Why is the concern about embedded systems Y2K problems so high?
When real-time systems fail, high-value processes shut down, and the costs of unexpected shutdowns can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even for small manufacturing companies, the costs are crucial, because the production process is their only true source of income. The pressure to keep the production process running is great. As a result, production managers resist changes to embedded systems. When the next version of a process control operating system comes along, it is not automatically installed. Hardware that is no longer supported by the manufacturer remains in use. The result is a bunch of aging systems, based on languages, packages and processors for which the skills are being lost. Finding and testing embedded systems is complicated. There is a risk that taking the system through a mock millennium change will cause the equipment to fail with huge cost penalties. Applying the fixes is equally risky, again because of the potential to cause a production failure, but also beca
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