Open Licensed Hardware

Posted by TomRose on September 27, 2006 under NFC, Open Source, RFID | 2 Comments to Read

It has not received the attention of open source software; however, the same concept is being applied to hardware components by releasing the design and usually a working simulation model via hardware description language such as VHDL (HDL Tutorial, FreeHDL ). OPENCORES is one of the consortiums focused on Open Licensed Hardware, and was founded sometime in 2000. The fact that hardware is being open licensed gives much credit to the model of open and free components, as the real value is how to put those components (hardware and software) together into a solution.

I’m not an advocate that absolutely everything has to be open licensed, and not to say that the industry as a whole has the best open licenses today, or have figured out the best business model for both the producers and consumers. Although, I am convinced that open licensed technology is invaluable for increasing innovation, accelerating adoption and evolution of commercial solutions/services, as well as distributing the risk of technology development across a wider participant base.

Now, what prompted this post was a mail list message about OpenPCD, a RFID reader, both hardware and software with an open license. This type of technology is part of a broader movement referred to as NearField Communications (NFC).

Also related, the recently finalized JSR 257 (Contactless Communication API ), that supports many connection interfaces, such as ISO 14443. You will see this particular protocol (and others) referred to in the NFC forum noted above, and also implemented in the OpenPCD project via and open source component called librfid . So there is much movement in this space across the world, in addition to security and privacy controversy with its use. You can look toward implementation of this technology in passports to find heated debate about the additional security it brings, and its appropriateness in this solution space. Search Bruce Schneier’s weblog for “passports” to get a security perspective of the technology.

There is no doubt an open license approach to technology will continue to be adopted. We just need to prove out the business models that will continue to fuel the development of open licensed technology. As nothing is free, somebody always has to pay.

Tom

Back to the Future with Big Iron

Posted by TomRose on September 14, 2006 under EA | Be the First to Comment

Customers Get Hip to System z Value Proposition

For the past five years I have been interested in doing a value study for consolidating distributed mid-range servers back to mainframe technology; however, I was always laughed out of the room. The server virtualization and provisioning along with the high utilization capabilities are very attractive. With some of the moves as noted in the article above, I expect there is some significant value here.

Grid computing allows the utilization of all computing resources, and absolutely is part of the picture. However, in large organizations where data center, server, and storage consolidation are paramount to driving cost reductions, mainframes seam to make sense. Moving back to the mainframe for mission critical services (and what isn’t today), seems to be something worth evaluating for your organization.

Tom

RFID 2.0 Opens in Japan

Posted by TomRose on September 7, 2006 under RFID | Be the First to Comment

Another version release, we are now at RFID 2.0 in Japan. My first thought was why do we keep doing this, and for a moment I was bitter. After some reflection, I came to the conclusion that I agree with motivations to put the version releases on everything; SOA, RFID, Web, Business, but not the actual versioning itself. I’m sure the marketing teams are trying to get some excitement in the industry, as that leads to focus, innovation, and of course customers. Although the motivations may be admirable the method seems entirely ineffective. I wonder what the empirical data shows relative to adoption rate of technology as it’s arbitrarily assigned a version.

Tom

Enterprise Architecture Guidance

Posted by TomRose on September 4, 2006 under EA | Be the First to Comment

Very well articulated advice from a seasoned leader of enterprise architecture. The blog title Management Rants is a little misleading, as there are no rants. It’s a collection of vivid depictions about enterprise architecture challenges, and how to work through them while keeping your integrity intact. After reading all the posts, my first thought was that I need to read these again, as there is excellent advice and information in every post.

Tom