As the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in San Jose enters into its third day, a few hot topics have come front and center with both attendees and exhibitors.

As a panel of medical electronics experts discussed, there are a variety of challenges in regard to the management of patient data and the need for wireless connectivity to transmit this data. According to the panel and an article from EE Times, ‘Key challenges in the fast-changing medical electronics market are figuring out how to aggregate and manage real-time imagery and other medical data, how to mesh divergent technologies like electronic, mechanical and biological devices and then figure out a way to transmit the date wirelessly without running down the battery.’

The good news is that the embedded industry is working hard to develop silicon and low-power embedded processors, to help medical design engineers who are designing devices with the above challenges in mind. Development kits and new technologies, like the XPort Pro from Lantronix, are already in the works to help companies bring products to market faster. We expect this debate to continue, as more advances for medical device technology are expected throughout this year.

Another subject of interest, as noted by Bill Schweber at EE Times, is motion control and motors. Rather than simulated products, ESC exhibitors showed real-life, tangible products that support a variety of motor types. Bill points to an example of Texas Instruments, who demoed “an array of motor-control solutions ranging from basic, low-level controller to a sophisticated, multilevel, fully networked approach, each with its own set of capabilities and costs.”

As the ACE Awards also awarded PCBMotor ‘Editor’s Choice’ this year, it’s no wonder that this topic was getting a lot of foot traffic during the show.

I’ll be back later this week with my own thoughts from the show. Anything I missed that you’re seeing?