Embedded chips mean complacency unwise

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

One of the most unpredictable facets of the Year 2000 problem is the behaviour of so called "embedded systems," the chips built into anything from toasters to nuclear reactors. Computer industry analyst GartnerGroup estimates that there are now 50 billion such embedded devices in daily use -- in other words about 10 for every person on the planet. While the risk of failure of many simpler devices is considered low, GartnerGroup says the consequences of failure could range from "trivial" to "cataclysmic".

Embedded systems cannot pose a risk unless they have access to date information, which rules out the vast majority of the simplest kind of devices known as microcontrollers. Microcontrollers, as used on door chimes, microwaves, and refrigerators will experience a failure rate of less than one in 100,000 according to GartnerGroup.

More likely to fail are the more complex microprocessor devices, especially those which are attached to an onboard clock.

GartnerGroup reckons at least 7 per cent of these microprocessors will cause temporary problems at the century rollover and 2 per cent will show "persistent Year 2000 anomalous processing" from there on. Diagnosing which microprocessors are likely to cause problems can be a tricky business, says John Gunn, Y2K project manager at North Shore City Council.

Mr Gunn was given the job of checking and testing embedded chips used to monitor and control sludge reactors, sedimentation tanks and de-watering equipment at North Shore's waste treatment plant.

"The ones that had any suggestion of date dependency were replaced," said Mr Gunn. "They may have caused problems but you can never be sure. However the bulk didn't represent a threat as date functions were not being used." Mr Gunn said the job was made more difficult as the suspect chips came from a variety of manufacturers and so finding one did not mean that similar chips could be easily identified.

"Often you don't know where they come from as the manufacture may have been subcontracted to companies in Singapore, Taiwan or anywhere," he said.

Michael De Coursey, who as Y2K compliance manager for Auckland Healthcare has been responsible for ensuring the compliance of 14,000 items of biomedical equipment, said the embedded chip danger had been overestimated. "About 18 months ago there was real concern over media reports about the likely failure of equipment such as heart defibrillators. Our tests have shown none of that to be true."

Mr De Coursey said since the middle of last year clinical engineers have "put in a huge effort" in methodically working through each equipment type.

"Most of the tests are straightforward, it's not rocket science," he says. "The biggest problem has been the sheer volume of the exercise added to the fact that many of the items are moving around the hospital." Mr De Coursey was adamant that he had come across no items of equipment which posed a threat to patient health.

He was unconcerned by a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study which last October identified 4053 high Y2K risk biomedical products from 214 manufacturers.

"I'm not sure how relevant the FDA report is to our situation here," said Mr De Coursey, adding that as well as testing the equipment Auckland Healthcare had obtained compliance statements from manufacturers.

He said over the past month any non-compliant equipment had been marked with luminescent labels describing the nature of the problem and action to be taken. Usually this involved simply resetting the date. Another area where large amounts of embedded systems are used in a critical application is for traffic control - every traffic light contains a microcontroller for example.

However Auckland City Council is not expecting any problems as all these controllers are not date dependent and will only stop functioning if there is a power cut. If that happens then according to Council Y2K spokesman John May, "normal rules of the road will apply". That is, motorists give way to vehicles on the right - a system which worked well during the 1998 Central Auckland power crisis according to the Council.

However Auckland City Council is less sure of its SCATS system, which is used to centrally control traffic lights. According to GartnerGroup this type of system, where large numbers of microcontrollers are linked to larger computers, are the most likely to fail, with more than 35 per cent likely to display problems on the Year 2000 rollover.

Auckland City says SCATS will be used on Millennium Night "only to log faults". The SCATS system has been tested as compliant but, to be sure, its dates were reset in November to November 1970 so that it will roll over at midnight on December 31 to 1971 - the same calendar year as 2000.