Application-specific tablets ready to innovate the ... - Texas Instruments

W H I T E

PA P E R Ram Sathappan,

EPOS business manager Texas Instruments

Application-specific tablets ready to innovate the industrial market Overview Ever since the tablet PC laid claim to a major portion of the consumer computing market-

Tablets burst on the scene

place, it has made steady inroads into the

Infinite Research stated that in 2010, a few short years after consumers started to demand

workplace. Now, the tablet’s adoption rate

tablets, the market had grown to a remarkable 17.6 million units.1 And yet, the tablet had

in enterprise applications is on the verge of

barely begun to scratch the surface of the enterprise computing marketplace. Looking into

exploding. The ascent of application-specific

the future, various market research firms have predicted phenomenal growth for the tablet in

tablet designs gives manufacturers some-

enterprise applications.

thing of a blank slate with which they can

Over the course of 2010 alone, the presence of Apple’s iPad had moved from 50 percent

quickly configure powerful tablets custom-

of the Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. to over 80 percent by year end, according to Infinite

ized with the hardware and software needed

Research.2 By 2016, Infinite Research expects that the size of the tablet market will grow

for operational applications in retail stores,

to over 300 million units, of which approximately 100 million will be dedicated to enterprise

restaurants, hotels, healthcare organiza-

applications. Total market size by 2016 is predicted to be approximately 316 million units with

tions, factories and many other businesses.

enterprise tablets making up 20–25 percent of the total.

Quite simply, the tablet is a natural fit

Of course, some consumer-oriented tablets have already made the leap into enterprise

for operational enterprise applications. By

applications, especially where mobility and constant connectivity is a prerequisite for users

combining the capabilities of tablets like

such as sales executives, high-level management in finance, legal and IT departments and

mobility, intuitive ease-of-use, graphical

others who tend to travel a great deal. The applications employed by these types of users are

presentation of information and powerful

well served by off-the-shelf consumer tablets that support the most popular generic office

connectivity with specific hardware features, such as card or barcode readers, security features, ruggedized components, sensors and other options manufacturers can rapidly deploy application-specific tablets that enhance the productivity, effectiveness and efficiencies of enterprises across a broad swath of vertical industries. Following on the heels of its success with consumers in homes and on the road, the tablet will soon become even more pervasive on the job. Electronic Tablet Reference Design based on Sitara™ AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 processor

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applications and feature an open browser for Internet access and cloud computing. Essentially, consumer tablets in business applications are currently replacing laptops. Since these nomadic users likely are already heavily reliant on smartphones, the transition to a consumer tablet can be quite seamless. But beyond the consumer-turned-business tablets, the next wave of enterprise tablets will soon be deployed in operational applications on the factory floors as well as in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, healthcare offices and retail stores. In contrast to the broad, somewhat generic selection of capabilities that characterize consumer tablets, the capabilities of enterprise tablets will be tailored to the requirements of specialized applications. Based on modular or reference designs, enterprise tables will be integrated with a specific set of hardware and software capabilities that meets the needs of the application.

What goes into an application-specific enterprise tablet?

Enterprise tablets will not come out of a one-size-fits-all mold the way that most consumer tablets do. Instead, reference designs for enterprise tablets will allow manufacturers to pick the resources demanded by the application, ignoring some of the features of consumer tablets that would be superfluous in the targeted application. Some of the consumer-oriented hardware and software capabilities of tablets are not needed in enterprise tablets. Instead, an enterprise application could call for certain specialized features, which are never found in the typical consumer tablet.

Connectivity y

Audio Subsystem

WiFi Stereo Headphone

NFC

SDIO

Bluetooth

Audio Switches and ESD Speaker

Audio Codec

3-Axis Accelerometer

Display Subsystem

Haptics System

LCD Bias and Backlight

Touch Screen Controller

7” LCD Display

SPI

Audio Amplifier I2S I2C/SPI

Microphone

DDR3 Memory

SDRC

I2C Applications Processor DSI, LVDS, RGB24 D

Flash

Display Interface

MMC C

SD Card

USB Camera Barcode Scanner Module

Biometric Sensors

I2C Power Management Unit for System

USB Power Switch with Boost Converter

USB Switches and ESD USB OTG

Processor and System Power 1D/2D Barcode

Battery Management

Battery Charger

AC Power Adaptor AC Plug

Display Audio Gas Gauge

Battery

Control/GPIO Memory Power

Power Management

LEGEND Processor Interface RF/IF Amplifier

Application-specific tablets ready to innovate the industrial market

Logic Power ADC/DAC Clocks Other

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For example, enterprise tablets for operational retail applications could require a card reader or a barcode reader rather than the high-definition 1080p video display found in consumer tablets. Rather than the two digital cameras that consumer tablets often have, enterprise tablets deployed in secure enterprise applications might be configured with biometric security safeguards, such as a fingerprint reader or retina scanner. Since the specialized resources or ruggedized components required by enterprise tablets will add costs, manufacturers of application-specific enterprise tablets will certainly eliminate all but the most missioncritical resources as a way to limit the overall bill of materials of the platform. Many of the eye-popping capabilities of consumer tablets, such as 3D graphics, stereo music, large 10-in. high-definition displays, very high gaming performance, exotic input/output (I/O) interfaces for multimedia, Web browsing and others can be pared from the typical enterprise tablet depending on the application need. Still, the reference design for enterprise tablets must be very flexible so that manufacturers can easily integrate the specific hardware and software resources needed to quickly roll out the new tablet-based application in the enterprise.

Keeping tabs on the tablets

Keen interest in application-specific enterprise tablets is already emerging in several vertical industries where the operational objectives of the business can be mapped quite effectively onto the tablet’s set of capabilities.

Enterprise/Retail • Inventory mgmt./Fleet mgmt. • Digital retail catalog

Healthcare • Electronic medical records • Digital imaging

Automation • Home automation panel • Building management

Toys/Gaming • Toy look and feel • Educational/Creative tools

Education • Interactive school books • Interactive notebooks

Hospitality • Hotel room service • Restaurant table service

• Retail Tablets in a retail setting offer a number of business benefits in terms of increasing in-store sales and improving customer service. For example, a clothing store could increase impulse buying by empowering


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its sales consultants with tablets and an application that visually demonstrated how consumers might accessorize the shirt or pants they originally intended to purchase. Tablets installed on shopping carts in grocery stores might assist with price comparisons, locating hard-to-find items or suggesting complementary recipes. Customer service in stores could be enhanced by equipping application-specific tablets with card and barcode readers so that sales clerks could accept credit card or online payments, and customers could avoid long lines at the point-of-sale terminals.

• Restaurants Menus on tablets could accommodate rapidly changing selections and pricing shifts. In addition, patrons could place their orders directly on a tablet as soon as they had decided. Dining time could be shortened, increasing the restaurant’s business and the turnover rate of its customers. Ads running on tablet could provide another revenue stream to the restaurateur and inform patrons of related entertainment venues, such as theaters in the neighborhood.

• Hotels and hospitality industry Application-specific tablets in hotel rooms could host a directory of the various services and facilities available to guests, as well as provide an ongoing schedule of events taking place in the hotel. An automated concierge service running on a tablet could help ensure guest satisfaction and encourage repeat business. Room service could be ordered and bills paid through a bedside tablet.

• Healthcare Healthcare facilities typically generate a mountain of critical health-related and administrative information. Certainly routine administrative forms could be streamlined with data entry and access applications running on tablets. Doctors and nurses could also make use of tablets to access critical and graphically oriented health records, such as test results, x-rays, medications, sonogram and other types of scans. Of course, the critical nature of patient confidentiality would likely require strong security measures, such as a biometric reader of some sort.

• Industrial On the factory floor, enterprise tablets could be the platform for remote control of machinery and control systems, or they might provide access to inventory items that are critical to maintaining production flow. Shipping and receiving groups in industrial operations could have tracking information at their fingertips through tablets. In addition to the use of tablets, the tablet reference design can be easily adapted for integration with existing industrial machinery as Human Machine Interface (HMI) control panels enabling re-use of the tablet design.


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• Education Instead of students using off-the-shelf laptops or tablets with access to many of the distractions that typically beset students, an application-specific education tablet could be customized with a finite number of study aids, class-required ebooks and research repositories for the students in a certain school district or university system. Teachers might also make use of such a system to more effectively perform administrative tasks, freeing more time for direct student interaction.

Tablet solutions

To accelerate the adoption of application-specific tablets in enterprise applications, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) has collaborated with AllGo Systems to develop a reference design for a cost-effective enterprise tablet. The ease with which this reference design can be customized with specialized application-specific capabilities could reduce the time-to-market for an enterprise or industrial tablet. Based on a highly integrated, low-power Sitara™ embedded processor with an AM335x ARM® Cortex™-A8 core and the Android™ 4.0 operating system, TI’s Electronic Tablet Reference Design combines a powerful yet cost-effective resource with a range of integration options, such as a three megapixel camera, microphone, speakers, among others. The Reference Design features a seven-inch capacitive touch-screen display, up to 512 megabytes (MB) of fast DDR3 memory, as well as NAND Flash (512 MB) and a microSD memory card with up to 4 gigabytes (GB) of storage. Connectivity options incude Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® technology ports. A high-speed USB host and USB On-the-Go port are also available. Given its many configuration options, the Electronic Tablet Reference Design will support very cost-sensitive enterprise applications, such as embedded user interface or control panels, or a straightforward man/ machine interface (HMI) panel. The key advantage of the Electronic Tablet Reference Design is not only software customization, but hardware customization in which users can easily integrate and add specialized features like bar-code scanners, contact or contactless card readers, biometric sensors, among others to meet the needs of industrial applications.

TI’s broad ARM processor portfolio offers scalable solutions

TI’s broad, scalable ARM® processor portfolio addresses a wide range of customer needs across specialized tablet markets. Sitara™ ARM Cortex™-A8 processors provide performance levels of up to 1 GHz, integration, low power and peripherals such as rich 3D graphics, USB and display controller for easy-to-use, costoptimized solutions. With more than 500 products that boast offerings from $1 in price and up to 5 GHz in performance, ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R and Cortex-M foundations, TI’s broad ARM processor portfolio include similar, scalable hardware and software foundation. This allows developers to leverage TI’s various ARM offerings to maximize investment, accelerate time to market and enable differentiated products across tablet segments based on customer needs.


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At home, on the road, at work

Given the fact that the first tablet computers were introduced long before they became popular among consumers, the emergence of tablet computing in the home may have been unexpected in some quarters of the industry. The next phase of the tablet’s evolution – its widespread adoption in the world of applicationspecific enterprise applications – will not be a surprise. In fact, many experts would consider it a foregone conclusion. The tablet’s full emergence in homes, on the road and in the work place demonstrates that form factor matters. In fact, it is a powerful incentive to innovation. Combining powerful basic resources in a reference design with an extensive selection of integration options gives manufacturers an effective vehicle with which they can accelerate the next phase of the tablet’s evolution.

References

1

Infinite Research: “Worldwide Enterprise Tablet Market Forecast”

2

Infinite Research: “Worldwide Enterprise Tablet Market Forecast”

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