February 2015
41
E
mbedded
C
omputing
tory status, centrally provide new functions
when required or new updates and in doing
so reduce service costs to a minimum.
On the field devices, the most important
onboard component is the integrated SEMA
Cloud Management Agent. It takes care of the
bi-directional data exchange of the embed-
ded system with the cloud via TLS-encrypted
Ethernet, WiFi or 3G/4G cellular communica-
tion. Peripheral components can also be con-
nected via freely definable inputs and outputs.
For wireless peripherals, wireless interfaces
such as Zigbee, NFC or Bluetooth can be sup-
ported, so that corresponding system config-
urations can be used as a data aggregator and
an IoT gateway for locally distributed systems.
The SEMA Cloud Management Agent can be
run on a multitude of different operating sys-
tems such as Windows 7/8, WES 7/8, WEC
6/7 and most Linux distributions and can be
used on ARM and x86 processor architectures.
This makes it scalable for the whole range of
SMARC modules right up to Intel Atom
E3800 processor-based solutions.
The SEMA Cloud Management Agent for
SMARC connects seamlessly to its own cloud
infrastructure: the SEMA Cloud. It serves
OEMs and operators as a central management
platform for distributed devices. All the data
is collated here and processed for the dash-
boards. From here all the configurable noti-
fications and alarms are sent to the service
personnel by means of email, SMS or even
directly into the service module of a CRM.
Apart from being the operative core for mon-
itoring the embedded devices, it is also a cen-
tral control element for the administration of
embedded devices and for parametrizing ser-
vice notifications and user dashboards. Fur-
ther to this, many necessary control measures
can be automatically carried out via the cloud,
for example to prevent damage or loss of con-
trol. In addition to the functions and infor-
mation which SEMA provides via the BMCs,
other user data, i.e. from sensors, can also be
integrated. The SEMA Cloud Management
Agent supports the widely accepted MQTT
protocol. Further to the central cloud server
infrastructure, matching client applications
are also available. Operators are supplied with
dashboards which – according to their spe-
cific needs – inform them in the convenient
push mode of the device condition via apps
for tablets, smart phones or OEM-specific
service devices. With these apps, employees
get a secure remote access to their embed-
ded devices. With these three basic compo-
nents – the agent, the cloud servers and the
user apps – SEMA Cloud for SMARC mod-
ules provides a comprehensive cloud-based
service platform which OEMs and operators
can deploy for innovative monitoring, man-
agement and maintenance services. OEMs
should not base their decision for a SMARC
Computer-on-Module platform, like, for
example, the new Freescale ARM SoC i.MX6
processor-based Adlink LEC-iMX6 module,
solely on which development stage the supplier
is at in terms of connecting platforms to the
IoT, but on whether matching cloud solutions
for its boards and systems are available. Only
with these can OEMs develop the right service
and maintenance concepts without any design
effort on their own part and without having
to develop the technological basis themselves.
SEMA Cloud starter kits with Freescale ARM
SoC i.MX6 processor-based Adlink LEC-iMX6
modules, local support and customer-specific
trainings are now available.
n
Table 1. Adlink is establishing the SEMA
Cloud connection as a standard.
