The following Y2K material has been kept available by MITRE for historical purposes only and has not been updated unless noted.
MITRE - Y2K - The Y2K Problem in Embedded Systems
The Y2K Problem in Embedded Systems
What is an Embedded System? According to the Institution of Electrical Engineers website on Embedded Systems and Y2K, "A general purpose definition of embedded systems is that they are devices used to control, monitor or assist the operation of equipment, machinery, or plant. 'Embedded' reflects the fact that they are an integral part of the system . . ."
There are many possible systems at risk for the Year 2000 problem. In addition
to mainframes, workstations, and PCs, there are other systems sensitive to dates
such as nuclear power stations, air traffic control systems, phone and power
systems, heat and light management systems, elevators, ATM machines, heart pacemakers,
kidney dialysis machines, etc. Anything with an embedded microcontroller has
the potential to fail. The Year 2000 Support Centre has an extensive Embedded
Systems listing of some of the systems that might have embedded microcontrollers.
Areas include: Office Systems and Mobile Equipment, Building Systems, Manufacturing
and Process Control, Transport, Communications, Nuclear Industry, Banking and
Finance, Medical, and Domestic equipment.
Is My Embedded System Compliant?
In an attempt to determine the Y2K compliancy status of embedded systems, we have
compiled an initial set of vendors who offer Y2K status information at their websites.
This list can be found at our Embedded System Product Compliance page in our COTS
Product Compliance Catalog. As we find more compliance information, it will
be added to our Catalog, and the vendor listed on the Embedded System Product
Compliance page with a link to the information. What
the Federal Government is Doing
On June 12, 1998, Senator Jon Kyl used the the first hearing of the Special
Committee on Year 2000 to express concern over a lack of national contingency
plans. Committee members also discussed the threat to the nation's energy
supply and announced the results of a new survey measuring the preparedness
of the nation's top 10 utility corporations.
On May 14, 1998, Kathleen Hirning, Chief Information Office of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, testified before the U.S. House Science Committee on Technology, on The Year 2000 Effect on Energy Utilities.
