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Notes on a letter from Rob Harmer |
At 09:56 AM 10/3/1999 -0500, you wrote:
Rob,
On your page, http://www.pcprofile.com/embedd.htm,
you say "Many of these have simple date related functions that can be affected by the
rollover from 31st December 1999 to 1/1/2000!" Your word, "many",
stikes me. Do you have any case studies which describe details of three or four of
these many? - Richard Collins, Director, http://www.TheInternetFoundation.Org,
Year 2000 Project - http://www.Y2K-Status.Org
Hi Richard,
That article on embedded systems at http://www.pcprofile.com/embedd.htm
was written "at a time that seems ages ago in Y2k terms" and was based on
industry feedback from those technical experts who kept divulging the problem but again
wouldn't provide the empirical evidence to support it for fear of legal action from their
clients and the customers of the clients.
We will update that article shortly with references to key papers from http://www.russkelly.com/reports.html
as follows;
- Patrick Bossert: A Short Description of Embedded Systems - This is a
commercial site, but offers an excellent concise description of what an embedded system is
http://www.embedded-science.com/index.html?embed.html
- Paula Gordon: Embedded Systems--It's a Problem! "A Call to
Action: National and Global Implications of the Year 2000 and Embedded Systems
Crisis" Author is Paula Gordon. This is a four part white paper with part 2
dealing with the embedded systems issue. The other parts of the paper deal with a
definition of the Y2K problem & actions, a call for a special action office, and
references. http://www.gwu.edu/~y2k/keypeople/gordon/.
Part of a White Paper on National and Global Implications of the Year 2000 Embedded
Systems Crisis by Paula Gordon is posted in the recent 1998 archives at http://www.year2000.com/y2karchive.html
and at http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/y2kconf/papers/paper64.htm.
This details research done to date and backs up the claims that embedded systems SHOULD
NOT be discounted as an issue!
- Roleigh Martin: Other key articles that support the premise that there
are "many" embedded systems to be addressed for Y2k issues are located at
Roleign Martin's embedded systems site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roleigh_martin
- Embedded Systems Programming magazine: Two other websites of interest
are http://www.embedded.com/ Embedded Systems
Programming is a monthly magazine devoted to engineers, programmers, and project leaders
who build microcontroller and embedded microprocessor-based systems
- The Institution of Electrical Engineers: http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/
- http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/w-42.htm
- http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/w-66.htm
W1224 Embedded systems compared with commercial systems (SA1.2)
- Secondly in embedded systems the concern is often with intervals rather than with
specific dates: the need may be for an event to occur at 100-day intervals rather than on
the 5th day of each month. This has the implication that Year 2000 problems may reveal
themselves both before and for some time after 1 January 2000 and not at all on the date
itself.
- Most systems count time by counting clock ticks. Exceptionally however there are devices
in which year numbers are used in time calculations and which may have problems when the
year becomes 2000.
- The lifetime of embedded systems tends to be greater than that of commercial data
processing systems: they remain in use for longer without alteration to their software.
Because their software may therefore be older they are rendered more liable to Year 2000
problems.
- Embedded systems are often in continuous operation and so are liable to be necessarily
in operation when the date changes from 1999 to 2000.
- http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/w-11.htm
W031506 Websites (GAppendix H)
- Mark Frautschi: For references to other work on embedded systems, see
Dr. Frautschi's list of references which can be found at http://http://www.tmn.com/~frautsch/y2k2.html.
- Gene Bylinsky, "Industry Wakes Up to the Year 2000 Menace",
Fortune, April 27, 1998
- Dick Lefkon & Bill Payne, "The Practical Engineer ~ Making
Embedded Systems Year 2000 Compliant", IEEE Spectrum, June 1998
- The Gartner Group Source Documents on Year 2000, http://gartner12.gartnerweb.com/gg/static/itjournal/gspecial1.html
- GAO Exposure Draft: "Business Continuity and Contingency Planning, http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/bcpguide.pdf
- GAO Report "The Computing Crisis, an Assessment Guide" http:///www.gao.gov/special.pubs/y2kguide.pdf
Best regards, Rob Harmer, http://www.pcprofile.com
We provide a comprehensive view of Year 2000 issues that affect desktop PC's and provides
strategies and solutions for Year 2000 business survival! Based in
Adelaide, Sth Australia email: robharm@pcprofile.com
Copyright 1988-2012 Richard
Collins, All Rights Reserved