There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the embedded software community and become an embedded software developer. IoT devices are now part of our everyday lives, and the general pace of technological change and innovation continues to gather speed. To satisfy this largely consumer-driven... read more →
Jan
02
Nov
29
If client is king, how far should you go to respect that mantra, and at what cost to the end product? An inherent part of embedded development is dealing with clients, their expectations, needs and quirks. It can be an enjoyable part of the job when things run smoothly and... read more →
Jun
07
As a system of interconnected devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) has existed for decades, albeit under different names and in different guises. The ability to connect, communicate with, and remotely manage immense numbers of networked, automated devices via the internet has now permeated all areas of our lives. However,... read more →
Feb
20
The idea of readable code - that it should be written to make it as easy as possible for future readers to understand - is not new. Brian Kernighan and PJ Plauger's book, The Elements of Programming Style, was first published in 1974, around the same time as the embedded... read more →
Feb
10
Why are serial ports still useful? It is hard to find them on desktop PCs and laptops but they are still an important part of many embedded systems. Here is my list of uses and why I think they're important. 1. Console i/o When I am working on an embedded... read more →
Jan
21
Richard Quinnell recently commented in his article Embedded Design Profession Under Siege: "Embedded systems development as a profession is under siege. Companies like Oracle want to turn the millions of Java web programmers into embedded developers for the Internet of Things. Low-cost development boards such as the Arduino are reducing... read more →
Dec
08
The first part of this article looked at why DMA is important and how DMA can be used in a system. This part looks at some of the problems that can occur and what needs to be done to handle the problems effectively. Cache Coherency On processors with a data... read more →
Nov
21
In the first part of this two part article we will look at why DMA is used and the benefits it can bring for overall system performance. Direct Memory Access is feature of computer hardware that allows devices to gain access to the main bus linking the processor to the... read more →
Oct
04
Since its earliest days, one of the key features of Wind River's VxWorks real-time operating system has been its support for networking. This applies not only to the run-time system, but also to the development environment. Even before Tornado and Workbench, Wind River's tools have traditionally placed a strong emphasis... read more →
Sep
24
The Raspberry Pi has received a lot of attention since its release in early 2012. It was designed to be a simple, low-cost device for use in schools to encourage interest in computers and computing. Whether that goal has been achieved is perhaps still open to debate, but what is... read more →
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