The world of intelligent devices is changing dramatically. The computerized devices around us are getting smarter; they are increasingly connected, interdependent, and they’re becoming vastly more numerous. All this is happening at an ever-increasing rate.

It is now practical to embed moderately high performance computing and connectivity that runs on electricity, whether tethered or mobile. This trend is fueled by powerful and highly integrated system-on-chip processors, coupled with large capacity system and storage memories, and empowered by wired and wireless communication interfaces.

Another important phenomenon is that as both embedded computing and connectivity proliferate, the intelligence within tomorrow’s devices is becoming less localized. Increasingly, the precise location of the software running on these devices is blurring, and eventually we are unlikely to actually  know where the programs we use are located. Is the application running inside the device? Is it based on some remote server or it is located at an internet based application service provider? Maybe it is a combination of all three.

It’s possible to call it distributed computing or distributed intelligence, post PC era; one thing is certain; the era of autonomous, isolated, desktop PCs running localized software is coming to an end.

Devices will become mobile and multifunctional, maybe deeply integrated into mechanical systems, connected by networks; wireless nets will more and more useful.

Another trend is that systems are integrated within networks of devices. As data security become more and more an issue, such devices will carry highly protected data. One of the main issues is to find ways to exchange data between different devices and to integrate their functionalities within a larger network.

Another important direction for the future development of embedded systems is to standardize the platforms and architecture; such the solutions can be exchanged and reused between different devices.

Another trend is to improve the development methods and tools, to produce appropriate functionality for low costs and with high reliability.

A spectacular application domain and a very important aspect of the future of Embedded Systems is ecology. The efficiency of many technologies can be strongly improved, controlled by embedded devices.

Embedded hardware growth will be spectacular, at the rate of 14.2% on 2009.

High-tech industry will achieve higher levels of device integration while reducing costs, size and complexity. Chip designers and manufacturers constantly have pushed to develop of technological, physical and design constraints. The embedded systems concept is one significant trend in this context. Embedded software will grow from about $1.6 billion in 2004 to $3.5 billion by 2009, at an average annual growth rate of 16%.

Developments within the semiconductor industry constitute one of the most interesting subplots of the rapid innovation in the high-tech industry.