无头嵌入式设备的未来

The Future of Headless Embedded Devices

无头嵌入式设备的未来

September 02, 2022 by Peter Schneider | Comments

​2022年9月2日，由彼得·施耐德|评论

The trend of hybrid and headless embedded devices disrupts many industries. According to a recent market study commissioned by the Qt Company, the future product design of embedded devices is heavily polarized depending on the industry. In some industries, 85% of respondents imagine that embedded devices will not have in-built screens anymore within five years. In other sectors, only 10% of respondents expect devices with in-built screens to disappear even within ten years. This blog post gives an update on opportunities and threats for a shift towards remote-controlled devices in different industries.

混合和无头嵌入式设备的趋势扰乱了许多行业。根据Qt公司最近委托进行的一项市场研究，嵌入式设备的未来产品设计因行业而严重两极化。在一些行业中，85%的受访者认为嵌入式设备将在五年内不再有内置屏幕。在其他行业，只有10%的受访者预计内置屏幕的设备将在十年内消失。这篇博客文章介绍了不同行业向远程控制设备转变的机会和威胁。

Trend towards Headless Embedded Devices? 

无头嵌入式设备的趋势？

For many years the trend for displays of embedded devices has been shifting toward more smartphone-like experiences on more powerful displays, lately also increasingly touch displays. If I look at my geothermal heat pump at home now, a Bosch Compress 7000i, then I must admit that its display feels more potent than the one of my first smartphone, a Nokia N70.

多年来，嵌入式设备显示器的趋势一直在向功能更强大的显示器上的类似智能手机的体验转变，最近也越来越多地使用触摸显示器。如果我现在在家里看我的地热热泵，博世压缩机7000i，那么我必须承认，它的显示屏比我的第一部智能手机诺基亚N70更强大。

Image: Bosch Compress 7000i Heat-pump Display

图片：博世压缩机7000i热泵显示屏

But the trend toward more advanced touch displays comes with challenges. Even if screens have become cheaper over time, the cost of displays contributes significantly to the bill of materials. Not to mention the component shortage embedded device manufacturers have been fighting since 2021.

但更先进的触摸显示器的趋势带来了挑战。即使屏幕随着时间的推移变得更便宜，显示器的成本也会大大增加材料清单。更不用说自2021以来，嵌入式设备制造商一直在努力解决组件短缺问题。

In recent years, we at the Qt Company have seen an increasing demand for new use cases on how to monitor and control embedded devices in specific industries. Accordingly, we see a growing demand for technologies supporting so-called headless devices, i.e. devices which do not have an in-built display, but are controlled and/or monitored from remote displays such as tablets and smartphones. Already in 2018, we at Qt provided the first technology previews for supporting such remote UIs. But only in recent months, the trend for headless devices is materializing in more and more development projects.

​近年来，我们在Qt公司看到，对于如何在特定行业中监控嵌入式设备的新用例的需求不断增长。因此，我们看到对支持所谓无头设备的技术的需求不断增长，即没有内置显示器，但通过远程显示器（如平板电脑和智能手机）进行控制和/或监控的设备。早在2018年，我们Qt就提供了支持此类远程UI的第一批技术预览。但就在最近几个月，无头设备的趋势在越来越多的开发项目中得以实现。

Considering the home automation use case of my geothermal heat pump, considering that there are four laptops, three tablets, and four smartphones running in our household, I wonder whether such a fancy display is really required to check the statistics of the heat pump and initiate the vacation mode once a month. What technologies would we need to implement a heat pump without an in-built display? Let's look at what Qt got to offer…

考虑到我的地热热泵的家庭自动化使用情况，考虑到我们家中有四台笔记本电脑、三台平板电脑和四台智能手机，我想知道是否真的需要这样一个花哨的显示器来检查热泵的统计数据，并启动每月一次的度假模式。我们需要什么技术来实现没有内置显示器的热泵？让我们看看Qt提供了什么…

Remote UI Enablers in the Qt Framework

Qt框架中的远程UI使能器

There are different software technologies available to implement headless devices. I will focus here on three technologies allowing embedded device manufacturers to implement remote UIs for headless embedded devices which will be available with the upcoming Qt 6.4 release:

有不同的软件技术可用于实现无头设备。在这里，我将重点介绍三种技术，它们允许嵌入式设备制造商为无头嵌入式设备实现远程UI，这将在即将发布的Qt 6.4版本中提供：

• Qt Virtual Network Computing (VNC) Server
• Qt for WebAssembly
• Qt HTTP Server

Qt VNC Server

Qt VNC服务器

Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a client/server architecture allowing one computing device to control another over a protocol called Remote Frame Buffer (RFB). To implement such a setup, for example, for a Qt application, one needs a Qt VNC Server component running on the embedded device and a VNC Viewer application running on the remote UI device.

虚拟网络计算（VNC）是一种客户机/服务器架构，允许一个计算设备通过称为远程帧缓冲区（RFB）的协议控制另一个。为了实现这种设置，例如，对于Qt应用程序，需要在嵌入式设备上运行Qt VNC服务器组件和在远程UI设备上运行VNC查看器应用程序。

The Qt VNC Server allows to connect multiple remote UI devices to an embedded device which benefits use cases such as remote maintenance where an expert can see simultaneously with the user what is happening. The Qt VNC Server can be easily used for hybrid applications where both the embedded device as well a remote UI device can monitor and control the device. The Qt VNC Server supports password protection, a very much required feature for any real-world application. While Qt offers no out-of-the-box VNC Viewers applications, a variety of open-source and commercial VNC Viewer applications are available.

Qt VNC服务器允许将多个远程UI设备连接到嵌入式设备，这有利于远程维护等使用情况，专家可以与用户同时查看正在发生的情况。Qt VNC服务器可以很容易地用于混合应用程序，其中嵌入式设备和远程UI设备都可以监视和控制设备。Qt VNC服务器支持密码保护，这是任何实际应用程序都非常需要的功能。虽然Qt不提供现成的VNC查看器应用程序，但可以使用各种开源和商用VNC查看器。

Qt for WebAssembly

Qt for WebAssembly lets you run native Qt applications (typically C++) on internet browsers such as Safari, Microsoft Edge, or Android browsers.

Qt for WebAssembly允许您在internet浏览器（如Safari、Microsoft Edge或Android浏览器）上运行本机Qt应用程序（通常为C++）。

 The main goal of WebAssembly (also abbreviated as WASM) is to enable high-performance applications on web pages. It can also be used to port native applications such as Qt / C++ applications to run on a standard smartphone, tablet, and desktop computer. Therefore, Qt for WebAssembly is an excellent solution for embedded device manufacturers that have already implemented a native Qt application and want to reuse the code for headless embedded devices. This technology is also a good choice for embedded device manufacturers who wish to maintain one code base for headless embedded devices and devices with an in-built display. WebAssembly can enables richer user experiences because tablets and mobile device are often more powerful and better displays than industrial devices constraint bill of material and other constraints.

WebAssembly（也缩写为WASM）的主要目标是在网页上启用高性能应用程序。它还可以用于将本机应用程序（如Qt/C++应用程序）移植到标准智能手机、平板电脑和台式计算机上运行。因此，Qt for WebAssembly对于已经实现了本机Qt应用程序并希望为无头嵌入式设备重用代码的嵌入式设备制造商来说是一个极好的解决方案。对于希望为无头嵌入式设备和内置显示器的设备维护一个代码库的嵌入式设备制造商来说，该技术也是一个不错的选择。WebAssembly可以实现更丰富的用户体验，因为平板电脑和移动设备通常比工业设备更强大，显示效果更好。而不受限制于物料清单和其他限制。

Qt HTTP Server

Qt HTTP服务器

A third alternative to implementing a headless embedded device is to create a full-fletched, independent client application for smartphones or tablets. This application is a "buddy" application to the embedded device. I’m sure you have seen such applications to control a home automation solution or a car. To connect such an application to your embedded device, you need to have a   server running on your embedded device. The Qt HTTP Server is a lightweight HTTP server to implement dedicated use cases such as companion apps for headless embedded devices. The development effort for dedicated companion apps is somehow higher than when using Qt for WebAssembly. Still, it does provide access to more features of the remote UI device because WebAssembly runs in a protected sandbox.

实现无头嵌入式设备的第三种选择是为智能手机或平板电脑创建一个完整、独立的客户端应用程序。该应用程序是嵌入式设备的“伙伴”应用程序。我相信您已经看到了这样的应用程序来控制家庭自动化解决方案或汽车。要将这样的应用程序连接到嵌入式设备，您需要在嵌入式设备上运行服务器。Qt HTTP服务器是一个轻量级HTTP服务器，用于实现专用用例，如无头嵌入式设备的配套应用程序。专用配套应用程序的开发工作量比使用Qt进行WebAssembly时要高。不过，它确实提供了对远程UI设备更多功能的访问，因为WebAssembly运行在受保护的沙盒中。

Market Study Results on Headless Embedded Devices

无头嵌入式设备的市场研究结果

Let’s examine what embedded device makers say about the future of headless devices. In the above mentioned study, many of the ongoing trends in the embedded industry were discovered. The analysis takes a deep dive into the following key sectors: industrial automation, home appliances, and medical devices, in particular, the In-Vitro Diagnostics device business.

让我们来看看嵌入式设备制造商对无头设备未来的看法。在上述研究中，发现了嵌入式行业的许多持续趋势。该分析深入研究了以下关键领域：工业自动化、家用电器和医疗设备，尤其是体外诊断设备业务。

The feedback of embedded device manufacturers and experts on the future of headless devices couldn't have been more polarized.

嵌入式设备制造商和专家对无头设备未来的反馈意见极为两极化。

In the home automation industry, 85% of respondents agree that "within five years, fewer home applications will have built-in, but rather they will leverage the user's mobile device and/or connect to voice assistants."

在家庭自动化行业，85%的受访者同意“在五年内，内置的家庭应用程序将减少，但他们将利用用户的移动设备和/或连接到语音助理。”

In the industrial automation industry, the picture is more of a mixed bag: More than half of the respondents agreed that "within ten years, machines and field level devices will not have attached screens themselves, but rather they will connect to networked monitors or handheld devices. One of the industrial automation manufacturers summarized the upcoming trend of hybrid embedded devices nicely in one sentence: “I think there will still be attached screens, but definitely I think that remote screen would be automatically included as part of the product for remote access."

在工业自动化工业中，这幅图更像是一个混合的袋子：超过一半的受访者同意“在十年内，机器和现场级设备本身将不会有附加屏幕，而是将连接到网络监视器或手持设备。一家工业自动化制造商用一句话很好地总结了混合嵌入式设备的未来趋势：“我认为仍然会有附加屏幕，但我肯定认为远程屏幕将自动作为远程访问产品的一部分。”

Finally, in the In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) device industry, the future of headless embedded devices is perceived somewhat differently. Only some 10% of respondents agree that “within 10 years, IVD devices designed for us by professionals in hospitals and healthcare facilities will not have screens built into the devices but rather they will connect to a mobile phone or tablet and be controlled via that device." 

最后，在体外诊断（IVD）设备行业，对无头嵌入式设备的未来的看法有所不同。只有约10%的受访者同意“在10年内，由医院和医疗机构的专业人员为我们设计的IVD设备将不会内置屏幕，而是将连接到手机或平板电脑，并通过该设备进行控制。”

Furthermore, Mason Adair summarizes the IVD trend on headless devices as ”whether IVD devices will still have attached screens in a decade was a highly polarizing question and one that varied between devices for use by patients versus those used by practitioners. Its the general belief that POCT (Point Of Care Testing) devices will retain attached displays (60% agreeing) while the situation for home test devices is hard to discern as 36.7% strongly agree and 23% strongly disagree home use IVDs lose displays.”  This key takeaway of the medical device industry may be typical for headless embedded devices' future. The future might depend on the particular use case.

此外，Mason Adair总结了无头设备的IVD趋势，认为“在十年内，IVD设备是否仍将具有附加屏幕是一个高度极化的问题，患者使用的设备与从业者使用的设备之间存在差异。一般认为，POCT（护理点测试）设备将保留连接的显示器（60%同意），而家庭测试设备的情况很难辨别，因为36.7%强烈同意，23%强烈反对家庭使用IVD失去显示器。”医疗器械行业的这一关键技术可能是无头嵌入式设备未来的典型。未来可能取决于特定的用例。

Source: Qt Embedded Market & Vertical Trends, Research by the Digital-Product-People commissioned by the Qt Company, August 2022

来源：Qt嵌入式市场和垂直趋势，由Qt公司委托的数字产品人员进行的研究，2022年8月

Conclusion

结论

There will be more headless embedded devices in the coming years. In fact, some industries will see many more headless embedded devices. Headless devices with remote access over the user's mobile device might become the dominant implementation design in industries such as the home automation business. We may see fewer fridges, ovens, and washing machines with large displays in the future, but rather widespread WIFI connectivity.

未来几年将会有更多的无头嵌入式设备。事实上，一些行业将看到更多无头嵌入式设备。通过用户移动设备进行远程访问的无头设备可能成为家庭自动化业务等行业的主要实现设计。未来，我们可能会看到带有大屏幕的冰箱、烤箱和洗衣机越来越少，但WIFI连接会越来越广泛。

I do believe that we will see a lot of hybrid implementations in the next five years. Many embedded devices will have an in-built display that is just good enough to do the job, but it will also have means for a "headless" mode when the device is controlled and monitored from a mobile device. Another question is whether these hybrid applications are here to stay in the future in all industries. Is an additional mobile device the most cost-effective solution, primarily used only for this dedicated purpose in areas such as pharmaceutical or clean-room environments? Hybrid cars, for example, used to be a trendy thing. But carrying around always two motors (one combustion and one electric) is not exactly the lightest implementation.

我相信，在未来五年内，我们将看到许多混合实现。许多嵌入式设备将有一个内置显示器，足以完成这项工作，但当设备由移动设备控制和监控时，它也将具有“无头”模式。另一个问题是，这些混合应用是否会在未来的所有行业中继续存在。附加移动设备是否是最具成本效益的解决方案，主要用于制药或洁净室环境等领域的专用目的？例如，混合动力汽车曾经是一种趋势。但始终携带两台发动机（一台燃烧发动机和一台电动发动机）并不是最轻的实现方式。

Finally, based on our recent market study, there are industries such as Point of Care Testing devices, which are in no hurry to replace the screens of diagnostic devices with those of smartphones and tablets of healthcare practitioners or patients. The lower investment rate now by embedded device manufacturers in this industry will mean that any shift to headless embedded devices will be slower than in any other sector, if the transition happens at all.

最后，根据我们最近的市场研究，有些行业，如医疗点测试设备，并不急于用医疗从业者或患者的智能手机和平板电脑取代诊断设备的屏幕。该行业的嵌入式设备制造商目前的投资率较低，这意味着，如果转型发生，任何向无头嵌入式设备的转变都将比任何其他行业都慢。

If they haven't done so already, Embedded device manufacturers should now investigate strategies to implement hybrid embedded devices that support remote displays. Remote displays or companion apps will allow additional features than on the target device. Now is a good time to sponsor proof of concept implementations using different technology approaches. Upcoming technology and software framework decisions should include the dimension of remote UI technologies to benefit from the forthcoming trend of headless embedded devices.

如果他们还没有这样做，嵌入式设备制造商现在应该研究实现支持远程显示的混合嵌入式设备的策略。远程显示器或配套应用程序将允许目标设备以外的其他功能。现在是赞助使用不同技术方法的概念验证实现的好时机。即将到来的技术和软件框架决策应包括远程UI技术，以受益于即将到来的无头嵌入式设备趋势。

If you are interested in the details of the market trend study, then please stay tuned. We will be publishing the complete final report in the coming weeks.

如果您对市场趋势研究的细节感兴趣，请继续关注。我们将在未来几周发布完整的最终报告。

If you are interested to know more about Qt for WebAssembly, then you can check out the latest in the blog post here.

​如果您有兴趣了解更多关于Qt for WebAssembly的信息，那么您可以在这里查看最新的博客文章。

If you are interested to know more about the Qt VNC Server software, then you can check out details in the blog post here.

​如果您有兴趣了解更多关于Qt VNC服务器软件的信息，您可以在这里的博客文章中查看详细信息。