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Embedded Systems Articles

• Selecting the right hardware configuration for the signal processing platform (Nov. 22, 2016)
  This article presents the system level modelling and simulation methodology to architect a signal processing platform for software-defined radios or high-speed communication modems early in the design flow.
  
  
• Tasks and scheduling (Nov. 21, 2016)
  We have already considered the multi-tasking concept – multiple quasi-independent programs apparently running at the same time, under the control of an operating system. Before we look at tasks in more detail, we need to straighten out some more terminology.
  
  
• Which IoT protocol should you use for your design? (Nov. 07, 2016)
  One thing is for certain when it comes to designing an IoT (Internet of Things) device; it won't be standalone. Unlike the way most traditional embedded devices have been developed in the past, such as the old-style digital thermostat I have in my hallway, IoT devices will always feature some form of communication
  
  
• RTOS trends and challenges (Oct. 25, 2016)
  Some decades ago, the embedded industry shifted focus from assembly to C programming. Faster processors and better compilers allowed for raising the level of abstraction in order to improve development productivity and quality.
  
  
• Putting power forward (Oct. 10, 2016)
  Designers of advanced computing systems are no longer able to consider the power supply as a “black box” that can be plugged in at the end of the project. Giving due consideration to power design at an early stage is essential given the growing complexity of server boards, demands for greater power and efficiency, and the need to plan for multiple product generations.
  
  
• Strong identity for devices tackles hidden costs in IoT security (Sep. 28, 2016)
  Developers of Internet of Things (IoT) products know the importance of security to protect personal or industrial data, and typically employ encryption technologies to address that.
  
  
• Advanced BLDC Motor Control using Freescale Ultra Reliable MPC5676R/MPC5674F MCU (Aug. 15, 2016)
  This article describes ongoing internal project activities at eInfochips in the control systems domain for applications in motor and engine controls aimed for aerospace and automotive segments.
  
  
• Efficient SIMD and Algorithmic Optimization Techniques for H264 Decoder on Cortex A9 (Jul. 18, 2016)
  In this paper, we propose and explain two efficient optimization approaches on H264 decoder. First method exploits efficient utilization of SIMD for deblocking filter. The second method uses algorithmic level optimization in the core decoding path upon thorough understanding of the H264 video standard.
  
  
• Platform Software Verification Approaches For Safety Critical Systems (Jul. 04, 2016)
  Innovation is the key to surviving the rapidly changing world of embedded electronics. Efficient testing is a crucial step to achieve the design of reliable products. Emerging applications be in aerospace, automotive or industrial automation systems, need to be tested thoroughly and rigorously. Consequently, in this paper, we shall discuss various techniques to verify DO-178B LEVEL A platform software.
  
  
• Safety Integrity Level - an Overview for FPGA Engineers (Jun. 30, 2016)
  In recent decades, the increasing electronics system complexity significantly shares its functionality and multi-functional peripheral requirement load with Multimillion Gate FPGA/SoC/ASIC. Eventually this resulted in packing multi-module functionality and logic into a Single Chip based solution with Hardware and Software together.
  
  
• No Safety without Security on the IoT (Jun. 23, 2016)
  We have reached the stage in the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) where two independent processes have become self-sustaining.
  
  
• An Efficient Device for Forward Collision Warning Using Low Cost Stereo Camera & Embedded SoC (Apr. 18, 2016)
  This paper provides an overview of the system, sensors used, and details including novel state of the art algorithms that detects vehicles and calculates distance from it, and how the algorithms are designed to be affordable for low cost multi core embedded hardware platform meeting stringent real time performance parameters.
  
  
• Yes, you can develop embedded software using agile methodology (Mar. 29, 2016)
  There's a belief that software methodology doesn't really affect results. Nothing could be further from the truth.
  
  
• Is Tomorrow's Embedded-Systems Programming Language Still C? (Mar. 21, 2016)
  What is the best language in which to code your next project? If you are an embedded-system designer, that question has always been a bit silly. You will use, C—or if you are trying to impress management, C disguised as C++. Perhaps a few critical code fragments will be written in assembly language. But according to a recent study by the Barr Group, over 95 percent of embedded-system code today is written in C or C++.
  
  
• Exploring design methodologies for next-generation IoT sensors (Mar. 17, 2016)
  The IoT sensor backplane is increasingly expected to monitor the system under test on a real-time basis. This is true for IoT sensor solutions monitoring body area networks, safety and security solutions, industrial factory and process automation solutions, and building automation solutions to name a few. This gives rise to a new paradigm tied to the data collected by the connected devices, that of 'big data sensing.'
  
  
• Templates across API boundaries: Powerful but problematic (Mar. 07, 2016)
  C++ is controversial. For every discussion about it, a certain percentage of people will love it and another substantial group will hate it. Above all, one feature highlights this divide: templates. Templates have many problems: they slow compile times, force implementations to be specified in headers and can bloat generated code. However they’re also a powerful mechanism for programming against generic types.
  
  
• Self-testing in embedded systems: Software failure (Feb. 24, 2016)
  All electronic systems carry the possibility of failure. An embedded system has intrinsic intelligence that facilitates the possibility of predicting failure and mitigating its effects. This two-part series reviews the options for self-testing that are open to the embedded software developer, along with testing algorithms for memory and some ideas for self-monitoring software in multi-tasking and multi-CPU systems. In part one, we looked at self-testing approaches to guard against hardware failure. Here in part two, we look at self-testing methods that address software malfunctions.
  
  
• Boot time optimization for automobile and consumer applications (Feb. 01, 2016)
  Embedded systems are fast becoming part of day to day life for comfort, convenience, entertainment, health care and security. With most of the pros like the increased use of smartphones, decreased hardware chip set cost, ease of use and availability of free and open source OS like Linux has enabled the use of embedded systems in multitudes.
  
  
• Non-intrusive debug (Dec. 21, 2015)
  Debugging represents a very significant part of an embedded software development project. All developers have their own favorite approaches and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. A key issue is how intrusive the debug tools are - i.e. the extent to which debugging software affects the functionality of the code.
  
  
• Security framework for IoT devices (Dec. 10, 2015)
  Security challenges continue to make headlines in the IoT - and no vertical market has been spared. Automotive security has been in the headlines recently, but lighting systems, white goods, home security devices, medical equipment, airplanes and industrial automation systems have all had their unfortunate turn in the cyber vulnerability spotlight.
  
  
• ARM64 vs ARM32 -- What's different for Linux programmers (Oct. 26, 2015)
  When ARM introduced 64-bit support to its architecture, it aimed for compatibility with prior 32-bit software. But for Linux programmers, there remain some significant differences that can affect code behaviour. Here are some we found and the workarounds we developed for them.
  
  
• Hardware Acceleration for Embedded Computing (Sep. 28, 2015)
  The Hot Chips conference for 2015 has come and gone, leaving us with a snapshot of some of the best contemporary thinking on silicon architectures. And while the scope of this year’s conference was wide—from wearables to supercomputers—a handful of papers, taken together, sketched out a strategy for the near future of embedded computing.
  
  
• Floating-point data in embedded software (Sep. 17, 2015)
  Although many embedded applications can be implemented using integer arithmetic, there are times when the ability to deal with floating point (real) numbers is required. This article looks at the details of floating point operations, when floating point should and should not be used, some of the pitfalls of its use and how its use may sometimes be avoided.
  
  
• RTOS memory utilization (Sep. 03, 2015)
  Most embedded systems of non-trivial complexity employ an operating system of some kind - commonly an RTOS. Ultimately, the OS is an overhead, which uses time and memory that could otherwise have been used by the application code
  
  
• Addressing the challenges of embedded analytics (Aug. 31, 2015)
  Analytics are often touted as the solution to many problems across a variety of embedded applications such as surveillance, automotive, industrial, and even purpose-built high-performance compute servers.
  
  
• Power management in embedded software (Aug. 21, 2015)
  This article reviews how power management is achieved while a device is operating and looks at the techniques employed to minimize power consumption when a device is inactive.
  
  
• Security in vehicular systems (Aug. 03, 2015)
  With the advent of IoT and increasingly interconnected and autonomous nature of a vehicle’s control modules, there has been an exponential increase in V2V, V2X and inter vehicular communications. This in turn increases the attack surface for hackers which demands state-of-art security features in modern automotive microcontrollers, moreover safety and security go hand in hand.
  
  
• Software IP Protection in a Complicated World (Jul. 28, 2015)
  With software becoming a competitive differentiator even in hardware designs, it is important to use behavioral analytics tools that protect proprietary software IP from theft.
  
  
• Building Process For the C/C++ Program on Complex SoCs (Jun. 29, 2015)
  In this paper we have discussed about the typical .c/cpp building flow in complex SoCs.In this paper different stages in C/CPP building flow are mentioned and how the stimulus is generated(corresponding to what is in .c/cpp) to modules and how the core takes the stimulus to module i.e. how core/processors and c/cpp building flow works in typical SoCs.
  
  
• Ensuring Security in the Connected Home (Jun. 11, 2015)
  Security plays a critical role in the market adoption of the IoT. It's easy to imagine a scenario in which an intruder uses a connected appliance to gain control of someone's smart home or access to their personal information.