Articles

Embedded System Design Articles

From 1991 through 1998, Scott Rosenthal of SLTF wrote a column for Personal Engineering & Instrumentation News magazine on the issues involved with designing embedded systems — the hardware, the software, and the business aspects. The following articles are adapted from his PE&IN column:

Usability

• Application-defined hardware/software tradeoffs mark the difference between success and failure
• Functionality alone won't guarantee a successful design
• A good user interface is as important as proper functionality
• A project in the field must adapt to harsh reality

Software Practices

• Is C++ the not-ready-for-prime-time embedded language?
• Good programmers don't need C++ to think for them
• System initialization requires as much care as the rest of your design
• Now that the processor's reset, here's how to get the code running
• For digging out hardware bugs, monitor programs fill the bill
• Monitors are valuable, easy to use and create
• The search for the perfect software might be never ending, but it's not pointless
• Adequate testing means more than just checking against the specification
• Language-localization tips aid overseas sales
• Cooperative operating systems impose RTOS discipline without its complexity
• Desktop engineers: beware pitfalls when transitioning to embedded systems
• Tips from the trenches: tweak your way to improved C compiler output

System Design

• PC chipsets build a firm foundation for embedded applications
• PC chipsets have a dark side, too
• Check out lower-performance processors, too
• The true test for a new technique is the real world -- not a development lab
• Why don't programmers think like normal people?
• For alerting an operator, all beeps weren't created equal
• Standard ICs make it difficult to build an alarming instrument
• It sometimes takes a microcontroller to boot up an FPGA
• Interfacing to large switch banks requires more than stringing a few additional wires
• Modern development tools remove complications--but at what price?
• Consumer products guide the way in low-cost product design
• A requirements document before a project pays big dividends in time and money
• Although testing assures a product works, a test document defines what "works" means
• With most embedded systems, many bad problems lie inside "the box"
• It takes more than technical skill to consult in the embedded market
• Consulting in the embedded world requires diplomacy
• Good enough is exactly that

Embedded Hardware

• Serial EEPROMs provide secure data storage for embedded systems
• Validating data acquisition saves debugging time
• Flash memories are useful--but they're not magic
• Electronic cam significantly eases development of microcontroller code
• Don't forget bit basics while using an HLL
• The trick to hot-plugging is not frying the module---or your patience
• Interrupts might seem basic, but many programmers still avoid them
• PC Cards as EPROM replacements remove one last code-development bottleneck
• The road to loquacious instrumentation is rough but passable
• Off-the-shelf hardware and multimedia bring voice output within easy reach
• Selecting an embedded processor involves both simple and nontechnical criteria
• Small PIC12C family provides programmability and speed at a price

Fuzzy Logic

• The future of high precision is fuzzy
• Building a fuzzy-logic controller doesn't require an AI degree---just common sense

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