Embedded Systems – High Impact Services, Inc.

Simple Real-Time Scheduler for Embedded Linux

8 April 20202 April 2020 by Sean

So, you’re developing a real-time application which runs under Linux You’ve got some periodic (for example, timer) signals to handle And some aperiodic tasks (perhaps handling TCP/IP packets or other I/O) And some regularly scheduled tasks to perform (such as motor control, UI) Here is a simple design which cleanly handles all those soft real-time … Read more

Glucose Meter Software Development

11 December 201911 December 2019 by Sean

We developed the embedded software for a very large scale consumer handheld glucose meter. The code was written in “C”, targeting an NEC K0 Microcontroller. This project incorporated a custom LCD display and a custom ASIC to measure the glucose in a drop of blood placed on a sensor which was inserted in the meter. … Read more

Omega 36 Grenade Launcher Simulator

9 December 20199 December 2019 by Sean

Did we hit the target? When our military forces train, they need non-lethal ways to simulate actual battlefield conditions. The Omega 36 ignites pyrotechnic cartridges on command, providing visual and audible target recognition. We performed a detailed Software Safety Analysis on the Omega 36’s microcontroller software (firmware). We focused our efforts on the available system … Read more

Software Safety Training

14 February 202018 November 2019 by Sean

How does a team conduct an effective software systems safety analysis for a small embedded system? What is required to get safety board (SSSTRP and WSESRB) approval? We were hired to develop training for a Navy engineering team to teach them just that. The training enabled them to examine Safety-Critical software code and it’s associated … Read more

Explosive Ordnance Controls

9 December 201918 November 2019 by Sean

Special Forces operatives often place explosives to destroy enemy assets. They must be a safe distance from the ordnance before it can detonate. Different devices can be used to trigger the detonation safely: Time Delayed Firing Devices Radio Frequency Detonators Infrared Firing Devices others We were hired to perform detailed System Safety Assessment on many … Read more

10x Better Accuracy / Complete Flexibility

13 January 202028 June 2019 by Sean

We developed a hardware and software solution 10x more accurate than they were expecting. They required that we just get the target somewhere on the ROSAM’s display screen. Using algorithms of our own design, we got the target in the center of the crosshairs!

Unit Tests, Functional Tests, Inspection – what works Best?

11 February 202011 October 2013 by Sean

The software tester can be inundated with numerous testing strategies … how do you choose? First – determine what types of defects are likely to lie in your code. Then, choose a strategy which is likely to uncover those types of defects. Functional testing is performed on all projects, to at least a minimum level. … Read more

Does Utilization Guarantee Schedulability?

14 February 202011 October 2013 by Sean

In testing Real-time systems, we typically must answer the question “Will all my tasks complete their work on time … in the worst case?”. In other words, we must assure that all the hard timing deadlines are met. Utilization is the first test. It simply determines what percent of the processor’s capability is used to get all the work done. … Read more

How can an RTOS affect my Software Testing?

5 October 202011 October 2013 by Sean

A Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) is often used in Embedded Systems to organize and simplify the scheduling and coordination of the “work” the processor performs. There are many types of RTOSes, varying dramatically in complexity, cost, features, etc. Although a complete list of the ways an RTOS can affect the Testing and Analysis of critical … Read more

Trimming Resources saves $1M

25 November 201910 May 2013 by Sean

The team needed a microcontroller with more memory. Since this was a very high-volume product, moving to a more expensive microcontroller was going to cost $1,000,000+ over the three-year production life-cycle.

Embedded Systems Software / Safety