Recapping Embedded World 2023: Where the World Learns About What's Next

The exhibition halls at Nuremberg Messe were buzzing for three full days, as hundreds of companies and thousands of visitors met to discuss the technologies that will shape all our tomorrow.

Not surprisingly, machine learning and artificial intelligence were everywhere. We can now use AI in embedded products through an increasing number of hardware and software products. There seems to be no limits to the way innovators are implementing the fundamental features of AI at the edge. That may be in a purely software way running on general purpose microprocessors, like Greenwaves Technologies, or using hardwired IP deeply integrated alongside an MCU from Renesas. It could be dedicated neuromorphic processor technology, such as BrainChip's Akida, or it may be a combination of all these approaches in the form of soft- and hard-IP ported to an SoC, like that of Synaptics. Examples of all these vectors were present at Embedded World.

Other hot topics included Matter. This is the latest – and probably the most comprehensive to date – attempt to simplify and consolidate the smart home industry. The standard was officially released in October 2022 and many major semiconductor vendors, including STMicroelectronics, Silicon Labs, and Nordic Semiconductor, have been actively promoting and supporting it since then. There was clearly a lot of interest from engineers looking to learn more.

What else was caught our attention? How about a TFT display that thinks it’s ePaper? As a bistable technology, the TFT display consumes no power when it isn’t being updated, but because it’s made using regular TFT manufacturing processes, the manufacturer can offer a lot more flexibility, and even a backlight. Pretty cool, right?

And if you read our preview of things to look out for at this year’s Embedded World, you may have noticed that Slint, one of our top companies to see, won an Embedded Award for Best Tool!

Also during the show, Infineon announced the winners of our Propel Human-Machine Interactions into the Future challenge, based the company's CAPSENSE technology.

And as if that wasn't enough, NXP had showcased NXP HoverGames3: Land, Sky, Food Supply from their booth.

Next year, the company behind the Embedded World exhibition and conference will launch a North America event in Austin, Texas, as well as another new event in China later this year. We’re all really excited about the expansion of this leading event for the electronics industry.