What are the embedded systems Year 2000 risks?
Embedded chips are non-programmable microcircuits that are “hard wired” into other pieces of equipment that may be critical to equipment operations, many of which include date calculations in their programming logic. The equipment in which the chips are embedded often is not under the control of the information technology department but usually is the responsibility of the vendors who supply and maintain them. Microprocessors built into equipment and process control devices are all real-time devices, which monitor what is going on or trigger an activity based on events or time. Real-time systems can be very complex. Typically, a large installation (e.g., a petrochemical refinery, oil/gas platform, or power station) will have scores of real-time systems. Different people bought them for different reasons over the years, usually as the installation evolved. Separate facilities within the same company that perform the same function may contain similar equipment, but built by different man