Software Analysis – High Impact Services, Inc.

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

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

Remote Operated Small Arms Mount

5 October 202013 November 2019 by Sean

This project began as a Software Systems Safety effort and culminated in developing a custom hardware/software Slew-to-Cue system. We initially performed a thorough safety analysis of a recent software revision of the ROSAM, (also known as the MK-49 MOD 0). We discovered a number of hazards. The system’s vendor corrected the issues and we proceeded … Read more

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

Premature Detonation Avoided

9 December 20199 May 2013 by Sean

While performing a Software Safety Analysis for a Radio-Frequency-Initiated Detonator, we analyzed the hardware/software interface. We decided to go “outside the box” and analyze the circuitry which insured the microprocessor would come out of power-up reset correctly … turns out– it didn’t reset properly! The processor could therefore operate erratically, which could initiate an unexpected detonation!

Embedded Systems Software / Safety