The Impact of the Century Change

on Embedded Microprocessor Systems

The century is going to change and with that change come a multitude of problems for computer controlled devices. Photo-enforcement systems contain embedded microprocessors that will be affected. The purpose of this document is to provide an introduction and reference on problems which may arise from the potential failure of embedded systems to deal correctly when the date changes from 1999 to 2000. It provides guidance on steps which can be taken to deal with the problems.

The contents are not instructions, which, if followed, will ensure that all of a company’s problems will be removed overnight. Neither are the contents comprehensive - that can not be accomplished until after the year 2000. The contents are also not complete. In many cases information on specific areas was not available to the author so placeholders are provided for the inclusion of additional information. The contents are not specific to photo-enforcement equipment. Year 2000 (Y2K) issues are broad and this page attempts to raise awareness for those maintaining photo-enforcement and other systems which contain embedded microprocessors. Users are encouraged to check with vendors and manufacturers to obtain specific information.

The size of the problem become apparent when one first approaches the task: Where are the embedded systems? The answer of course is "everywhere." It is the overall size of the problem that makes it important that as many sources as possible be consulted and information be shared between organizations facing the same problem.

What Exactly Are Embedded Systems?

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

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. In many cases their embeddedness may be such that their presence is far from obvious to the casual observer and even the more technically skilled might need to examine the operation of a piece of equipment for some time before being able to conclude that an embedded control system was involved in its functioning. At the other extreme a general purpose computer may be used to control the operation of a large complex processing plant, and its presence will be obvious.

All embedded systems are or include computers. Some of these computers are however very simple systems as compared with a PC. The simplest devices consist of a single microprocessor (often called a "chip" ) which may itself be packaged with other chips in a hybrid system or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Its input comes from a detector or sensor and its output goes to a switch or activator which (for example) may start or stop the operation of a machine or, by operating a valve, may control the flow of fuel to an engine.

The very simplest embedded systems are capable of performing only a single function or set of functions to meet a single predetermined purpose. In more complex systems the functioning of the embedded system is determined by an application program which enables the embedded system to be used for a particular purpose in specific application. The ability to have programs means that the same embedded system can be used for a variety of different purposes. In some cases a microprocessor may be designed in such a way that application software for a particular purpose can be added to the basic software in a second process, after which it is not possible to make further changes: the applications software on such processors is sometimes referred to as firmware.

Acknowledgement

The document is based primarily on material published on the World Wide Web. In some cases, entire sections of web pages were included for the benefit of those without web access. In addition, hyperlinks are provided with each citation so that individuals may acquire the entire document cited. The author is grateful to the many individuals who have made their work available. A special note should be made about

The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE),

Savoy Place, London. They have published what is probably the definitive work on embedded systems. Their web page: http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/guide/year2k01.htm served as the major source for this paper and should be reviewed by any organization interested in this complex issue.

Of the many changes that have taken place in the last century, possibly none has had as much impact on the daily lives of individuals as the introduction and use of the digital computer. When the last century change occurred on January 1, 1900 (not withstanding that it really happened 365 days later), it was met with joyous celebrations around the world. No doubt, at midnight on January 1, 2000, the same scene will be repeated in a much grander fashion. However, there will be another significant difference to this century change other than, of course, the size and grandeur of the parties that occur that night. By now, most people have heard about the problem faced by the world’s computers. Known as the century change, Year 2000, Millennium, or simply Y2K problem, it will surely impact us.

The problem is receiving high-level U.S. Government attention as shown in this CPM/NET TechWeb excerpt:

President Clinton plans to stamp out the Y2K bug.

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According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

The most widely recognized aspect of the Year 2000 problem is the use of a two digits to represent the year element in dates, so that for example 64 represents the year 1964. This is perfectly acceptable (or at least does not create problems) so long as all the dates of interest are in the same century. When the Year 2000 and later years need to be taken into account, however, the difficulty arises that the number 00 is less than the number 99 although the year represented by 00 follows the year represented by 99. This has three principal effects:

1. calculations involving dates produce incorrect answers. For example

99 - 38 = 61

a satisfactory result for the calculation of the age in 1999 of a person born in 1938. However

00 - 38 = - 38

which is an obviously incorrect result for the calculation of a person’s age.

2. The arrangement of items in date order ceases to be correct in some cases it is not clear whether the date refers to the 20^th or to the 21^st century (as it happens 03 is the writer’s retirement date (2003) and also his mother-in-law’s date of birth (1903)).

3. Almost as important (and in some cases the cause of greater difficulty) is that in many cases algorithms used to calculate whether a year is a leap year are wrong, and produce the result that Year 2000 is not a leap year, although in fact it is. Other errors result in Year 1900 being treated as a leap year, when in fact it is not; and some systems omit any provision for leap years. In consequence their calendar calculations are wrong.

When computers were first beginning to be widely used in commercial applications there were good reasons for the two-digit year practice, which stemmed from the comparatively limited capacities of the systems then extant. The limited capacity of early microcomputers in the time when these were introduced similarly created a need for systems which were as economical as possible in their use of computer resources. The century element in dates was in those circumstances simply a waste of time (processor time) and space (in computer memory and storage). Two factors have exacerbated the situation. Firstly software has proved to more durable than was ever imagined. Some software first written in the 1960’s is still in use, and if older software has been replaced by newer, the new software is often built to the same specification or copies the algorithms of the original. Secondly, and simply, using two digits to represent years became general practice.

Temporary "fixes" for the Year 2000 and other problems give certain other dates a peculiar significance. These may create more difficulty because they have no significance outside the particular systems affected by them, and are unlikely to be anticipated by anyone who is unaware of them,

Many computer systems use time and date calculations based on a counter with an arbitrary start value. In some cases the system is based on counting seconds and the numbers will eventually become greater than the largest permitted value for the format of the value used to store them. Technically, the computer will suffer an overflow problem.

How widspread is the concern for the Y2K problem? The following news clips may give some idea of the effect the problem is having.

Y2K In the News

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HEADLINES:

SEC adds Urgency to Y2K Efforts

Gartner Survey Finds 25% Have Not Yet Started Any Y2K Compliance Efforts

Companies Encounter Unexpected Y2K Problems

Worldwide Price Tag for Compliance Has Skyrocketed to $1 Trillion

Americans Believe Y2K Will Force Them to Change Lifestyles

Y2K Issue to Bring on Stock Market Plunge and Mile Recession

94% of IT Professionals Believe Y2K Problem Is a Crisis

Y2K Issue to Disrupt the Food-Supply Chain

Power Companies Blackout on Y2K

Millennium Causes Some to Head for the Hills

Large-Enterprises Year 2000 Project Activity Far From Complete

Nation’s Largest Companies Far from Full Y2K Compliance Adverse Material Effects Expected

US Lawmakers Give Government an "F" for Y2K Compliance

Department of Health to Spend $290 Million on Y2K Issues

US May Need to Calm Russian Forces

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Reported in the Chicago Times July 30, 1998:

EC adds Urgency to Y2K Efforts

Companies, investment advisers and municipalities will have to provide much more detailed information to investors and financial markets about their exposure to the year 2000 computer problem or risk Securities and Exchange commission enforcement action. The agency voted unanimously Wednesday to require public companies and state and local governments that issue municipal securities to disclose their state of readiness, the cost of fixing the computer bug, the risk involved and contingency plans created, according to SEC spokesman Duncan King. -- Chicago Time, July 30, 1998

Gartner Survey Finds 25% Have Not Yet Started Any Y2K Compliance Efforts

One-fourth of the 6,000 companies and government agencies surveyed around the world by Gartner Group have not yet started any year 2000- compliance efforts, according to the latest survey results, released Wednesday at the Gartner Group Predicts conference in San Diego. And half of all the survey respondents have no plans to test their year 2000 remediation efforts. –TechWeb, April 9, 1998

Companies Encounter Unexpected Y2K Problems

While America’s large businesses are facing the Year 2000 problem head-on, according to the most recent results of an ongoing Cap Gemini survey, many are running into unexpected difficulties and delays. The incidence of Y2K-related failures increased from 7% in December, to 37% in April, to 40% in July. Types of failures included processing disruptions (87%), financial miscalculation or loss (62%), logistics or supply-chain problems (44%) and customer service problems (38%). The percentage of companies that underestimated the Y2K costs increased from 82% to 87% since December, and only 2% described their cost estimates as "on target." The percentage of companies missing Y2K project "milestones" rose from 78% to 84%. – Information Week, July 21, 1998

Worldwide Price Tag for Compliance Has Skyrocketed to $1 Trillion

John Koskinen, President Clinton's year 2000 czar, said Office of Management and Budget estimates for federal compliance have risen from $2.3 billion in 1996 to $4.7 billion today. Worldwide, the price tag for compliance has skyrocketed to $1 trillion from $600 billion. –TechWeb, March 13, 1998

Americans Believe Y2K Will Force Them to Change Lifestyles

In a recent survey conducted by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), 80% of the 1,000 participants, all adults, fear their financial records may be distorted, and 72% anticipate business losses. More than 60% expect telephone service disruptions and power outages. –TechWeb, June 1998

Y2K Issue to Bring on Stock Market Plunge and Mild Recession

When asked to rate the seriousness of the year 2000 problem, the 227 members of the Y2K Group, a Washington user group for year 2000 project managers at federal agencies, the armed forces, and businesses, 83% said they expect the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 20%; more than half said the crisis will cause at least a mild recession; one-third predicted there will be a strong recession; and 11% said they expect a depression, according to Bruce Webster, the group's chairman. –InformationWeek, March 30, 1998

94% of IT Professionals Believe Y2K Problem Is a Crisis

Among 450 IT managers surveyed by the Information Technology Association of America, 94% agreed that the year 2000 computer problem is a crisis. While most feel "reasonably confident" they will succeed with their year 2000 projects, 44% reported that they have already experienced year 2000 problems in their operations, and 93% said their companies are likely to be hurt if their computer systems are not made year 2000-compliant. Some 22% expect to see problems by the first quarter of 1999, with 17% expecting trouble in the fourth quarter of 1999. –InformationWeek, March 30, 1998

Y2K Issue to Disrupt the Food-Supply Chain

"We are especially blind about the possible problems that will hit the global food supply in 2000. I suspect the Y2K technological problem could significantly disrupt the food-supply chain," said Edward Yardeni, Chief Economics at Deutsche Bank Securities, at the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in Washington DC. He also indicated that some companies may start "fortressing," or doing business only with vendors whom they are assured are Y2K-ready.

Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he feared in the days leading up to Jan. 1, 2000, consumers will panic and empty grocery shelves. –TechWeb, June 22, 1998

Power Companies Blackout on Y2K

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah), who released results of a survey of the 10 largest energy companies by his committee, said he was worried "about the very real prospects of power shortages as a consequence of the millennial date change."

Of the 10 firms, only two had assessed their automated systems, one firm did not even know how many lines of computer code it had, and none had any contingency plans. The eight companies that reported costs anticipated spending $400 million altogether on year 2000 issues. –TechWeb, June 12, 1998

Millennium Causes Some to Head for the Hills

On January 1, 2000, Y2K safe-haven seekers will be at home in rural cabins or in mountain communities, waiting for power and water systems to fail and hungry hordes to swarm out of cities. "I expect New York to resemble Beirut if even a subset of the Y2K infrastructure problems actually materialize," said computer consultant Ed Yourdon. Preparations range from storing water in old soda bottles to getting together with neighbors and family to form a local militia. Internet web sites pitch one-year emergency rations at around $750 a piece, Y2K survival domes for $7,000, and prime Y2K real estate in the middle of nowhere. –Yahoo!News, July 17, 1998

Large-Enterprises Year 2000 Project Activity Far From Complete

ZD Market Intelligence compiled data from more than 19,000 locations among 2,441 large enterprises that indicated nearly 80% of IT managers are committed to addressing the Y2K issue. However, only 17% of sites contacted have completed a Y2K project. –Business Wire April 21, 1998

Nation’s Largest Companies Far from Full Y2K Compliance

Adverse Material Effects Expected If Partners Fail to Comply

A study of financial filings by the nation's 250 largest corporations conducted by Triaxsys Research revealed that only 60% of companies disclosing year 2000 project information in their SEC filings have completed the assessment phase, the first step in preparing a company's systems to handle dates beyond 1999. The total year 2000 expenditure by the 250 companies is expected to be about $33 billion, but only 20% of that total has been spent so far, another indication most companies are moving too slowly to address the problem.

Among the companies that discussed risk factors in their year 2000 projects, 45% stated adverse material impacts could be suffered if third parties--partners, suppliers, and government agencies--fail to complete their year 2000 projects in a timely fashion, while 38% said adverse material impacts could result if they do not complete their own year 2000 projects. No information on year 2000 projects was provided by 15% of the 250 companies, and 32% used such vague language as to leave investors clueless about the status of their projects or the risks. –TechWeb, April 22, 1998

US Lawmakers Give Government an "F" for Y2K Compliance

The US government get an "F" for its meager progress in fixing its computers to accept the year 2000 issues, said Representative Stephen Horn (R-California) in late May 1998. –TechWeb, June 2, 1998

Department of Health to Spend $290 Million on Y2K Issues

The Department of Health and Human Services will skim more than $47 million in 1998 and about $61 million in 1999 from various programs for its year 2000 work, which will total nearly $290 million. –Information Week, June 22, 1998

US May Need to Calm Russian Forces

The Pentagon is raising a Y2K red flag. In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre said the United States may need to calm Russian forces if year 2000 problems cause their missile-control computers to crash as New Year's Day begins. Hamre said jittery Russians rely on nuclear weapons "as a safeguard for their national security," and having their computers suddenly go black won't help things. By mid-1999, the Pentagon will have spent $2.9 billion on Y2K problems, but Hamre said it still foresees some "nasty surprises." --Information Week, June 15, 1998

 

The inclusion of microprocessors as control devices in many type of equipment from refrigerators to elevators has seen exponential growth in the past ten years. The "embedded system" can be found in security systems, H/V/AC, lighting, telephone, copy machines, fax machines, etc. In addition, many of the devices also depend on real-time clocks included in their circuitry. The use of the microprocessor-based systems is widespread. According to Gary Eubanks , "There are somewhat over one billion embedded chips in service around the world. "

All major companies have these embedded systems throughout their infrastructure. Unfortunately, many of them will be adversely affected by the century change problem first identified as affecting corporate and government computer systems. A good slide show on the infrastructure issue can be found at the web site of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Hall: http://www.nist.gov/y2k/presentations/dhall/index.htm

Potential date problems in embedded systems have the same general causes as those in larger IT systems. In some embedded systems which display or record date information there may be problems with actual dates. According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), embedded systems, however, generally suffer different or additional consequences, which are usually the prime cause of concern:

For equipment which is used in continuous processing and will be operating at the time when the Year 2000 begins, there is the risk of more or less immediate malfunction because some internal calculation fails as a result of the problem described below. This is referred to as the rollover problem.

For equipment which is not in continuous use there is the risk that it will fail to operate when first switched on or used, because some check calculation performed for maintenance or safety or security reasons fails, and the switch-on process is aborted.

Many manufacturers have recognized this problem and have begun using Y2K compliant code in their devices and providing upgrade kits for older units. However, unless an organization has a maintenance contract with the original vendor and that original vendor is taking proactive steps, the Y2K problems may not be discovered. It is therefore incumbent on any organization responsible for ensuring Y2K compliance that embedded systems are included in the overall solution set.

2.1 Embedded Systems Compared with Commercial Systems

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

The Year 2000 problem in embedded systems differs from the problem in commercial / database / transaction processing systems (often referred to as IT systems) in a number of ways. Firstly the user’s problem may much lie much deeper than packages or applications software. It may lie in and be inseparable from systems and operating software and from hardware, i.e. in the platform on which the application software is based. When users of IT systems have hardware or operating software problems they can and should be made the concern of the computer supplier: typically, this is not the case with microprocessors and devices based on them.

Secondly in embedded systems the concern is often with intervals rather than with specific dates: the need may be for an event to occur at 100-day intervals rather than on the 5^th day of each month. This has the implication that Year 2000 problems may reveal themselves both before and for some time after 1 January 2000 and not at all on the date itself.
Most systems count time by counting clock ticks. Exceptionally however there are devices in which year numbers are used in time calculations and which may have problems when the year becomes 2000.

The lifetime of embedded systems tends to be greater than that of commercial data processing systems: they remain in use for longer without alteration to their software. Because their software may therefore be older they are rendered more liable to Year 2000 problems.
Embedded systems are often in continuous operation and so are liable to be necessarily in operation when the date changes from 1999 to 2000.

2.2 Categories of Embedded Systems

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

2.2.1 Individual microprocessors

These may be found in small devices such as temperature sensors, smoke and gas detectors, circuit breakers, etc. It is highly unlikely but nevertheless possible that they will be affected. If they are (i) it will not be evident until after the date and (ii) the only possible action is to replace the whole device with one known to be compliant and otherwise satisfactory.

2.2.2 Small assemblies of microprocessors with no timing function

These may be found in flow controllers, signal amplifiers, position sensors and valve actuators. It is unlikely that these will be affected. However they may depend for their internal operation on a clock which might be affected by the Year 2000 problem.

2.2.3 Subassemblies with a timing function

Devices such as switchgear, controllers (e.g. for traffic), telephone exchanges, lifts, data acquisition and monitoring systems, diagnostic and real time control systems may fall into this category. These systems may be local elements in a larger system to which they pass data collected by their sensors. They may incorporate a PC [ The display screen, keyboard and the box containing the other hardware may not be used.] , and may involve some kind of database (e.g. of events). In these the Year 2000 problem may affect their systems or application software, the database, and the networks and data transmission systems they use to communicate with the larger system. The error may become apparent before the Year 2000 (because the system may attempt to make a record of when next a particular action should take place), on the date 01/01/2000 and for some time after that.

2.2.4 Computer systems used in manufacturing or process control

This relates to cases where the computer is connected to plant or machinery in order to control it. In such systems the computer is used for overall control and monitoring, rather than for direct control of individual devices within it, which almost certainly involves other kinds of embedded systems. These systems are liable to be affected in exactly the same way as commercial data processing systems, because of course the hardware and the systems software are the same, and because the applications software may have been developed along similar lines.

There is a developing trend to link process control with business systems (for example to enable sales figures and stock levels to determine automatically which quantities of which products should be produced). This raises the possibility of knock-on effects from one to the other. There are also off-the-shelf ("ready-made") hardware/software packages in this category.

In many cases two distinct and separate subsystems may operate in a single system. The control subsystem controls the process so that the various devices in the system operate and interact correctly to produce the product. The purpose of the safety subsystem is to reduce the risk of malfunctions which might affect the safety of individuals or harm the environment.

In considering actions relating to embedded systems, the intention must be possible to find, and if necessary, modify or replace, components rather than devices, and devices rather than plant or equipment. It may be however that a component (or device) cannot be modified or replaced in such a way as to give adequate assurance of continued functionality of the device (or the plant or equipment) so that the device (or equipment) has to be replaced.

2.3 General Problems Associated with Embedded Systems

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

The general problems are that:

1. no one knows how many embedded systems there are and where they are (except that they are "everywhere"), and they are not always easy to detect
2. no one knows which embedded systems have devices in them which depend on date information
3. there are very many different ways in which the problem might show up, and new aspects continue to be found
4. additional date problems are discovered: in some cases these are if anything even more difficult than the original two-digit year problem. Examples are leap years and date problems not associated with the Year 2000 it is difficult to get the information needed to decide which systems are at risk business knowledge, knowledge of the application in which the systems are used, and skills in engineering and information technology are all needed in relation to: deciding on actions to take in the light of risks and priorities and to taking the most appropriate actions the skills are increasingly in short supply and becoming more expensive to obtain the proportion of really significant cases may be quite low but all systems have to be considered the date problem first showed up in computers used for business many years ago; its significance for embedded systems was not appreciated until quite recently.

2.4 Business Problems Associated with Embedded Systems

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

The problems may impact on a company in a number of ways because embedded systems are used in or may affect:

Manufacturing and process control Transport: vehicles and infrastructure Buildings and premises Communications Office and retail services and equipment Services and many other facilities supplied by contractors

There are also date problems not specifically associated with embedded systems but which may impinge upon them:

business data from other companies may have wrong date information or date information which is incompatible with your software. as a company, you may be responsible for invalid data sent to your customers, for its effects on those companies and for knock-on effects on their customers design data supplied by customers may have incorrect dates contracts with suppliers may fail to specify that a system must not have date problems insurance cover needs to be reviewed: there may be changes in established policies and special policies for Year 2000 may need to be considered. Insurers have in any case limited obligations in relation to predictable events. solutions which create problems

3.0 What Some Organizations are Doing

The problem is enormous. Most corporate and government organizations have established special task groups just to deal with the infrastructure issues of the century change problem.

3.1 President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure (PCCIP)

http://www.pccip.gov

This presidential has been established to: advise and assist the President of the United States by recommending a national strategy for protecting and assuring /glossary.html from physical and cyber threats.

Information and Communications Electrical Power Systems Gas and Oil Transportation and Storage Banking and Finance Transportation Water Supply Systems Emergency Services Government Services  

3.2 The State of Texas

The (Texas) General Services Commission http://www.state.tx.us/year2000/ is chairing the Year 2000 Facilities Infrastructure Work Group (Y2KFIWG) at the request of the state Year 2000 Work Group committee. Members of the Y2KFIWG are facilities personnel from state agencies, colleges, universities, other governmental entities and the private sector. The GSC has prioritized the affected systems as follows:

GSC Year 2000 Facilities Priority List: High Priority Facility Fire Alarm and Control Systems Honeywell Delta Fire Alarm Monitoring Network Security Systems (ADA Doors) Microprocessor Computer Room A/C Units EMCS Systems: Excell, Landis, Andover, Teletrol, Johnson Microprocessor Chiller Control Panels Microprocessor Elevator Control Microprocessor Generator Control Panels Medium Priority Programmable Thermostats Variable Speed Drives Programmable Lighting Controllers Digital Time Clocks (Other than lighting) Irrigation Systems FAX Machines Low Priority Desk Top PCs and Software Laptop PCs and Software Meters (Power Analyzer, Flow Meter) VCRs Cam Corders Still Cameras

(State of Texas)

3.3 State of Idaho

According to the State of Idaho Year 2000 Reference Page on the Internet (State of Idaho):

Embedded systems are those products and/or systems that do not readily fit in the universally defined area of information technology, but in many cases, have more potential negative impact if they are not Year 2000 compliant.

The real problem with embedded systems is just that - they’re embedded. Typically, the systems are written in low-level code, then burned into the chip’s ROM memory, so it cannot be altered. By definition that means that it will require somebody with expertise in the product (the vendor or manufacturer) to get at the system to test for and fix Year 2000 problems. Each embedded system must be treated as if it were a different programming language, which only a few people know. Without one of these "experts" to help, your system is at risk. And some of these systems are critical - Building management system, Fire and Life Safety System, traffic systems, building security systems, etc. Without them, the doors may be shut and you’re potentially out of business.
Here are some typical examples:

• Video Controller Chips - These take time and date feeds, and may behave unexpectedly, or fail, when the date becomes 2000.
• Industrial Control Systems - Programmable logic controllers take feeds from instruments (temperature, pressure, etc.) and pass them up to supervisory data acquisition and control systems or shrink-wrapped applications which run on PCs.
• Programmable Logic Controllers - Virtually all of these contain real-time clocks and machine code level ladder logic, although many process engineers see them only as intelligent relay boxes, not software-based control systems. The software may require dates for kicking off batch runs or scheduling equipment maintenance checks.
• Process Control Systems - These may be reprogrammable, but often those who wrote the software are long gone and there is no listing. Then the only option is replacement, or on-site repair by the factory or manufacturer’s representative.

Below is an sample list of embedded systems which may need attention to determine Year 2000 compliance. It is not intended to be all inclusive, but should provide you with some areas to investigate.

Aircraft - Engines, instrumentation, maintenance, etc. Answering Machines Calculators Cars - Engine Management/Service Interval Prediction Systems Climate Control Systems (e.g. Air Conditioning) Correctional Facilities Electrical systems—Most buildings have monitors to adjust power loads across multiple main feeds, and kick in the UPS and backup generators. Electronically Controlled Clocks/Watches Elevators Facilities Management System Fax Machines Fire Protection Systems - Halon, Water, etc. Hospital Equipment LAN/WAN switches & routers Lighting Systems Mail Sort Systems Microwave Ovens Mobile Phones Pagers Parcel delivery company owned hardware & software Photocopiers Postage Machines Pre-printed Forms - (19__) Security Access Control Systems Sewage Pumps and Systems Sprinkler Systems Telephones Time Recording Systems Traffic Control Systems TV Systems Vaults VCR’s Video Cameras/Camcorders Video Recorders Water - You may or may not have equipment monitoring the water supplies, but how about the water company?

There is some good news, however. Most of the larger manufacturers of embedded systems are very aware of Year 2000 issues and are (or have been) taking some positive actions. The following is an extract from a compliance statement by an embedded systems vendor who shall go nameless. This should be used only as an indication of some of the work on-going in embedded systems, however, it is an indication that things are moving in the right direction.

ABC is in the process of analyzing its products to determine if there are potential issues associated with the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000, as well as during the year 2000 itself. Since ABC has a number of different types of building systems installed at customer facilities, we have developed a plan to test various systems and their interaction with different subsystems. This activity has been initiated at our five engineering facilities around the world. The overall plan is to complete product testing during 1997. Once the testing is complete, we will provide customers with the specific testing results concerning their present ABC systems and identify the options available to resolve any issues. ABC is dedicated to helping customers create and control their environment with quality solutions that provide comfort, convenience and peace of mind. Our primary concern is to ensure that customers operations are not affected as we transition to the next century."

As a prudent measure against the potential problems of embedded systems we recommend that you take the following actions:

Assign a project manager or coordinator for all Year 2000 activities. Create an inventory of your ‘embedded systems’. Determine the manufacturer or vendor representative, and contact them relative to Year 2000 compliance. Specifically ask them for Year 2000 actions to take and written Year 2000 certification. Test some of your embedded systems today! It may be possible to test some of your security systems by entering year 2000 dates, issuing passwords which have expiration dates in Year 2000, etc. At one site when the clock was set to one minute to 1/1/2000, after one minute the system wished them "Happy New Year" and operated correctly thereafter. There are other systems that may also be tested early. The air conditioning systems (environmental systems) should be tested if at all possible beforehand. If these systems fail they could make the workplace much more inhospitable than a faulty security system! Create a Year 2000 Standby Staff - Unfortunately, not everything is going to work, regardless of how well you do your job. It is a good idea to have a standby staff ready and waiting early on 1/1/2000, and to be ready to deploy them as required. This will be particularly important for entities with multiple buildings and facilities. ( State of Idaho)

The process of remediating embedded systems is similar to the process of remediating large software systems:

Identify Evaluate Renovate Test Implement Prepare for failures

In the present document we will focus on identifying the problems of embedded systems. According to David Collins of Department of Computer Science of Keele University in the U.K. (Collins, 1997):

Identification of embedded systems is the first step to solving the century change problem for embedded systems. Embedded controllers may be found in many different kinds of system and are used for many different applications.

To ascertain whether a problem exists, the following steps will need to be taken:

Produce an inventory of all control equipment, identifying machine serial numbers, firmware revision numbers, software revision numbers etc. Identify suppliers of all elements of systems identified in (a) above. Ask the appropriate compliance questions of the suppliers identified in (b) above. That is:

Machine Suppliers

Does the RTC represent dates and time beyond 2000 and handle the transition correctly ? Does the specific firmware revision represent dates and time beyond the year 2000 and handle the transition correctly ? How can I test compliance of this specific machine with a stated firmware version number ?

Software Suppliers

Do ALL aspects of the software represent dates beyond 2000 and handle the year 2000 transition correctly ? Will the specific scheduling and logging functions utilized be in any respect adversely affected by the year 2000 transition ? How can software compliance be tested ?

For general purposes several industrial systems can be identified. The list which follows is indicative rather than exhaustive. An item in the list may be relevant to a particular company because either (a) it is or involves a core process or product, (b) it is or involves an ancillary function or service performed by the company or (c) it refers to a product or service provided by a contractor under some form of agreement and the vulnerability of the supplier may need to be considered. The infrastructure of most commercial organizations today can be divided into several functional groups:

Manufacturing and Process Control Systems GPS systems IT Systems H/V/AC Security Telecommunications Transportation

4.1 Manufacturing and Process Control

According to David Collins of Department of Computer Science of Keele University in the U.K. (Collins, 1997):

4.1.2. The Architecture of Industrial Control Systems

Industrial control systems have a number of different elements which may produce date anomalies as we approach the year 2000. The controller itself is generally but a small part of the overall system.

A typical contemporary system consists of multiple controllers (sometimes confusingly termed instruments) connected to a supervisory/monitoring machine by a network communications system. The nature of individual controllers varies. At their most simple, they will be closed-loop devices controlling one piece of plant. At their most complex they could be complete industrial microcomputers with programmable logic controlling a range of plant.

The controllers themselves will often have the capability of compliance. That is, they may be capable of representing dates in DD/MM/YYYY or similar format, and the underlying Real Time Clock or RTC (if present) will 'rollover' correctly at 31/12/1999, 23:59:59 + 1 second. This will not be the case for all controllers, but manufactures should be able to provide clear guidance on the capabilities of their equipment. Where the controller itself is not compliant, this need not have implications for the correct functioning of the system. Controllers, particularly the less complex controllers, are generally concerned with relatively short duration interval timing. Any 'rollover' problems are unlikely to be associated with the year 2000 and have other than transient affects on system behavior.

4.1.2.1 Controller Firmware

The term 'firmware' is used here to represent the logic placed in the controller by the manufacturer. Firmware programs are stored within a memory device (typically an EPROM chip) and for most purposes are regarded as an integral part of the machine. Such firmware may make use of date and time information, but such use is likely to be limited. In general, the statements that manufacturers make about their controllers will encompass all firmware within the equipment, but clarification should be sought. The version/revision number of firmware often appears printed on a label adhered to the exposed surface of the EPROM chip.

4.1.2.2 Controller Software

I refer to 'software' within the controller as the element of the controller's logic which has been programmed by a commissioner, the customer, or by an OEM who is using the controller as part of a product (an industrial mixer or temperature control system, for example). Software is generally placed into a memory device known as an EEPROM or into battery supported RAM. A controller that supports 4 digit dates with proper rollover behavior may contain software which fails to make use of these capabilities. Controllers typically have scarce resources with respect to storage and processing. Controllers can be used more efficiently if storage and processing requirements are minimized. This provides a strong motivation to use two digit rather than four digit dates and the practice is quite widespread. Users concerned about controller software should determine which organization was responsible for its production and then seek the requisite assurances regarding compliance. This is likely to be a considerable problem, not least because such assurances may only relate to specific revisions of the software. The author is aware of systems which have used one byte to store month/year data !

4.1.2.3 The SCADA Supervisor

Most controllers installed over the last decade will have SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) software effectively acting as a 'client' application to provide input, scheduling, monitoring and logging functionality. This software is sometimes provided by the manufacturer of the controller but it is often provided by an OEM supplying a particular control product. More often, it is provided by a third party specializing in the production of such software.

The SCADA application may have been developed using one of a range of purpose built development products or, less frequently, through use of a conventional programming language and development environment. Variants of Basic, Pascal, C and C++ are all in common use.

The SCADA software itself is designed to run on a specific machine and operating system platform. There are a myriad of industrial microcomputers that have been used for such purposes over the past few decades, although larger installations still use dedicated mainframe machines. Similarly, there are a range of operating systems in use, many providing specialized services for this kind of application. In recent years, for a broad range of mundane applications, the platform is likely to have been IBM PC 'compatible' systems running DOS, Concurrent DOS, Windows or Windows NT operating systems. The microcomputer may not look like a conventional desktop PC. There are credit-card sized 'embedded', rack-mounted, daughterboard and other varieties. PC based systems will usually be identified by the presence of one of the Intel family of processors (80186, 80286, 80386, 80486 or Pentium). Naturally other processor families and architectures are also in common use.

It is within the operation of the SCADA software that most problems are likely to occur at Y2K. These problems may show at one or more of the machine, operating system, SCADA runtime or application software levels.

Within the operation of the SCADA software, the areas likely to cause most problems are those which are concerned with scheduling or logging functionality. Such operations are intrinsically founded upon specific date and time representations which could be erroneous at any of the aforementioned levels. The application will depend upon accuracy of date/times held within the runtime environment which are dependent upon date/times held within the operating system which are dependent upon date/times held within the SCADA machine firmware and hardware.

Any control system could fail to deal with the year 2000 transition at any of the above levels. In fact, even this is a simplification. For example, the SCADA machine often has some firmware in the form of a BIOS which is a built-in portion of the operating system. Otherwise identical machines may have different BIOS's with variable ability to cope with Y2K date changes. Most of these problems have been identified in the 'mainstream' debate on the Y2K issue.

Control systems can be found in the following:

Manufacturing plants Water and sewage systems Power stations Power grid systems Oil refineries and related storage facilities Bottling plants Automated factories Simulators Test equipment for control system development, maintenance and testing

According to Rick Cowles (rcowles@waterw.com), the Utilities Year 2000 Program Manager for Digital Equipment Corporation and the editor of the " Electric Utilities and Y2K" website (Power Industry):

In the days and weeks following January 1, 2000, the electrical supply infrastructure upon which we depend to provide power to every home and business may no longer be able to do so - all because of a seemingly insignificant programming convention that was perpetuated from the infancy of computers until the late 1990’s.

This page has been established to:

Provide a resource for electric utility personnel who are currently engaged in addressing the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer and embedded controls problem. Areas of business vulnerability, opportunity, and system risks are explored, as are strategies for avoiding these risks.

Educate electricity consumers, both business and residential, about the issues surrounding the Y2K problem relative to the electric utility industry. You need to understand that this problem and possible effects are real. You need to consider the potentially significant business and personal risks of losing your electrical power for an undetermined period of time.

Mr. Crowles continues:

Pop Quiz (and maybe a future case history): A major electric company spends lots of time and money fixing their mainframe computers, internal LAN’s, customer service systems, and purchasing systems to make sure these systems are Y2K ready. This electric company was absolutely certain they were ready for the century change. However, in the days following 01/0/2000, this company finds its power delivery infrastructure quickly collapsing. Distribution systems fail, generating stations trip offline, and dispatch systems cease to function. Explain: With all of the advance preparations this apparently proactive company undertook, how did this happen?

Answer: They failed to consider embedded logic exposures during the course of their Y2K program.

4.2 Construction Industry

Surveying and locational equipment Construction plant Multi-loop control and monitoring - DCS, SCADA, telemetry Panel mounted devices - Control, display, recording and operations Safety and security - Alarm and trip systems, fire and gas systems, buildings and facilities security Field devices - measurement, actuation Analytical systems - Laboratory systems; on-line/ plant systems Electrical supply - supply, measurement, control, protection Tools - for design, documentation, testing, maintenance

4.3 Transportation

Airplanes Trains Buses Marine craft Automobiles Fuel services Air Traffic Control Systems Signaling systems Radar systems Traffic lights Ticketing systems/machines Car parking and other meters According to a report filed by the State of Texas Y2K infrastructure team:

Our fleet management personnel contacted the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers’ representatives and received the following... (from) ... " Mike Fisher from GM, Mark Crilley from Ford, and Bob Weir from Chrysler. All three said the engine computer does not incorporate the date in its processes so there is no problem with the vehicle operation after December 31, 1999. ... Bob said there might be a problem with their Traveller system. The Traveller, as you might guess, is a trip computer. (State of Texas - Vehicle)

4.4 Buildings and Premises

Electrical supply - supply, measurement, control, protection Backup lighting and generators Fire control systems Heating and ventilating systems Lifts, elevators, escalators Security systems Security cameras Safes and vaults Door locks

4.4.1 H/V/AC

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

High integrity systems perform a function critical to the operation of a system. They include safety-critical systems whose malfunction is likely to lead to injury or death of people, or life- and health-threatening damage to the environment. Embedded systems may also be found in security critical systems. These include systems for the security of buildings and premises and financial data and transaction processing systems (for example in cash registers and automatic tellers), and in the communication systems on which these depend. Systems may be categorized as business- and mission-critical i.e. the survival of a company or the achievement of the objectives of a particular project depend on them.

In principle there are reasons why the Year 2000 problem may be more easily resolved in high-integrity systems than in other systems. Firstly, high-integrity systems should have been designed so that they are not solely dependent for their high-integrity characteristics on the operation of a single embedded component and on the software which it contains.

Secondly, a major part of designing and implementing critical/high-integrity systems is that strict auditable records are kept, and that there is an established system for the maintenance of these records, so that it may be much easier to identify the location of embedded components and obtain detailed information about their working.

Special considerations relating to high integrity systems

But - "it ain’t necessarily so". Several things may make the situation far from ideal. The criticality of the system may never have been recognized. Components (whether hardware or software modules) may be used in safety critical systems although they were not designed for such applications and may have been intended for environments in which occasional failure is an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe. It is possible that examining a system in relation to the Year 2000 problem may reveal errors not detected during the design phase. Some systems regarded as meeting the requirements when they were designed may not meet current requirements. Systems developed to demanding standards because their criticality was recognized may not have been maintained with appropriate levels of care, and even if the systems themselves are adequate for their purpose, their documentation may have become inaccurate or otherwise unsatisfactory.

Year 2000 problems may affect the ability of a company to meet regulatory requirements, with consequential loss of ability to trade. One cause may be the inability to maintain logs created by an embedded system. Another may be an aspect of the general computer problem, namely the failure of personnel and other databases resulting in inability to provide (for example) documents required to permit ships’ crew to sign on, or vehicles or plant to be used. This aspect has been overlooked in many discussions of the legal position which (even when they mention embedded systems) concentrate entirely on contractual problems between customers, suppliers and third parties.

In safety-related systems there may be mechanical components which ensure safety. There might in a safety critical system be double or triple redundancy, i.e. two or three subsystems performing the same function with the intention that if one of them should fail in some way, the others will function correctly so enabling the process to be continued. For example the separate systems may use different hardware and different programming languages, have been designed by completely independent teams, etc.).

Regardless of all the care and effort put into the design of safety related systems, problems leading to such common-mode failures may not have been foreseen or may have been discounted by designers and developers of systems. In some cases such as ignorance of the fact that Year 2000 is a leap year the problem has been a widespread lack of public knowledge rather than carelessness on the part of designers.

Many such systems have been designed to be "fail-safe", i.e. in the event of a failure, to stop the operation of the system of which they are a part in order to make them safe. This will also stop them producing, possibly entailing commercial losses. (In some cases, if a system fails safe, the consequence will be that another system is rendered unsafe).

Systems which rely on external time or position data may have problems arising from difficulties in the systems which provide that data.

4.5 Domestic services

Catering Cleaning

4.6 Communications

Telephone exchange Cable systems Telephone switches Satellites see also Global Positioning System (GPS) problem Data switching equipment (X.25, SMDS, Frame Relay, etc.)

4.61Telecommunications

According to The State of Texas State of Texas Telecom:

The Year 2000 will have a significant impact on computer systems and applications. The use of two-digit date fields could also impact other infrastructure that use microprocessors. Known problems exist in traffic control systems, building security and environmental systems, and voice/data telecommunications systems. While not a specific Year 2000 problem, ground receivers that use the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite system (e.g., used to track emergency vehicles for 911 systems) may fail in August 1999, due to a date related processing problem.

The BIOS and Real Time Clock (RTC) functions in most PC based systems are not Year 2000 compliant and could cause immediate problems in the systems they control or operate. Other PC based systems may role-over to the correct date on January 1, 2000, but will return to dates in the 1980s after being turned off or after a power outage.

Telecommunication Systems - Voice based systems could be impacted by several problems. PBX routing systems use date related, day of week, information to route calls. Software controlling moves, adds, and changes (MACs) use date related software to time when these changes will occur. Call detail information software could produce incorrect results or purge new records, thinking the date range "00" is an old record (e.g., 1900). Voice mail systems may impact messages being held over the date change from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. Voice messaging systems may purge all messages with a 1999 date. Users that have obtained third-party software for their PBX, could face additional problems as several manufactures have indicated that they do not have contract agreements that require them to provide programming information to independent vendors.

Wide Area Networks (WAN) used for data communication do not seem vulnerable to the Year 2000 problem, although Send-Mail and POP mail applications may experience problems, provide unreliable services, from three to five days prior to the change to January 1, 2000. Local Area Network (LAN) based systems have Year 2000 related problems in reading and writing the RTC after 1999. Several systems also have problems related to calculating the number of days in the year 2000. The year 2000 is a leap year.

LAN based message systems may cause minor problems in the display of new messages with dates in the year "00." However, if LAN administrators have implemented systems to purge old messages or files from the server after X days or years, both messages and data files could be impacted. LAN and WAN management systems are still under study for possible Year 2000 problems."

According to Paul Minkin of Bellcore (Minkin, 1997)

Some network operators may believe that this issue only affects mainframe business and operations systems, and that real-time call processing networks will be unaffected. In fact, this is not the case. The Gartner Group recently surveyed a number of enterprise network equipment suppliers such as the makers of automatic call distributors, voice messaging systems, interactive voice response systems, and PBXs, and found that these systems are equally at risk.

What about the real-time call processing systems found in public networks? Is there any exposure to year 2000 impacts in local digital switches, toll digital switches, digital cross connect systems, digital loop carrier systems, add-drop multiplexers, service switching points, signaling transfer points, service control points, intelligent peripherals, etc.? What have your suppliers done to analyze the impact of the year 2000 and develop corrective action where necessary? How will you ensure the interoperability of your equipment once these changes have been made?

You are probably aware that date-related problems are not unheard of in digital switches. For example, in the past some switches have had problems with AMA billing tapes in leap years. In some cases, those problems appeared well before February 29^th of the year in question. Interestingly, the year 2000 is unusual in that, not only is it the start of the next century, but it is also a leap year. Based on the rule that "a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, except if it starts a new century, in which case it must also be divisible by 400", the year 2000 is an "exception to an exception" that happens only once every 400 years. If uncorrected, these types of date-related problems could potentially result in your network not properly billing for a ny calls, or could trigger having only 50% of the call attempts getting through your network.

Still, some network operators may feel that their systems are immune from these problems. If you are in this category, you may want to consider the risks of being too complacent. As Bellcore’s Executive Director for Year 2000 Network Solutions, Bichlien Hoang, said: "My greatest concern is that some network operators may be counting on their equipment suppliers to completely take care of their year 2000 problems. Our experience has shown that while suppliers may find the majority of problems in their own equipment, they often do not have the resources necessary to verify that their equipment will interoperate with that of other suppliers’ once the year 2000 change occurs. As we have in the past, we are teaming with suppliers to help them resolve year 2000 issues. It is also crucial that network operators assess their interoperability risks as early as possible. It can be a significant undertaking to identify all of the ways in which date fields are used and exchanged by different systems in a large network.

Bichlien went on to give several real-life examples to illustrate the point. One carrier was using a particular supplier’s Network Elements (NEs) to implement a bi-directional fiber ring network. These systems were managed by an element manager and several Operations Support Systems (OSSs). As part of Bellcore’s sample test of the NE’s Year-2000 compliance, the element manager’s system clock was set to 12/31/99, 11:59 p.m. After this change, the following behavior was observed.

The system first responded to the date change with an acknowledgment of "Fri Dec 31 23:59:00 EST 1999". A short time later it responded to a query for the date with: "Sat Jan 1 00:01:59 EST 2000". Thus, at first glance, it appeared that everything was working correctly. However, further testing uncovered a variety of problems. Here is a brief list:

Using the date command to set any date beyond 1999 resulted in the system clock being reset back to a date that was pre-1975! That is, once the year 2000 was reached, it was not possible to set the element manager’s system date to the correct date! Whenever the element manager received an alarm from an NE, it checked the date of the alarm and compared it with its internal system date. It was also observed that, once the year 2000 was reached, any attempt to correct the system date meant that no further alarms from the NEs would ever be displayed! The element manager application was licensed from the supplier for a specified length of time. In the process of doing these tests, once the system date was erroneously reset by the system to the pre-1975 date, the element manager’s database locked out any further transactions and displayed an error message saying that the right-to-use license had expired!

As another example, another type of NE was tested by again setting the system date to 12/31/99, 11:59 p.m. After this change, the system date was observed to correctly roll over to "Sat Jan 1 00:00:01 EST 2000". Additional tests confirmed that 2/28/2 000 correctly rolled over to 2/29/2000, and 2/29/2000 in turn correctly rolled over to 3/1/2000. Again, at first glance, it appeared that everything was working fine. However, further testing revealed that when a bulk recent change request was initiated, the system responded with an error message indicating that "only future release dates are valid for use with this command." That is, the NE software module that processed the input message was apparently interpreting an internal two-digit year "00" as the year 1900, rather than as the year 2000, and it refused to process the request because it was a date in the past!

As a third example, another type of transport NE from several different suppliers were tested in a similar fashion. Again the dates indicating the change in century, and the recognition of the leap year appeared to be working correctly. While it was not universally true of all the suppliers’ products, with NEs from some suppliers, it was impossible to make any changes in the system date once the date rolled over to the year 2000!

In several cases the suppliers were not aware of the extent of these problems until Bellcore discovered them. In addition, Bellcore has performed similar tests with other vendors’ equipment and has observed similar, as well as other, kinds of problems. Thus, even if you assume that all of NE and OS suppliers will be able to fully update their hardware, firmware and software to be Year 2000-compliant, you will still need to address the potential problems that can arise from NE-to-NE, NE-to-Element Manager, and NE-to-OS interworking. As we saw in the above example (i.e., no alarms displayed after the year 2000), sometimes the interworking between two systems with the "correct date" can lead to critical problems and issues (i.e., the complete loss of visibility into the network).

4.6.2 Global Positioning System (GPS) Satellite Receivers

The Geographical Positioning System (GPS) consists of three segments:

Space - 24 operational satellites Ground control - equipment, stations, and antennas User-antennas and receiver-processors

GPS, itself, will not have a "Year 2000" problem. The US Department of Defense (DOD) asserts that the Space and Ground Control segments will be Year 2000 compliant by Mid-year 1999. However, GPS receivers are affected by the century date change in two ways:

GPS week rollover, and GPS century rollover

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory:

The GPS System Time will roll over at midnight August 21-22 1999, 132 days before the turn of the millennium. On 22 August 1999, unless repaired, many or all GPS receivers will claim that it is 6 January 1980, 23 August will become 7 January, and so on. According to The U.S. Naval Observatory (U.S. Naval Observatory):

The GPS Week Number count began at approximately midnight on the evening of 05 January 1980 / morning of 06 January 1980. Since that time, the count has been incremented by 1 each week, and broadcast as part of the GPS message. The GPS Week Number field is modulo 1024. This means that at the completion of week 1023, the GPS week number will rollover to 0 on midnight of the evening of 21 August 1999 / morning of 22 August 1999.

Week beginning at 0000 GPS Time on	GPS Week Number broadcast by satellites
08 Aug 1999	1022
15 Aug 1999	1023
22 Aug 1999	0
29 Aug 1999	1

Once the rollover has occurred, it is the responsibility of the user (i.e., user equipment or software) to account for the previous 1024 weeks.

Depending upon the manufacturer of your GPS receiver, you may or may not be affected by the GPS Week Number Rollover on 22 August 1999. Some receivers may display inaccurate date information, some may also calculate incorrect navigation solutions.

All DOD user equipment is being tested for Z-count rollover capability. [The Z-count refers to a counter for the number of weeks]. If commercial user equipment is not compatible, then in the cases of flash memory and removable PROM the memory should be reset [formware should be upgraded. Solder-in memory will need to be physically replaced.

System software will need independent continuous data representing the current year so that it will be able to reject data from a receiver or receivers (they could all be wrong), and to handle arguments between various GPS receivers (if only some are wrong). Users can only test a GPS receiver for this problem if they have a GPS Simulator. All most users can do is to ask their manufacturer for a solution, and also to incorporate into the system software checks which will validate GPS receivers’ time data. Contact the manufacturer of your GPS receiver to determine if you will be affected by the GPS week number rollover.

According to Capt. Jason Christ, GPS Y2K Lead Engineer, Navstar Global Positioning System, Joint Program Office reports as of 27 Oct 97:

GPS receivers found Y2K and EOW compliant

Allied Signal KLX-100 (Interim GPS) Enhanced Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (EPLGR) [Blk 2,4] Miniature Airborne GPS Receiver (MAGR) [Links 7,8] OH Receiver [Link 60] Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR) [Link 4.01b] Receiver 3A [Links 40, 45, 46] Receiver 3S [Links 25, 30, 40] Stand-alone GPS Receiver (SAGR) [Link 9] SPS Lightweight GPS Receiver (SLGR) [Links 2.02, 2.07, 2.05b] UH Receiver [Links 50, 60] DGNS Embedded GPS/INS Unit (EGI) [Honeywell] (Christ, J., 1997)

4.6.3 Network Operating Systems

Novell NetWare 3.x Novell NetWare 4.x Banyan Vines Windows NT Server: Windows NT Will Correctly Handle the Year 2000 LAN Server Token Ring

4.6.4 Networking Hardware

  3 COM

Web site addressing data network equipment.

  Cisco Systems Web

site with detailed listing of what systems and versions are Year 2000 compliant

  Kode Net links on Embed Systems Very Good!!!

4.7 Office Systems and Mobile Equipment

Desktop Computers Telephone systems Faxes Copier Time recording systems Mobile telephones Still and video cameras

4.7.1 Desktop Hardware

Desktop Hardware Manufacturers’ Survey Responses

According to the State of Washington:

Responses from a Year 2000 Project questionnaire that the State of Washington Department of Information Services (DIS) sent to hardware and software manufacturers in 1996 (since updated). The purpose of the survey was to ascertain the vendor’s year 2000 support plans for products believed to be in Washington State government’s inventory.

Micron HP

Year 2000 Looms Ahead; HP 9000 Gets Ready

Are You Ready for the Year 2000?

HP Channel Partner Solutions Catalog for the Americas: Productive Software Systems, Inc.

Compaq IBM

4.7.2 Desktop Software

General

Year 2000 Issue - FAQ

http://www.microsoft.com/cio/articles/year2000faq.htm

Year 2000 Date Transition Issue

http://www.microsoft.com/cio/year.htm

The Year 2000 Issue: Is Your Enterprise Ready?

http://www.microsoft.com/cio/articles/year2000.htm

File Manager Shows Garbled Date for Year 2000 or Later

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q85/5/57.htm

Implications of the Year 2000 on Microsoft Products

http://www.microsoft.com/syspro/technet/desk/office/2000.htm

http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library/techart/f30/f34/f44/d4f/saf50.htm

HOW TO: Prepare for the Year 2000

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q162/3/88.htm

XL: How Microsoft Excel Works with Two-Digit Year Numbers

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q164/4/06.htm

Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that the following are non-compliant

Access 2.0 Word for MS-DOS v5.0 Office Professional v4.3 (Access 2.0 only)

Microsoft has said that Windows 98 will be fully compliant, but Windows 95 and Windows NT have some minnor problems

Microsoft Y2K Knowledge Base Page Year 2000 Date Transition Issue

http://www.microsoft.com/cio/year.htm

MS Office Y2K Implications of the Year 2000 on Microsoft Products

http://www.microsoft.com/syspro/technet/desk/office/2000.htm

WordPerfect Lotus 

4.7.3 E-Mail and Messaging Systems

Microsoft Mail 3.5x Microsoft Exchange Beyond Mail Pegasus GroupWise 4.x; 5.x Quick Mail Eudora Netscape Mail PROFS CC: Mail

4.8 Banking, Finance, and Commercial

Automated teller systems Credit card systems Point of sale systems including scanner/cash systems

4.9 Medical Diagnostics, Monitoring and Life Support

Heart defibrillators Pacemaker monitors Patient information systems Patient monitoring systems Pharmaceutical control and dispensing systems, e.g. infusion pumps X-ray equipment

4.10 Testing, Monitoring and Diagnostic Systems

Energy metering Environmental monitoring equipment

5.0 Conclusion

Based on experiential evidence, January 1, 2000, will arrive on schedule. Thousands or even millions of person years will have been spent preparing for it. The potential problems of large computers processing date functions caused by the century change will not have been completely solved. Some organizations have not even begun to face the issue. But the problem is compounded by the fact that locating all errant code is not easy. The explosion in the use of embedded systems in our environment and the associated software used to control them exacerbates the issue. These embedded systems exist everywhere in our workplace. Errors will occur. Devices will not work properly. Problems will arise. For several years after the night the world celebrates this grand event, the headaches will continue.

What can be done, however, is to locate and repair computer software which will incorrectly deal with the century change in as many places as possible, and to take appropriate action now to be able to deal with the problems as they occur when the new century begins.

The Information Technology Law Server:

http://www.infotechlaw.com/

The information technology law server provides resources on information technology law including technology law, information law, computer law and online law.  These resources include comprehensive links, space for professionals to publish articles and forums for discussing issues.

2001:

http://www.xinotech.com/2001.html

Academics 2000:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us:70/0/A2000/a2000

ADC Kentrox:

http://www.kentrox.com/support/special/2000prod.html

AGS Management Systems,Inc.1.800.220.2471:

http://www.evsistore.com/Agsms/

Century date change (year 2000 dilemma):

http://www.profmkt.com/century.html

Computer World Article: Doomsday:

http://www.year2000.com/cw-article.html

Consultants home page:

http://www.golden.net/~year2000/year2000

CSSA:

http://www.cssa.co.uk/cssa/new/millen.htm

Delphi Software Home Page:

http://www.delphi.ie/

Education Today Volume 11, Number 3:

http://info.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/ET63095.html

The Federal Year 2000 COTS Product Database:

http://y2k.policyworks.gov/

The Federal Year 2000 COTS Product Database is being implemented to provide a centralized repository of information to all Federal Agencies which will speed the research and investigation of products being done by each agency.

Free program for year 2000 date problem Millennium bug:

http://www.dircon.co.uk/bloom/ams/year2000.htm

Got a Year 2000 Problem? Probably!:

http://www.concentric.net/~bcbeck/solutionpoint/Articles_Year_2000.html

IBM Corporation Conference Call:

http://www.year2000.com/ibmconf.html

IBM Year 2000 Efforts Under Way:

http://www.year2000.com/ibmy2k.html

Information Infrastructure Report:

http://www.state.mn.us/ebranch/admin/iiwgr.html

Intermec Corporation :

http://www.state.id.us/y2k/pcs/intermec.htm

IT2000 Health Care Conference:

http://www.io.org/~ibc/hc2000/

Jubilee Year 2000:

http://www.veritas.org.sg/yr2000.html

 Kaleidoscopic Global Action Plan:

http://www.goshen.net/gem/kgap.htm

Lobito Systems - Cave Creek, Arizona:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/George_Fallar/

Mannesmann Tally Corporation :

http://www.state.id.us/y2k/pcs/mt.htm

Microprocessors of the Past and Present :

http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~bayko/cpu.html

Millennium Foundation of Canada: What We Do:

http://www.millennia.org/2000.html

National Patent Analytical Systems, Inc.:

http://www.state.id.us/y2k/pcs/npas.htm

New Orleans Bond and Millage Election:

http://www.madere.com/advocate.html

NISE East Environmental Effects Testing Laboratory:

http://www-nise.nosc.mil/code/373/links.html

NORCOM Date Routines:

http://www.alaska.net/~norcom/dates.html

Official 1996 Website of Jeff Chan—Millennium Bug:

http://home.rogerswave.ca/schan/bug.html

PC Talk:

http://www.clark.net/pub/reichera/pctalk.html

Preterist:

http://www.bridge.net/~mikebrem/peterist.htm

Problems for Embedded Systems :

http://www.epri.com/y2k/

EPRI Year 2000

Pulaski County School Special School District:

http://hermes.k12.ar.us/schools/mills/pulaski.htm

Reaching the World by the Year 2000 : Is It Possible:

http://www.mdalink.com/WWC/bahler.html

Some facts about the year 2000:

http://www.mfltd.co.uk/Challenge2000/didy2000.htm

Sony Electronics Inc :

http://www.y2ksony.html

 Tablet: The Personal Computer in the Year 2000:

http://www.santafe.edu/~kurt/tablet.shtml

 Talk 2000 Introduction:

http://humnet.humberc.on.ca/t2-intro.htm

 Talk2000 - This Week in Talk 2000:

http://humnet.humberc.on.ca/LT951225.htm

 Talk2000 Articles:

http://humnet.humberc.on.ca/t2-art.htm

 The Year 2000 Information Center:

http://www.year2000.com/cgi-bin/clock.cgi

 The Crash of Year 2000:

http://www.vol.it/sic/jsice550.htm

 The Millennium Journal, V 1.1:

http://www.year2000.com/milleniumj.html

The Year 2000 Resource :

http://www.deweerd.org/year2000/

The year 2000 computer crisis headquarters:

http://www.xpsoft.com

The Year 2000 Problem and Solutions:

http://www.bozemanlegg.com/year2000.html

The Year 2000 Problem:

http://www.year2000.co.uk/

The year 2000 Won’t Be written Ever!:

http://www.fmf.uni-lj.si/~eskla/Counting.html

The Year 2000: So many issues, so little time!:

http://www.mstnet.com/year2000/yr2000.htm

The Year 2000:

http://www.vsource.com/canweb/2000.html

Tick, Tick, Tick Calendar:

http://www.henterprises.com/tick3/cal.htm

UK Business Park - Energy:

http://www.zynet.co.uk/bpark/bpener.html

ViaSoft:

http://www.viasoft.com/nz3kn.htm

Visionet Systems Inc:

http://www.year2000.com/vendors/visionet.html

White Paper - CICS by the Year 2000:

http://www.sresearch.com/search/111003.htm

Year 2000 - Not Just for Applications:

http://www.year2000.com/na.html

Year 2000 - The Millennium Problem :

http://www.bcs.org.uk/millen.htm

Year 2000 T-shirts!:

http://www.biddeford.com/~ksmcder/

Year 2000 Audio Tape:

http://www.year2000.com/audio.html

Year 2000 Editorial:

http://pages.prodigy.com/oatman/2000.htm

Year 2000 Issues and Answers Conference and Expo:

http://www.dciexpo.com/2000ad/

Year 2000... Is It Your Problem :

http://www.true.net/~smx/

Year 2000:

http://members.aol.com/y2t/yrmain.htm

Year 2000’s annotated Sites:

http://testor.uta.edu/~fadi/

Appendix 2 - Vendors

Vendor Categories

The following different categories of vendors may need to be considered:

Hardware Manufacturers Software Suppliers Suppliers of programming languages, applications packages and applications Third Party Suppliers supply "complete systems" which perform a particular group of functions. A vendor may supply software only, to be mounted on hardware already in use, or both hardware and software. Packagers Supply equipment with (or incorporating) a control component Integrators Integrators are generally smaller companies which acquire hardware and software components form other suppliers and provide connections and interfaces to create a system intended to meet a customer’s requirements.

Obtaining Information from Vendors

As an embedded systems customer/user, one may need to contact ones supplier’s supplier for information about components, perhaps because the device manufacturer is no longer in business.

Attention needs to be paid (1) to the components of the particular system, (2) to the system as a unit and (3) to the larger system of which it is a part. This is because although each part may function correctly when examined separately this is not a guarantee that the whole will work properly when the parts are assembled into a device or system.

Experience suggests that the likelihood of obtaining satisfactory information is low. However the cost of taking this step is very small as compared with the possible cost of failing to do so. Vendors need to be prepared for inquiries about their products both from direct customers and from their customers. However, many are now not responding to written request and just publishing the information on the Internet.

Control Systems

Automation & Process Control

Best Power

IT Systems

OMI Software Architecture Forum

H/V/AC

Security

Telecommunications

Hypercom Network Systems

General Datacomm Inc.

Transportation

General Motors Ford Chrysler

Organizations

Institution of Electrical Engineers

Center for Devices and Radiological Health

Appendix 3 - Criteria and Rules for Date Compliance

The rules which follow are taken from the Website address

http://www.year2000.com

• General integrity: No value for current date will cause interruptions in normal operation.
• Date integrity: All manipulations of calendar-related data (dates, durations, days of week, etc.) will produce desired results for all valid date values within the application domain.
• Explicit century: Date elements in interfaces and data storage permit specifying (i.e. specification of the) century, to eliminate date ambiguity.
• Implicit century: For any date element without century, the correct century is unambiguous for all manipulations involving that element.

  Rules for determining whether a year is a Leap Year.

  (a) If the number of the year is divisible by 4 then the year is a Leap Year, except

  (b) If the number of the year ends in 00 then the year is not a leap year; however

(c)If the number of the year ends in 00 and the year is divisible by 400 the year is a Leap Year.

Appendix 4 - Definitions and Explanations

Date sensitive systems

Those whose functionality or performance may be affected by the occurrence of a particular date up to and including the terminal date (see below) including dates affected by the change of century.

 

Date compliant systems

Those whose functionality or performance will not be affected by the occurrence of dates prior to a specified terminal date. These may also be called date-insensitive systems.

 

Year 2000 sensitive systems

Those systems whose functionality or performance may be affected by the occurrence of dates prior to, during and after the Year 2000

 

Year 2000 compliant systems

Those whose functionality or performance will not be affected by the occurrence of dates prior to, during and after the Year 2000. These may also be called Year 2000-insensitive systems.

 

Terminal date

The final date for which sensitivity is considered and beyond which other difficulties may arise. Choosing 1^st March 2101 as the terminal date would it is believed encompass all established rules for the calculation of dates and calendar events. The tests in Appendix C assume Year 2049 as the terminal date.

 

Base date

The date and time used as the starting date for the clocks in certain computer systems. The most common is the date used as the start date for IBM-compatible PCs (01.08.1980).

 

Century compliant

This term is often used as a substitute for date compliant or Year 2000 compliant.

 

Plant and equipment

Refers to items used by a company in its manufacturing, production or service process. Equipment refers to items used for single discrete operations and not directly linked to other items. Plant refers to the cases where there is a continuous or regular flow of material or subassemblies between different parts of the process. If you are a supplier of embedded systems, what you supply is plant or equipment. The responsibility for the operation of the plant and equipment used by a company is the responsibility of that company. A supplier of embedded systems is responsible for the design and operability of its products.

 

Devices

Those are discrete elements of plant and equipment which are obtained from suppliers (or in a few cases from another part of the company). The supplier of the device has in principle responsibility for its operability, provided that the device is used for a or the purpose for which it was supplied.

 

Components

Those are the smallest elements in a system and are that part (or those parts) of devices wherein the potential for date-sensitivity lies. A component in a device may have been obtained by the supplier from a third party (i.e. from their supplier)

 

Systems

Those are generally the devices, equipment and plant in which the computer is embedded.

 

Embedded systems

Those devices that contain microprocessors.

Appendix 5 - Categorization In Relation To Checking And Modification

According to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE):

In relation to possible actions there are two distinct categories of embedded system:

(a) those whose software is inaccessible and / or cannot be modified. This includes (i) items where the software is embedded as firmware and (ii) items where it may be physically possible to access the software but impractical to modify it because of the form in which it is written. In either case there are almost certainly instances where the hardware used is not the hardware specified or where the embedded software is different from the software as originally specified.

(b) those based on a "normal" computer where the software can be examined or modified. In some cases only the supplier of the hardware or system and not the user company may be able to make modifications.

Software may need to be considered in three categories with regard to modification:

Systems software supplied by the computer manufacturer, whose modification by you may invalidate the terms of your contract with the supplier Software supplied by a third party. Modification of code in a shrink wrapped package may invalidate the terms and conditions of the sale. Conversely if you have accepted bespoke software from a supplier who no longer has any maintenance obligations, you are likely to be able to modify it. However if extensive modifications have been made, it may be more difficult to persuade the supplier to accept a new contract for further modifications Software developed in-house for which you have responsibility.

  Appendix 6 - References

Collins, David. Embedded Industrial Control Systems and the Year 2000 Problem Technical Report TR97/11. [Online] Available

http://www.compinfo.co.uk/y2k/scada.htm. May, 1997

Christ, Capt. Jason. MILLENNIUM (Y2K) AND GPS END OF WEEK (EOW) ROLLOVER [Online] Available

christjj@gps1.laafb.af.mil

EPRI [Online] Available

http://www.epri.com/

Eubanks, Gary. Year 2000 and the Computer Articles and Papers Written About the Millennium. [Online] Available

http://www.2k-times.com/y2k-a152.htm

The Institution of Electrical Engineers (I.E.E) [Online] Available

http://www.iee.org.uk/2000risk/guide/year2k12.htm

Minkin, Paul. The Year 2000 Approaches...Is Your Network Ready? Bellcore, 1997 [Online] Available

http://www.bellcore.com/BC.dynjava?Y2KAPPROACHWPGeneralWhitePaper

State of Idaho.[Online] Available

http://www.state.id.us/y2k/embed.htm

State of Texas. [Online] Available

http://www.state.tx.us/year2000/

State of Texas Telecom. [Online] Available

http://www.state.tx.us/Standards/telecom.htm

State of Texas. TxDOT Year 2000 Vehicle Research, December 1, 1997, [Online]

Available http://www.gsc.state.tx.us/y2ktxdot.html

Power Industry. [Online] Available

http://www.euy2k.com/index.htm

U.S. Naval Observatory [Online] Available

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/gps_week.html

Western Power. Western Power's Year 2000 Progress Report [Online] Available

http://www.wpcorp.com.au/corpinfo/y2k_progress.htm