chips and operating in some of the harshest imaginable environments. These ready-made circuit blocks can be deployed into a new project with few or no changes, and shortcut much of the design and verification.

When in-house IP is not available, there is an alternative way to accelerate timescales and reduce NRE. Instead, designers can license IP blocks from specialist vendors and incorporate them onto the custom-designed silicon. This can work well for complex yet orthodox IP blocks — like radio transceivers supporting particular standards. IP obtained in this way can often be tweaked in-house, allowing it to meet customer-specific requirements. This kind of flexibility means that extremely complex systems can be monolithically integrated in far shorter timescales than when starting from scratch.

At Swindon, we provide our customers full ownership of the completed system design, to ensure their system IP benefits them, and them alone. Choosing an ASIC partner that does not sell off-the-shelf parts alleviates the risk of IP potentially being used at a future date in an in-house product. 

Efficient, sustainable power consumption

Efficiency remains paramount in IIoT deployments. Suddenly, a high volume of devices that weren’t there previously are relying on the facility’s power sources, placing additional strain on the system. At the same time as this, manufacturers are trying to reduce their energy consumption in line with sustainability goals. So how can ASICs support sustainable, efficient IIoT deployment?

The most prominent feature of ASICs is customisability. They are specifically designed for each individual application, meaning they’re completely optimised. By nature, this optimised design will have fewer active components and unused performance, therefore reducing the required power. By tailoring the circuitry to the specific requirements of the application, ASICs can achieve faster processing speeds, lower latency and higher efficiency. In addition, ASICs can be specifically designed with the goal to minimise power consumption, making them well-suited for applications with strict power constraints.

Further, ASICs can support the goal of reducing power consumption within the factory walls, by supporting real-time data collection on energy consumption, enabling occupancy sensors to control HVAC systems and reactive lighting to turn lights off when no personnel are present in an area. 

As IIoT applications diversify and evolve, there is an increasing demand for ASICs to meet goals that only a customised solution can deliver on. While ASICs are a well-established component of smart factory technologies, as new levels of efficiency, intelligence and security become widespread requirements, they will become a commonplace building block to ensure smart factory success.