Designed & Made
in America (DMA)

Knowledge Acquired Along The Way

"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us" - John Dryden(Aug 19, 1631 - May 12th, 1700)

The Internet of Things (IoT) - Security,Privacy,Safety - IoT Core Platform Development Project is the first of several development projects that we will be posting on this site.  The blog articles are specifically designed with education in mind.  As these blog develop so will different mindset learning approaches that will be implemented in order to connect with the different approaches that individuals connect and learn.

With over 40 years applied experiences with product development the road to develop a reliable guide for project development has had many ups and downs and detours along with failures and successes.  Some large and midsize manufacturers still attempt to increase the percentage of reuse only to find that the nature of the beast will always maintain a small percentage.  Why is this?  Well, one opinion is, the fact of the acceleration of technology where the older platforms are phased out and the new platforms are phased in, the cycle has not let up for the past 60 years and is still advancing.  Oh by the way, this is not a bad thing!

The knowledge being shared in this blog is with the intent of developing reliable engineering habits to be exercised within any development project with a high level of success.  As stated "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us".

Lets look at the habits that this series encourage from its conception in a block diagram below.   Education is not just a transfer of knowledge - it is a process of repetition in order to create positive habits that will stimulate personal growth.

A Block Segment of the Knowledge Acquired Along The Way

The habits that the IoT Core Platform Development series encourage are:

• Critical thinking of the impact of designing a product will have on its application.
• Looking at the Internet in a different Point of View.
  End User↔User Router ↔ [Internet Highway Routers] ↔ User Router↔End User
• The importance of quality documentation for each section of a development project
• Documentation processes and traceability  - Reliability Traceability Matrix (RTM)
• Design of Interface Test Fixtures (ITF) to insure functionality and performance
• The managing of multiple projects that are interrelated and require parallel development
• and more -----

Blog Category  
"Wave Phenomenon, Antennas and Radiation"

A brief introduction to our new series "Wave Phenomenon, Antennas and Radiation" which is all about wireless communications and the radiated energy it transmits.  Radiation theory is basically broken down to two broad frequency bands or wavelength bands 'types', Non-Ionizing and Ionizing radiation.  There are groups that state that Ionizing radiation is that harmful radiation to life forms and Non-Ionizing radiation is not harmful to Humans.  All radiation is harmful to the human body if concentrated and/or at high levels.  We will present different types of antennas and how they focus radiated energy and the frequencies of Non-Ionizing radiation effects of various life forms and their organs, the basis of many controversies today.

The Ionizing radiation bands effect the human DNA directly, Ultraviolet, X-Rays Gamma Rays which is why humans wear radiation badges when working in areas where radiation equipment is used.  The frequency range is 10¹⁴ Hz to 10²¹ Hz and beyond.   There is a "visible" waveband that is a small waveband from 380 to 740 nanometers or 430-770 Terahertz 1THz =  10¹² Hz = 1000Giga-Hertz).  The non-ionizing radiation effects mostly living organs and have caused various types of mutations within these organs.  We will cover that later in the series.  The series will cover Effective Radiated Power (ERP)  and many other transmission parameters.  Studies for this series will include some analytical Geometry, Integral Calculus, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics.

OK, nice presentation but what does this have to do with our IoT Platform Project?
The IoT core platform will incorporate wireless technology and will be referenced to the new blog series Wave Phenomenon, Antennas and Radiation.  Designing wireless products entails a bit more research than that of direct connect (wired) devices. Has a variety of limitations and effects that will be covered in the Wave Phenomenon, Antennas and Radiation series.

A Introduction Update to the IoT Platform Project Series

This series is what we are calling a "living development series" in order to present a realistic working product development project focused on the (IoT) Internet of Things.   The object of this series is to present the actual product development path along with real world project challenges in order to create a "Safe, Secure and Private" Core IoT Platform, Hardware, Firmware and Software for LAN, WAN and Cloud platforms.

2nd Anniversary Update (Jan 14, 2019)
A lot has transpired since we first started this IoT Platform Development Project series.  We witnessed the 2 billion records breach mark from multiple companies that contain a lot of PII (Personal Identifying Information) account data.  These records may not show up for some time maybe never, but the fact remains that many have now been enlightened that the Internet is not private at all.

3rd Anniversary Update and New Blog Category (Feb 29, 2020)
So much has changed in 2019 that it would take several blogs to document the complete lists.  Compiling a summary is a bit easier and of course since re-publishing/re-wording someone else's articles is not this blogs intent.  Our focus is on the IoT core platform development, Safety, Privacy and security.  So what we will do here is to identify the sections that we updated with [ edited 02/2020 ] and added links in bold to sources of information presented for readers.  We have recorded breaches that broke the 15 billion record mark, yes billions, that is about two times the entire world population and considering that there are less than 2 billion active servers, validated from Netcraft.

I have and still do experience the joy of exercising my passion with technology and how it has grown over the past 60 years, 40 years of which I participated in developing new technology products.  Experiencing the change from a 16"x16" PCB for the past Data General and the old BB-11 BUS from DEC and others with over 100 discrete logic components miniaturized down to a single 15mm chip at a small fraction of the cost.  Not only having all the resources with all the capability to design products on a desktop computer from schematic capture, PCB Layout and Mechanical integration.  For all those that know me understand my logic for standing my ground on scientific testing and investigations to insure products are safe for both human and animal species.  With that said we now look at what the near future holds in store for the populous and the challenges it holds.

We have seen the Mergers & Acquisitions of the embedded microprocessor market from many players to a few that are on top, they are Micochip, NXP, Intel, AMD as of this writing in that order.  Intel and AMD are primarily a Desktop, Laptop, Tablet type Processors that have been aggressively pushing to enter the embedded IoT, automotive and cell phone market since it is anticipated to be a $20 to $30 Billion market area which is probably conservative.  It is anticipated that it will not grow as fast as intended since there is a lot of pushback on the 5G deployment, there are links to that below and the full vetted information's are in the links.   Since we are incorporating wireless into our platform at both licence and public frequency bands we will present the wave propagation analysis and radiation that will be used.  The core IoT platform in this series uses a unique proprietary methodology to reduce radiation and maintain communications that we will presented when we enter the wireless security section of the series.

For those that have asked me about wireless in our lab, "we do not use any wireless communications in the lab, all system and servers are "hard wired".  We have a wireless router for the Roku since it only operates on WiFi however, that is only on when it is used which is not very often and turned off when not in use, including the Roku device itself.  Radiation measurements are recorded in the lab on a regular interval for analysis purposes and are not published here, however we will probably publish them in the new blog being introduced below.

On the peripheral side of the developments over the last year several new devices have released that we will add to the interface list such as a multi channel temperature IC with a small data storage internal allowing a steady stream of temperature data to be gathered.   Faster A/D and D/A converters with higher resolution as well as faster and more flexible programmable gain amplifiers that allow more types of non standard analog sensors.

Technology Connects Everything
The market introduced listening and camera devices that are able to listen and monitor our movements and issue commands to devices connected to the Internet, not to ignore the smart phones already tracking data.  The things to keep in mind here is for these listening and camera devices the data is going to some third party and being sold to other third party marketers to send advertising on the go for "profit".  That means that your gestures and voices are stored and shared with multiple unknown third parties.   Now think of ordering products through this audio/visual device and giving personal information to these unknown third party data gatherers.  Oh by the way make sure the TV in the bedroom is really off, oops!

Now enter the Internet of Things, everything interconnected and beyond with IPv6 huge addressing capability, security and privacy is gaining high visibility as the predominate issue.  The privacy and security issue is not just for the home environment is extends to the industry, from transportation, retail, marketing, engineering and more.  The world of access through IoT sensors of all types, video, audio, control networks like traffic lights, electric grids and municipal utilities that monitor and control the safety of our everyday lives.  Ok, do not look at this as a Gloom and Doom issue, but as a challenge to insure privacy, security and safety of your (PII) personal identifiable information.

I want to sincerely thank all the readers and those that contacted me privately for their support, advice and suggestions to improve this series.
Enjoy the Series - Sal Tuzzo