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Embedded Systems Articles

• 10 Tips for designing a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) (Jun. 03, 2015)
  
  
  
• Platforms Open Door to New Factory Automation Era (Jun. 03, 2015)
  Factory automation equipment has traditionally relied on dedicated network ASICs, but the platform approach is gaining ground.
  
  
• USB connectivity in a battery-powered IoT world (May. 22, 2015)
  USB's ease-of-use, plug-and-play functionality and robustness do not come free for embedded solutions designers, especially if they are designing power-sensitive, battery-operated connected device products for the Internet of Things.
  
  
• Automotive Security & Internet of Tomorrow (IoT) (May. 13, 2015)
  We need to go beyond Internet of Things and get to the Internet of Tomorrow, a highly-secure version of the IoT.
  
  
• Testing code that uses an RTOS API (Apr. 17, 2015)
  A desktop-based test harness can help developers make progress in testing code littered with RTOS API calls.
  
  
• 5 Steps to Securing the IoT (Mar. 25, 2015)
  A handful of simple principles can help engineers build more secure designs targeting the Internet of Things (IoT).
  
  
• Secure Virtualization as an Enabler of Trusted Execution Environments in Embedded Computing (Mar. 09, 2015)
  Use of virtualization in embedded environments is growing in such things as consumer electronics, automotive and IoT applications. Virtualization can provide secure separation of resources, and this secure virtualization can aid in the creation of multiple independent security domains. Secure virtualization can be made simpler and more secure by the addition of hardware that extends the Virtual Machine to incorporate subsystems beyond the CPU.
  
  
• Queue Based Interrupt Service Protocol for Error Detection (Mar. 09, 2015)
  The paper discusses about a Queue Based Interrupt Service Protocol, which eliminates the possible limitations faced by global variable interrupt service protocol and helps in extracting maximum performance out of system software.
  
  
• Wireless communication standards for the Internet of Things (Mar. 02, 2015)
  This white paper provides an overview of the most important contenders around the IoT Wireless Communication Standards. We are looking at wireless networking technologies.
  
  
• Basics of the Cortex MCU Software Interface Standard: Part 1 - CMSIS Specification (Feb. 17, 2015)
  Trevor Martin provides an in-depth tutorial on the ARM Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) and how to use it to import and integrate source code from multiple sources during the development of embedded systems software applications.
  
  
• Incorporating USB battery charging protocols into an Android-based design (Feb. 09, 2015)
  This article explores USB-based charging that you, as an Android developer, need to know to develop applications related to charging in various user contexts: wall charger, personal computer, and charging dock. Because both will be important, this article will discuss battery charging in the context of both the USB.org formal spec as well as the native one included within the Android framework.
  
  
• Securing the IoT: Part 2 - Secure boot as root of trust (Jan. 12, 2015)
  The importance of implementing connected devices with a secure boot mechanism and its role as the “root of trust” and cornerstone of an...
  
  
• Securing the IoT: Part 1 - Public key cryptography (Jan. 12, 2015)
  The authors detail security risks facing the developer of an Internet of Things device and recommend the best public key-based algorithms to use.
  
  
• Optimizing data memory utilization (Jan. 12, 2015)
  The conflicts that occur when optimizing an embedded design for size versus speed in a limited resource environment and what developers can do about resolving them.
  
  
• Dealing with memory access ordering in complex embedded designs (Jan. 05, 2015)
  The area I address in this article is memory accesses, specifically the order in which they happen. The simple act of loading, storing, and transferring data between processor and memory is much more complex than it used to be.
  
  
• Embedded software development tools - a third way (Dec. 15, 2014)
  Colin Walls looks at why embedded software programming differs so much from programming for desktop computers and why there are so many options for programming tools. He also provides a strategy for selecting the tools you need
  
  
• Why and how to measure your RTOS performance (Dec. 11, 2014)
  Selecting an RTOS for an embedded system is quite a complex process and making the right decision is critical. It will require looking at and evaluating the metrics of three important parameters: memory footprint, interrupt and scheduling latencies, and kernel services timing.
  
  
• Data storage in non-volatile memory (Dec. 03, 2014)
  Although flash and other non-volatile memory technologies are widely used to implement embedded file systems, this may be too complex for some embedded applications. In many cases the memory may be most efficiently used as data structures that have been pre-initialized. This approach requires some management of data integrity. This article introduces the challenges and offers some simple solutions to using NVRAM.
  
  
• Using sub-gigahertz wireless for long range Internet of Things connectivity (Nov. 17, 2014)
  In this Product How-To article, Vivek Mohan of Silicon Labs explains the role of the sub-Gigahertz wireless radio spectrum in extending the range wireless devices in an Internet of Things network, and how to use the company’s EZRadio and EZRadioPRO sub-GHz transceivers in such applications.
  
  
• Reaping the benefits of architectural modeling in embedded design (Nov. 10, 2014)
  In this article we present our experiences on how companies can ease the transition to model-based architecture design and begin reaping its benefits. We take automotive E&E (Electric & Electronic) systems as an example here, but the principles and tool support are not limited to the automotive domain.
  
  
• Selecting an operating system for an embedded application (Oct. 27, 2014)
  In this article, the process of selecting an operating system for an embedded system is outlined and reviewed. Colin Walls of Mentor Graphics discusses whether or not you need to use an OS and if so, whether it will be a free, open source version, commercial, or a custom designed one. Then he drills down and looks at the pros and cons of various features you will need in the OS you have chosen.
  
  
• Security in transit (Oct. 09, 2014)
  This article, third in a series of articles on the basics of electronic security, looks at security in transit. The author explains how to assess the “chain” that links the various parts of a network message path and how to ensure that data is secure.
  
  
• Tampering with the easy targets (Oct. 09, 2014)
  This second in a series on the basics of electronic security looks at the variety of malware attack methods and how to identify them and then implement strategies and tactics to thwart the attackers and intruders.
  
  
• What does 'security' really mean? (Oct. 09, 2014)
  In the first in a series on the basics of electronic security, the traditional meanings of the word ‘security’ is examined, and the author explains how ubiquitous connectivity changes the way these definitions apply to today’s problems.
  
  
• The IoT is turning software development upside down (Oct. 01, 2014)
  There are many complexities to a ‘disconnected’ embedded system, but at least the software is operating within a defined domain of memory and processors, together with the I/O registers that connect to real-world sensors, timers, displays and actuators
  
  
• Addressing MIPI M-PHY connectivity challenges for more efficient testing (Sep. 22, 2014)
  The intent of this article is to provide information that will increase your chances of accurate and repeatable test results to ensure compliance with the standard.
  
  
• Vision in wearable devices: Expanded application and function choices (Sep. 18, 2014)
  Once-hot technology markets such as computers and smartphones are beginning to cool off; analyst firm IDC, for example, forecast earlier this year that smartphone sales will increase only 19% this year, down from 39% in 2013.
  
  
• Building ARM-based Bluetooth-enabled wearables (Sep. 18, 2014)
  The fast evolving market for wearable products will see explosive growth and many new use cases over the next few years. Market research company IHS predicts this market will be worth $30 billion in revenues and 210 million units by 2018.
  
  
• A multitasking kernel in one line of code - almost (Sep. 11, 2014)
  In a world dominated by real-time operating systems with enormous arrays of functionality and full-scale operating systems like Linux, it can be useful to stand back and consider the basics. What if you just need some basic multi-threading? How complex does that need to be?
  
  
• Pinning down the acceptable level of jitter for your embedded design (Aug. 28, 2014)
  There are several clock jitter types, measurement methodologies, and corresponding specifications. But most hardware designers don’t have the time to research these, and the detailed nuances of clock jitter specifications can seem like trivial minutia to the board designer.