Industrial PC, in vehicle pc, Embedded Computer
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications strategies and cloud computing are transforming industrial interconnects from an assortment of fragmented, proprietary technologies to open standards easily integrated into new designs. This new direction in M2M connectivity enables a wide range of applications and services by exchanging real-time data between remote devices, one or more central servers, and authorized third parties.
M2M technology allows embedded design teams to contain costs, improve security, enable remote management, and maximize system availability. The major goal of M2M communications is to combine real-time data from remote devices with enterprise applications to automate everyday company decisions and thus optimize industrial output and lower operating costs.
refer:
http://industrial-embedded.com/articles/embedded-upgrades-m2m-networks/
