There is no AI without embedded, intelligent machines- something that the market is beginning to reflect. In fact, embedded AI is driving innovation in every industry imaginable. Goldman Sachs projects that global AI investment will approach $200 billion by 2025, showing businesses across all industries and use cases are joining the AI race.
On your marks, get set—not so fast.
To even get to the starting line, you need data and an intelligent machine to collect and transmit your data securely. Let us show you how Blues Notecard and Notehub are enabling companies to supercharge their business operations by gaining access to data through remote, wireless communication between device and cloud.
Embedded Intelligence: Your Data Insight Engine
Digital transformation is all about reimagining how we work, connect, and create by merging innovative technology with everyday operations, making life easier and businesses smarter. As companies look to integrate AI solutions, a major roadblock they hit is deciding how to collect and transmit data into a usable form—you can’t apply insights if your systems can’t capture and share them with you. Let’s pop the hood and take a look at how Notecard and Notehub can fuel AI innovation.
Efficient Data Collection
Think of data collection as your engine’s intake system, pulling inputs from your sensors needed to fuel the system. Notecards are plug-and-play modules that offer your systems low-power, secure connectivity through cellular, WiFi, satellite, and LoRa networks. Notecard devices feature:
- Ultra-low power consumption (~8-18µA when idle) – This extremely low power usage is critical for embedded AI applications that need to run for months or years on battery power. It enables remote deployments and reduces costs while maintaining continuous data collection.
- Energy Management – Notecard can adapt its behavior in response to your device’s energy source and levels. Suppose your device’s power is running low, it’s nighttime, and the device is solar charged; Notecard will wait to connect and transmit the data until the device has a greater energy reserve, keeping it alive and functioning for longer.
- Flexible interfaces – The ability to connect with virtually any type of sensor allows you to collect the exact data you need for your machine learning applications.
This foundation of efficient data collection ensures you’re gathering high-quality data optimized for AI applications while minimizing power consumption and deployment complexity.
Seamless Data Transmission
Data transmission in AI embedded systems is like a car’s fuel delivery system— precisely delivering fuel (data) to the engine (AI model). A device infrastructure built with Notecard provides:
- Global connectivity with automatic failover – Notecards have redundancy to ensure your embedded AI applications stay connected even if the main network fails. By automatically switching between radio access technologies, your devices stay online and keep collecting data.
- Pre-provisioned cellular service – Pre-configured cellular connectivity eliminates complex carrier negotiations and the need for SIM cards, simplifying global deployment. When equipped with Notecards, your embedded AI systems can be installed almost anywhere with cellular coverage and start working immediately, dramatically reducing time-to-value. Too remote for cellular coverage? Our satellite Notecards are a great option for those hard-to-reach places.
- Edge-to-cloud synchronization – Efficient data synchronization between edge devices and the cloud ensures all critical data reaches Notehub. Notecards deliver smart, efficient data handling and cost-effective communication while preserving data integrity for applications like machine learning models.
A strong data transmission infrastructure keeps your devices reliably connected and provides real-time data access. It also supports remote management at scale.
Scalable Data Management
Scaling is like upgrading from a single-car garage to managing an entire fleet. Just as maintaining a fleet requires efficient systems for fueling, monitoring, and servicing each vehicle, scaling devices demands streamlined processes for connectivity, data management, and system updates to ensure everything runs smoothly. Here’s how the combined power of Notecard and Notehub ensures scalability:
- Cloud orchestration – Notehub securely manages data flow from any number of Notecard devices, enabling large-scale AI deployments while maintaining performance and reliability.
- Centralized device management – Notehub makes comprehensive fleet management possible. It includes remote configuration updates, over-the-air firmware updates, and device monitoring through a single interface. This enables efficient management of large deployments with minimal operational overhead.
- Flexible cloud routing – Notehub natively supports routing data to AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake, and other major cloud platforms, often with no-code implementation. This allows you to leverage your preferred database and analytics tools while avoiding vendor lock-in. And because Notecard devices transmit data in JSON format, Notehub can transform and route appropriately using templates. This ensures your AI systems receive properly formatted data without requiring additional processing or development time.
This powerful system helps your embedded AI projects grow from pilots to full-scale deployments quickly, all while staying efficient and reliable.
Secure Data Handling
Just as a car needs security systems to protect its valuable components, embedded AI applications require comprehensive security to protect sensitive data and maintain data integrity. Notecard and Notehub provide industry-leading security through multiple layers of protection:
- Hardware-Based Security – The Notecard integrates an STSAFE Secure Element containing symmetric keys manufactured directly into the chip. These keys use ECC with the NIST P-384 curve and ECDSA-with-SHA384 signature algorithm, providing robust protection against physical attacks and secure storage of cryptographic keys. This hardware-based approach means neither manufacturers nor end users need to handle sensitive key material.
- End-to-End Encryption – Data remains encrypted throughout its journey from device to cloud. The Notecard’s secure element handles encryption at the device level, maintains security during transmission to Notehub, and ensures secure routing to your cloud application. Your AI system’s sensitive data is secured at every step.
- “Off-the-Internet” Communications – Unlike traditional IoT devices that connect directly to the public internet, Notecards communicate through encrypted “off-the-internet” channels. When connecting to Notehub, the connection between the cellular network and Notehub is made over a VPN using internal DNS servers, with the connection itself encrypted using TLS. This architecture dramatically reduces the attack surface and simplifies security management.
Comprehensive security ensures both your intellectual property and your customers’ data are protected, while meeting regulatory requirements.
Revving Up AI Innovation
Now that you have the critical components of your data engine, your embedded AI system can perform like a well-tuned machine. Here are just some of the ways Embedded Intelligence devices are powering growth, efficiency, and profitability:
- Predictive Maintenance: Unplanned downtime costs industrial businesses an average of $125,000 per hour, with over two-thirds of businesses experiencing unplanned outages at least once a month. A report by LeewayHertz found that embedding AI in predictive maintenance systems can reduce inspection costs by 25% and annual maintenance fees by up to 10%.
- Quality Control and Inspection: By combining computer vision with embedded AI, organizations can perform automated visual inspections at scale, detecting defects and inconsistencies that might escape human observation. Research by McKinsey found that gen AI may cut QA expenses by more than 50%, enhance agent efficiency by 25-30%, and drive customer satisfaction up by 5-10%.
- Asset tracking and optimization: AI-powered tracking systems can predict optimal routes, detect unusual patterns, and provide actionable insights. AI-enabled supply chain management has led to improved inventory costs of 35% and logistics costs of 15% for early adopters.
Get Your AI Engine in Gear
With Notecard and Notehub, you get powerful data intake, secure and reliable data transmission, and device management tools for keeping your embedded AI solutions running smoothly. Whether you’re collecting high-quality data, ensuring reliable connectivity, or managing a growing network of devices, these tools give you access to your data and ways to use it.
Are you ready to tune up your embedded AI product and smooth out access to your data? Drop us a line and see how Blues can transform your business.
Additional Resources
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