Embedded Technology The Road Ahead

Continued from page: 1

Monday, August 13, 2007

b>The evolution

Until a few years ago, the requirements of typical embedded systems lagged behind that of the PC, by a generation. However, embedded designers, today, are looking to use latest technology in system design. A great example of this is the medical segment where developers are implementing medical imaging devices, based on the latest micro-architecture.

Another trend that is being increasingly seen is the migration into dual-core platforms, in several market segments. For example, in an industrial environment, a chip with multiple independent processors can dedicate one core to running a robot under a real-time operating system, while the second core runs enterprise applications. Thus, essential control isn't starved for processing cycles or memory. These market segments are rapidly adopting state-of-the-art processor and chipset technology.

Chipmakers, like Intel and TI, are actively driving the next generation of embedded platforms and their scaleable embedded product roadmap offers multiple options to embedded developers and customers, for scaling up and down, the performance curve, while preserving their software investment.

Today, an important element of the India embedded landscape are the design services companies. These companies typically develop embedded hardware and software design, for overseas customers. They tend to focus on the latest embedded market segments, such as in-vehicle infotainment, digital security and surveillance, as well as, developing platforms on the latest technologies. They are increasingly tying up with EMS companies to deliver a complete product solution.

A key focus area for local developers is in-vehicle infotainment. Today, vehicle buyers overseas are increasingly demanding access to their multimedia content and productivity applications in their cars. Hence, automobile manufacturers have to provide integrated services for driver and passenger entertainment, driver assistance, productivity applications and connectivity. Automakers are increasingly turning towards Indian design houses to develop applications for in-car computing. Platforms based on Embedded IA offer the optimum combination of performance and features for the rugged conditions of a motor vehicle.

Another important trend is the emergence of the channel partners in the embedded market in India. These are system integrators and assemblers, who are now looking at the embedded market as a new growth opportunity. The channel tends to typically focus on embedded terminals used in education, banking and financial services, as well as, POS for retail–and they work either independently or as third party partners for global players.

Today, medical imaging is a growing market segment in India. Developers are working on the latest ultrasound, MRI and diagnostic devices, for both local and overseas markets. These devices require speed, high-resolution imagery, reconstruction capability and very high bandwidth. Reconstruction algorithms especially require a tremendous amount of processing power, such as dual-core embedded processors, which are widely adopted in this segment.

Role of software

The teams that work in embedded software development (such as Intel or TI or Indian software houses Wipro, HCL Technologies, MindTree or Tata Elxsi) have a significant amount of domain knowledge required to build the product, as well as, they have also a very good understanding of the key tools, emerging trends, standards and methodologies that are required to build the product right.

Building a successful embedded product in the given timelines requires teams that are well-versed with the latest technologies in this domain. If they are asked to build a next generation phone by a customer who is trying to enter this market, they should be able to suggest to them what processor/SoC is best suited for the model they plan, what is the right development environment which works seamlessly with that processor or SoC; or what type of debugging support is available on those platforms.

The level of optimization provided by compilers, the vendor choice for Real Time Operating System for the phone, communication protocols or any other phone middleware, media players, multimedia codecs and best ways to design the user interface are even more critical in the embedded software world. These technical specialists spend a lot of time in tracking these trends worldwide and are able to help their customers to reach decisions faster and to implement those decisions.

Today, there is growing importance given to each of the different software pieces required to build any embedded device. With a plethora of choice available from a semiconductor perspective, especially the processors and SoCs, very often, the availability of the right software components, such as compilers, development environments, RTOS, codecs, middleware and UI components ported to that platform (and known to work), decide the success of processors or SoCs. This is the reason why a lot of semiconductor companies are today investing in a significant amount of software development. The software components are enablers for silicon sales.

Software companies work with a lot of semiconductor organizations in developing the enabling layers of software that help them achieve their market penetration goals. They also partner with some of the software/middleware vendors to develop expertise on their offerings so that their knowledge is up-to-date at all times. With more and more complex devices such as dual core and quad core chips becoming common, the role of software becomes crucial in getting the best performance out of the entire system.'

Incidentally, Wind River Systems had unveiled a device software optimization (DSO) product line at its worldwide annual user conference last year. The software is expected to 'cover activities that come into play after a device has been deployed; this includes diagnostics, updates and the managed remote services capabilities of devices.

Software development

A good embedded professional should have a very good appreciation of how the underlying hardware works, the bus structures, the memory organization, the various devices and how they share the system resources, and several other finer details. This is what enables them to really develop compact systems, and more importantly decides the productivity that can be achieved during the development phase of the product.

One should also have a very good understanding of the different tools available such as logic analyzers, debugging setups utilizing the JTAG based in-circuit emulators. In some cases they also utilize even more advanced tools such as virtual platforms to do a lot of co-development of the embedded software when the actual hardware platform is not yet ready. Organizations working in this domain have to be cognizant of this and work towards developing their engineering staff in these areas.

For example, Wipro's Embedded Foundation competency group works towards building all these essential skills in their engineers by way of graded courses, workshops and online content. Starting from the fresh recruits, these programs help to grow their skill level step by step. They have made a large investment in the Embedded Foundation competency group by having their senior architects driving these competency development initiatives. They bring their actual product development experience, the challenges and their learning in overcoming them, and share it with junior engineers which helps them to become more productive in an accelerated fashion.

The way to go

Internet or network enabled embedded products will become an essential part of our lives in the near future. Time to market, cost and features will determine the success of an embedded product. Hardware and software would have to be developed concurrently. Creating the right ecosystem, for an efficient design chain and ensuring success of a product, is an important consideration.

The opportunities available in this space are vast. Technologies like digital consumer, set-top boxes, mobile devices, wearable computers, network systems and entertainment devices are poised for big growth. It is necessary to develop good skills in ASIC/SoC designs using an EDA approach, mixed signal design, high frequency board design techniques, low level software design, programming in assembly language and thorough knowledge in an RTOS.

Undoubtedly, India is emerging as a major hub for embedded systems design and the way ahead is much wider and clearer.

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