Looking for a firmware development company? The Softeq firmware development team will help you create bare metal, BSP, and DSP firmware. We also offer Linux and Android customization services. Once the work is done, our dedicated firmware QA lab checks whether your device works properly and ...

Firmware Development Company | Softeq

USA Firmware enlists a powerful group of partners, who are well respected in the engineering design services industry, and enhance the value we provide to our clients and their product design and engineering initiatives. We are always seeking new partnerships with innovative companies.

Home - USA Firmware

Top companies for Firmware at VentureRadar with Innovation Scores, Core Health Signals and more. Including Phosphorus Cybersecurity etc

Top Firmware companies | VentureRadar

As a Custom Firmware Development Company, we provide full-fledged firmware development services to companies looking to control equipment and gadgets remotely, connect devices within IoT infrastructure and collect and process sensor data. We work with sensor manufacturers, OEMs and chip vendors ...

Firmware Development Services | LeewayHertz USA

Search through thousands of company, investor and advisor profiles to get a preview of PitchBook&#x27;s world class data. Try it today!

Firmware Company Profile: Acquisition & Investors

We are a firmware development company with 8 years of extensive experience. Learn more about the low-level firmware development services we provide.

Firmware Development Services - Integra Sources

Custom firmware development services offered by a company with experience programming elements of PCs, smart cars, industrial equipment, and much more

Custom Firmware Development Services | Chetu

Browse the top companies hiring for Firmware Engineer jobs. Salaries, reviews, and more - all posted by employees working at the top companies hiring for Firmware Engineer jobs. Apply to jobs near you.

Top Companies Hiring for Firmware Engineer Jobs | Glassdoor

D&amp;K Engineering provides software and firmware product development services with knowledge of the different windows programming codes. Contact us to learn more!

Software Product Design Company - Embedded Firmware Development ...

Welcome to the premier industrial Computer Firmware resource. A wide variety of manufacturers, distributors and service companies are featured in our extensive vertical directory to allow ease sourcing and research for Computer Firmware.

Computer Firmware

Doing, let&#x27;s say, air conditioner firmware for years will obviously level out what you can learn, in a year or two. Another key is to find a place that actually delivers physical products to the market. Nothing hones your skills better than &quot;the real world&quot;. It teaches you what really matters. Also, find a place that lets you learn domain-specific skills - the standards, processes, algorithms, terminology, hardware, .. ... I would add that in big companies ...

r/microcontrollers on Reddit: What are the best companies to work ...

Firmware Development Company is a service provided by firmware companies to develop embedded firmware software. A Firmware Development Company will consists of a team of engineers who are educated and experienced in the field of firmware engineering and have the necessary skills and knowledge ...

Firmware Development Company Vendor Catalog - HardwareBee

Firmware Development Services: Mistral is a leading firmware development company in India. Mistral offers BSP and firmware development services like system architecture, partitioning, RTOS abstraction, Board bring-up, boot loader, BIOS porting &amp; performance optimization and validation &amp; debugging.

Firmware | Mistral - BSP and Firmware Development Company

Links to BIOS and firmware companies and related links.

Computer BIOS and Firmware Companies and Links

Eclypsium&#x27;s platform enhances supply chain security by incorporating zero-trust in every device, fortifying hardware, firmware, and software.

Zero-Trust Supply Chain Risk Management | Eclypsium

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Firmware

Get the latest firmware releases and receive notifications of any updates.

Firmware Upgrade | Amcrest Technologies

8Bitdo, support, Auto controller recognition. Download firmware update when connected to the Internet, Maunally update the firmware on advanced mode, Enter controller upgrade mode automatically, This does not apply to our old or discontinued models

Upgrade tool - Support - 8BitDo

Once the OK icon is displayed on the camera’s rear monitor, it is safe to disconnect. It will take approximately 5 minutes for the firmware file to download, and an additional 5 minutes until the OK icon is displayed (after the writing icon is displayed) on the rear monitor.

firmware

The software portal is designed to provide Toyota Customers with updates for their vehicle&#x27;s Audio Multimedia system. Please input your vehicle information above to check available updates. For vehicle&#x27;s with eligible updates a compatible USB drive will be required for the software download.

Home | Toyota Software

Firmway, is a FinTech company with an aim to build scalable products through latest technologies

Firmway

Each week, we share five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally. 1. Learn how to pronounce their names While mispronouncing a colleague’s name may not seem like a big deal, it can be one more reminder that they are different from the norm. Doing so might make them feel they don’t belong, or that they’re less important than their peers. In , reporter Gail Cornwall shared tips collected from educators for remembering students’ names. Things like: an article for KQED Tell someone, “I don’t know how to say your name yet, can you explain it to me? I’m working on learning it, and it’s important to me to say it the way it’s meant to be said.” Keep saying it until you get it right. Use names as much as possible, almost as obnoxiously as a telemarketer would, until they sink in. She also shared what may be a secret weapon for those of us who struggle with pronouncing unfamiliar names: . It’s a super helpful site. Bookmark it now. pronouncenames.com 2. Say “We don’t do that here” to help set culture A few years back, Aja Hammerly, a developer advocate at Google, wrote with the following story: a blog post “The college I attended was small and very LGBT friendly. One day someone came to visit and used the word ‘gay’ as a pejorative, as was common in the early 2000s. A current student looked at the visitor and flatly said, ‘we don’t do that here.’ The guest started getting defensive and explaining that they weren’t homophobic and didn’t mean anything by it. The student replied, ‘I’m sure that’s true, but all you need to know is we don’t do that here.’ The interaction ended at that point, and everyone moved on to different topics. ‘We don’t do that here’ was a polite but firm way to educate the newcomer about our culture.” Sounds like the perfect phrase to use in a workplace as well. 3. Call out creepy behavior When someone claimed software developer advocate Chloe Condon was stalking him — at an event she didn’t attend, using a photo she had published over a year earlier — an impressive number of people stood up for her. Friends, acquaintances, and random nice people across the internet jumped in to help. , “The amount of folks, many complete strangers, who helped do all this detective work, commented words of support, and DMed me to check-in on my personal safety and mental health has been amazing and I am thankful.” As Chloe explained Her article reveals other examples of online harassment, and it’s a good reminder of how awful it can be for women on the internet. Allies, let’s all keep our eyes open and call out creepy behavior when we see it. 4. Hold interviews in hotel rooms only as a last resort Economist Anna Stansbury about job interviews being held in hotel rooms, and why that’s a problem for women and LGBTQ individuals. TLDR: It could be uncomfortable and could potentially put a candidate in a dangerous situation. For a sexual assault victim, it could be triggering. Plus, there’s stereotype threat; Female candidates going to an interview in a hotel bedroom with mostly or all male interviewers may find the gender gap more apparent, which may impede their performance. tweeted Allies, let’s hold interviews in hotel rooms only when there’s no other viable option. And make sure there are enough chairs so that no one has to sit on the bed. 5. Take action when you hear these “red flag” phrases There are phrases that should raise red flags for anyone who wants inclusive workplaces. Phrases like: That candidate wouldn’t be a culture fit. [some qualification that doesn’t exist on the job description but that more privileged candidates meet]. That candidate doesn’t have [cool new role] . They wouldn’t want because of the travel [responsibility they’ve already done] I’d like to see them prove they can handle before promoting them. I don’t want to lower the bar. There’s not enough pipeline to hire more women or people of color. [To the only woman in the room] Can you take notes? [some derogatory comment]. I’m not racist/sexist/homophobic, but [when hearing about workplace challenges faced by underrepresented groups]. Well, we’re different [some form of harassment just reported] I’ve never seen , so I don’t think it could happen here. I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend anyone. When you hear one of those phrases, pay attention and be ready to take action. And consider downloading our of these phrases. Print it, share it, start a conversation. Better Allies mini-poster Thumbnail of the mini-poster Being an ally is a journey. Want to join us? 😍 Follow @betterallies on , , , or . Twitter Medium Instagram Pinterest ✉️ This content originally appeared in our newsletter, . to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. 5 Ally Actions Subscribe 📖 Read the book Better Allies Together, we can — and will — make a difference.

Learn to Pronounce Their Names, Don’t Hold Interviews in Hotel Rooms, and Other Actions for Allies

Top 65+ STO Agencies | STO Service Providers

and of this series focused on partnerships and EOY price predictions for VeChain Thor. Part 3 will examine some less well known alt-coins with a lot of upside in the Chinese market in 2018. Part 1 Part 2 cryptocurrency Finding information on smaller projects originating in China can be difficult. However, this can work to the advantage of investors prepared to dig in with some research and provides . Blockchain opportunities for identifying lesser known projects with a lot of growth potential I believe the best indicators of future success for a cryptocurrency project are the quality of its partnerships/investors and the scale of the value creation from the problem being solved by implementing Blockchain. If a Billion dollar company or a government has invested significant time and money into a project, more so than I could ever hope to, then the risk-reward ratio vastly improves. For this reason, all of the projects included here have what I believe to be strong partnerships and/or investors, as well as market caps on the lower side, giving room for a share of the . In addition, there’s a clear use case for large scale value creation. potential Trillion Dollar Blockchain market in China https://www.matrix.io/ The is a promising and potentially undervalued project coming out of China. , giving it a market cap of around $175–200 million (if you include all possible future coins in circulation) recent activity has pushed MAN into the $0.90 — $1.20 range. Matrix AI Network (MAN) MAN has a price of around $0.70–0.80, with a maximum supply of 250,000,000 coins edit: like Matrix AI Network? Does Bitcoin Genius Matrix will integrate AI with Blockchain to allow users with a low level of programming ability to create smart contracts that are tested using AI to ensure they don’t contain bugs or loopholes. It also uses a form of mining that solves mathematical problems applicable to the real world — as opposed to problems that merely demonstrate some computer power has been used to solve them. There are a variety of other benefits being touted such as faster transaction time, scalability, less susceptible to malicious attacks, and flexibility (through the use of adaptive optimization). For a more in depth understanding I would recommend digging into their comprehensive and . Business White Paper Technical White Paper https://twitter.com/matrixchain MATRIX Partnerships and Investors The most exciting partnership for MAN is their connection with the : Chinese Government One Belt One Road Initiative MATRIX’s head of business ecology/partnerships is Executive Projects Expert for the state-owned Belt and Road Research and Development Center. MATRIX are the exclusive blockchain partner and the exclusive AI partner for the center and all blockchain related Belt and Road contracts and projects via the center go to MATRIX. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Belt_One_Road_Initiative Although the connection between MAN and the OBOR initiative is Page and quite a few news articles, there is nothing concrete I could find other than that apparently shows the MATRIX team meeting with government officials. However, I find it unlikely for such a claim to be made and then not refuted by the Chinese Government if it was not true. mentioned on the MAN Reddit this article in Chinese The , a state controlled organisation. Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence Torque Capital Partners (see below). Hyperledger. https://www.slideshare.net/SMatthewEnglish/introduction-to-hyperledger Beijing Cancer Hospital, another government organization. Cybernaut, with over 200BN CNY in managed assets. an investment group goes into a great deal of depth regarding the merits of the project. Please note the ICO has already taken place. I also found useful as a relatively detailed overview of the project. This article about the ICO in January this compiled research Matrix (MAN) is only at the moment. This exchange is a little more difficult to use and get set up on than some of the other larger exchanges. However, I would consider this a benefit as it is likely to put many potential buyers off, meaning when it is finally released on a larger exchange such as Binance the upside should be greater. available on iDEX . Do your own research before making any investments. I have buy orders in place for when MAN drops to $0.90 but am not affiliated in any way with the project. This is not investment advice http://www.cpchain.io/ CPChain ( ) is a new distributed infrastructure for next generation Internet of Things (IoT). CPChain intends to build a fundamental data platform for IoT system in combination with distributed storage, encryption computation and blockchain technologies, providing the whole process solution from data acquisition, storage, sharing to application. CPC http://www.cpchain.io/index.html#project Nice Moon Why Coin? CPChain has a current price of around $0.23, . This gives a current market cap of around $52 million (if you only include the circulating coins) to $230 million (if you include all future coins in circulation). a circulating supply of 230 Million coins and total supply of 1 Billion coins http://www.cpchain.io/CPChain_Whitepaper_English.pdf Whilst many projects out there are looking to extract value through use of IoT (internet of things), CPC has partnerships that make me believe they are likely to be successful in taking a share of this market. CPChain have . Qtum Foundation, Vechain Foundation, Metaverse Foundation, Chainfund and HPB as investors http://sl.vc/posts/4760 QTUM is a Chinese Blockchain company that focuses on providing an improved execution of smart contracts and services that bridge the gap between blockchains and the business world. QTUM themselves have an impressive array of investors and the . I also believe QTUM could be a great project to watch, although I haven’t included it in detail here because I want to focus on smaller cap projects. QTUM coin is ranked 20 in total market cap at just shy of $2 billion Angel Backers of QTUM https://qtum.org/en/learn-more-about-qtum is a VC firm specialising in partnering with Blockchain projects of the future. You can find , along with details of the CPChain team. Torque Capital Partners details of the Torque partnership here As part of your own research you might want to dive into the following links (below) related to partnerships, or dive into . this article from HackerNoon CPChain is currently available on and . iDEX Bibox Just a reminder, . Do your own research before making any investments. I own some CPChain but am not affiliated in any way with the project. The Bibox link above is a referral link. this is not investment advice https://www.thekey.vip/ THEKEY (TKY) is another great project flying under the radar. With a (or much lower if you only count the coins in circulation). current market price of between about $0.027-$0.04 and a maximum future supply of 10 billion coins, giving a market cap in the $270–350 million range THEKEY will partner with the end user (citizens), Government, Social Insurance providers (also the government), Banks, and Healthcare Insurance Providers to use the Blockchain and biometric data to track individuals’ data from disparate sources and confirm their identity. THEKEY is a decentralized ecosystem of an identity verification tool using national big-data and blockchain. The Project Team is now developing an identification verification (IDV) tool with blockchain…by using Personally Identifiable Information (PII) which is exclusively authorized by government authorities. The video below (in Chinese) gives the general idea (it’s only 1 minute long). https://www.thekey.vip/ gives a fantastic overview of how TKY would work to streamline hospital processes through the pilot program in Jiaxing, China. If you’ve ever received hospital treatment in China you will be well aware of the significant efficiency gains to be made from just this application. This article from Cryptocoin Great Ambition Requires Great Partners THEKEY with with a $39.1 Billion market cap. recently announced a partnership China Unicom, a giant state-owned telecommunications operator Price in article quoted in HKD https://medium.com/@thekeyvip/thekey-reached-cooperation-on-research-of-security-supervision-mechanism-of-social-security-data-3e58b366171 In China it is necessary to present an ID Card/Passport in order to activate a sim card, so phones are essentially already acting as identity tracking devices. Following the announcement on February 14th, TKY jumped from around $0.027 to a peak of $0.04, before meandering back down to around $0.026–0.028. Almost as though nothing had happened! https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/thekey/ TKY also announced partnerships with China Social Insurance Association (CSIA) and , during which they signed the Cooperation Agreement for the snappily named . The Party Committee Secretary (the highest role) of Tsinghua Unigroup is the son of the former Chinese President Hu Jintao. Tsinghua Unigroup Research of Security Supervision Mechanism of Social Security Data Socialization (ChinaRe), a $75 Billion Insurance company: China Life Reinsurance Company http://asia.cointime.com/blockchain/10421.html , . , other investments include Omisego, Chain Link, CPChain, and Matrix AI Network. Rexford Ventures, a Venture Capital firm focusing on Blockchain technology also announced their investment a few days ago According to their website The CEO of TKY is Catherine Li, who was voted in 2017 by the , as well as one of the . The Most Outstanding Women Entrepreneur in China All-China Women’s Federation Top 10 Influential Chinese Women of the Year https://www.thekey.vip/ also gives a good analysis of the TKY project and partnerships. The also gives a succinct overview of relevant details. For a more in depth look you might want to consider and . This article Wiki on TKY downloading the whitepaper reading the FAQs The Key (TKY) is . Again, when a coin has not yet been listed on a major exchange like Binance this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most projects with any substance should eventually migrate to Binance, at which point you . currently only available on KuCoin can expect a healthy price spike . Do your own research before making any investments. I hold some TKY but am not affiliated in any way with the project. This is not investment advice If you thirst for more in depth speculation about the future of Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies then follow me on Medium ( ) and Twitter ( ). Bare Shylls https://twitter.com/BareShylls examines why Trinity Network Credit ($TNC) is crucial to the development of the NEO ecosystem, as well as discussing price and market share predictions for EOY 2018 and beyond. Part 4 I am always discovering and researching new information about projects I’ve invested in, which I update via Twitter — Such as the recent interview with CEO of TKY and new exchange release rumors for the MAN token. If you enjoyed this article then hold the claps button below until it reaches 50 and share the article on Social Media. Have any other questions? Find a mistake? Disagree with something I’ve written? Write it in the comments and I will get back to you.

China On The Blockchain, Part 3: A Clash Of Coins

The Hidden World of Firmware: Exploring Your Computer's Boot-Up Process

ফার্মওয়্যারের লুকানো জগত: আপনার কম্পিউটারের বুট-আপ প্রক্রিয়া অন্বেষণ করা

Die verborgene Welt der Firmware: Erkunden Sie den Startvorgang Ihres Computers

El mundo oculto del firmware: explorando el proceso de arranque de su computadora

Le monde caché du micrologiciel : exploration du processus de démarrage de votre ordinateur

फ़र्मवेयर की छिपी हुई दुनिया: आपके कंप्यूटर की बूट अप प्रक्रिया की खोज

ファームウェアの隠された世界: コンピューターの起動プロセスを探る

펌웨어의 숨겨진 세계: 컴퓨터 부팅 프로세스 탐색

O mundo oculto do firmware: explorando o processo de inicialização do seu computador

Firmware'in Gizli Dünyası: Bilgisayarınızın Önyükleme Sürecini Keşfetmek

Thế giới ẩn giấu của phần sụn: Khám phá quá trình khởi động máy tính của bạn

固件的隐藏世界：探索计算机的启动过程

Firmware is an integral part of any embedded system. A device is more than a combination of components. Without instructions, the microcontrollers do not “know” how to manage the peripherals. But embedded firmware development is not an easy task. It involves not only coding but a lot of testing and debugging as well. Today, we are going to talk about the common challenges of embedded firmware programming and their solutions. Any embedded system requires firmware. Embedded systems, such as smart watches, microwave ovens, or TV remote control, have different peripherals. Their work is managed by a controlling element – usually a microcontroller. To function properly, the microcontroller needs “instructions”. Embedded firmware is specialized software that controls the work of the microcontroller. Firmware can also be installed on microprocessors and FPGA, but in this article, we will only discuss the challenges of firmware development for microcontrollers. You may have also heard the term “embedded software”. It is software designed for a particular device – in contrast to typical application software that can run on any computer or smartphone as long as they have the necessary operating system on them. If we compare embedded firmware vs embedded software, we’ll see that software controls higher-level functions of the device. Low-level functions are controlled by firmware. However, the difference between embedded hardware and software is not distinctive. A task traditionally controlled by hardware can be handled by software and vice versa. Other examples of devices running embedded software include fitness trackers, washing machines, calculators, robots, certain toys, medical devices, and many more. Types of Embedded Systems Firmwares differ in complexity and size depending on what device they are developed for. Embedded systems are traditionally classified either based on the performance of the microcontroller used in it, or based on the performance and functionality of the device. , embedded systems are divided into the following types: Based on the performance of the microcontroller - small-scale systems (use 8 or 16-bit microcontrollers); - medium-scale systems (use 16 or 32-bit microcontrollers); - complex systems (use 32 or 64-bit microcontrollers). , embedded systems are divided into four types: By performance and functions Real-time embedded systems They are designed to give output signals at particular time intervals. Hence, they can provide a real-time or almost real-time response, which is why they require real-time based firmware. Such systems are used in time-critical spheres: healthcare, military equipment, traffic control, etc. Stand-alone embedded systems Such systems can work by themselves without a host system (a computer). They only receive input signals, process them, and provide outputs. A washing machine, a calculator, or an MP3 player are typical examples of stand-alone embedded systems. Networked systems Such embedded systems are connected to a wired or wireless network. Through this connection, they communicate with an embedded server to access resources and provide output to the attached devices. An ATM machine is a networked embedded system. Mobile systems These systems are used in small portable devices such as smartphones, tablets, digital cameras. This type overlaps with stand-alone embedded systems. Basically, these are portable stand-alone embedded systems. All these systems require embedded software to function properly. Typical Challenges of Embedded Firmware Development Security Issues Firmware can be a threat vector for embedded systems. Programmers usually focus on protecting applications and operating systems. But the first code to be executed on a device is firmware. And if a hacker gets access to this code, the entire system can be compromised. In 2011, Charlie Miller, a security researcher, . He was able to take control of the firmware of the microcontrollers that manage the batteries. As a result, Miller could infect the computers through the firmware and even make the batteries overheat and catch fire. discovered a vulnerability in MacBook batteries Intellectual property protection is another security issue common for firmware programming. One of our projects illustrates typical protection measures programmers can use for security. When we developed the Bluetooth musical pedal for turning music sheets hands-free, we had to secure its firmware updates. Using encryption for Over-the-Air updates is a standard practice here. In this project, we used nRF51822 with BLE 4.0 support and Cortex-M0 core as MCU. For encryption, the team used the nRF Util development tool capable of generating cryptographic keys and device firmware update (DFU) packages. The tool allows you to encrypt the package before sending it over the air to the device. Another project in our portfolio included embedded firmware and software development for a battery management system. Security was an important matter for the customer. Our team provided two levels of protection. As the first protection level, our team used encryption. The system has several PCBs with microcontrollers, and each of them requires regular firmware updates. To launch the process, someone receives an update image – usually via email. This is when the file can be stolen. To make sure its content cannot be copied, our team encrypts the image files with the AES-256 algorithm. When the device receives the file, it decrypts the content before installation. As the second protection level, the team protects image files with digital signatures. When the hardware receives the update, it checks the signature to make sure it came from Integra Sources. If the signature is incorrect or there is no signature at all, the device will not install it. This measure is often used to protect devices from potential hacking attacks. Even if the hacker manages to crack the encryption code, the system will still ignore the update file because there is no correct signature. Lack of Memory Embedded development is limited in available resources, and that includes firmware as well. As mentioned above, some embedded systems can be very small: TV remote controls, web cameras, MP3 players. The size, in turn, imposes limitations on the battery capacity, available processing power, or memory size. Moreover, as devices become smaller, consumers demand more functions to be implemented. One particular problem arising from design limitations is the available memory size. As a rule, engineers try to find a workaround at the design stage of embedded system development. Designers can approximately estimate what memory size the device will need and know components of what size can be used. Moreover, our team tries to pick microcontrollers or microprocessors with a certain memory or processing power margin. We can estimate these parameters based on the number and complexity of the functions we want to implement. Nevertheless, these estimations can be inaccurate, or the requirements can change during the prototyping phase. As a result, developers may have to optimize the firmware to fit into the available memory size. Our team was having this issue with a graphical calculator for which we developed hardware and firmware. The calculator’s firmware had an input interpreter that processes mathematical formulas. The device also used an embedded language. The latter basically used the same syntax for expression evaluation as the interpreter. In other words, two functions are performed by very similar pieces of code. Therefore, the firmware team added the unique functions from the interpreter to the embedded language and deleted the interpreter. This allowed us to save about 100 KB on the microcontroller’s flash memory. Another way to optimize the firmware in terms of memory size is to use proper data types. If you need to store numbers from 0 to 100, a 1-byte data type is enough. But if the firmware uses a 4-byte data type to store the same numbers, the use of memory is inefficient. In the project mentioned above, we initially used the double data type (8 bytes). It is more precise than many other types. But the calculator didn’t require this level of accuracy, so the team decided to use float (4 bytes) instead. Although float isn’t as precise, it requires twice as little memory space as double. Using lighter data types will work with both constants and variables. If you know for sure that a variable’s value will not exceed 100, there’s no need to use heavier data types. Energy Efficiency When embedded firmware developers deal with portable devices, energy efficiency becomes another challenge. It’s important to understand what functions the device needs to perform and what components can meet these requirements before starting the development process. A microcontroller’s energy consumption is composed of two power consumers: the processor core and the peripherals. One can make the device more energy efficient by optimizing the work of these two elements. The obvious way to reduce the energy consumption of a processor core is to reduce the number of instructions it processes. In this case, optimizing the code will help. Another way to do it is to use the microcontroller’s sleep mode. As a rule, we don’t need the core to work all the time. So, when processing data is not required, we put it to sleep. The core remains in this mode until an outside event occurs – for example, a timer interruption. The firmware of the graphical calculator we created consists of a single cycle. During each cycle, the core polls the buttons. It happens 30 times per second and takes just a few microseconds. If it doesn’t detect any keystrokes, the core remains asleep the rest of the time. As a result, the microcontroller consumes about 5 mA in the poll mode. For comparison, in the busy wait mode, it would have consumed about 80 mA. Firmware developers employ the same approach to peripherals – by turning them off when they are not required. Another project we worked on used battery power as well. Due to extensive data package exchange, the device outputs logs regularly through the UART. However, when the exchange is not happening, the device stands idle. To minimize the UART’s energy consumption, we programmed it to turn off when not required. Naturally, this method works only for outputs. Since the processor core performs instructions based on the signals from inputs, it is generally not a good idea to turn them off. In this particular case, the UART was used only for signal output. Our team used a similar approach with the people and assets tracking device we helped to create. It uses BLE 5.0 to send and receive data packages every 7.5 milliseconds. During the connection, the BLE’s power consumption is at maximum. One of our goals was to reduce it as much as possible without affecting the channel’s capacity. With the firmware, we programmed the device to buffer the data packages. This allowed us to increase the connection intervals threefold. During the intervals, the BLE’s power consumption is at minimum. So, longer intervals let us reduce the device’s power consumption. Debugging Challenges Debugging is an unavoidable part of embedded firmware and embedded software development services, especially when it comes to designing complex devices. To find errors in the code, programmers use debugging tools. They allow you to run the code step by step and detect the pieces where the program crashes. However, some devices don’t have a compatible debugging tool. Arduino is an example of such devices. In this case, one has to monitor what’s happening with the program by printing the required values, code lines, or text in a console – for example, by outputting the data through the UART. These lines are put into the pieces of code that presumably contain the error. If the value, code line, or text are printed, it means the code is executed as it should be. If the line is not printed or the value changes, it means something went wrong at the previous step. One can also command an LED to switch on and off if the console is not available. As one has to detect errors manually so to speak, this process is very tiresome and time-consuming compared to when you can use a debugging tool. But sometimes, firmware developers have no choice. The firmware development process ends with a debug configuration of the firmware. In addition to the code required for the microcontroller, it contains debugging information. It allows you to see the code in the debugging tool and move through it step by step to find errors. However, before downloading the firmware into the device, the debugging information is removed for the purpose of optimization. This version of the firmware is called the release configuration. Of course, by this phase the code would be double-checked for errors, so no issues should be detected after the installation. Problems can arise when you have to update the firmware. In this case, the device starts malfunctioning after the update, which means the code contains errors. And programmers can’t use a debugging tool anymore, they have to use the method described above. Updates and Over-the-Air Updates Whenever new bugs are discovered or the users ask for new features, developers have to update the firmware. And this can become another firmware design issue – especially Over-the-Air (OTA) updates. Updating a simple device is quite simple. But complex systems and particularly IoT devices require a more resourceful approach. Programmers have to deal with a number of issues: lack of memory size, insufficient bandwidth, version management, and, of course, security. A common problem here is interruptions. Simple devices that lack memory size have to rewrite the firmware as soon as they receive the data. If anything interrupts the process, the firmware will be corrupted: for example, if the power shuts off before the installation is complete. In the worst case scenario, the device will brick, and nothing can fix it. If the device has a bootloader, the firmware can be reinstalled. Nevertheless, when you deal with OTA updates, interruptions can be frequent. The problem is commonly fixed with backup memory. When our team worked on a smart home project, it was clear that the device will be updated over the air. Bricking or malfunctioning because of interruptions were not acceptable. Therefore, the team provided the system with backup memory. In this case, the update file is downloaded to the backup memory first. It can be either a file system or a flash memory area. After that, the device runs a data integrity check to make sure no byte was lost or changed during transmission. Only after that, the update is installed. Thus, interruptions cannot have serious consequences. Conclusion Any embedded system requires firmware to perform its functions. Whether you deal with small devices or want to create a complex system, their functionality and performance depend heavily on their firmware. Moreover, the quality of embedded software defines the stability of the device. Developers regularly face various design limitations when they work on firmware. The size of the device, its power source, price, and other factors define what microcontroller can be used. This, in turn, leads to other problems, namely lack of memory or energy efficiency issues. Another typical challenge is related to firmware updates. Over-the-Air updates lack stability, which causes interruptions in data transmission and eventually data corruption. Trying to install such updates directly without loading them to backup memory first can brick the device. Security is another important problem to solve, as firmware can be a threat vector for embedded systems. And finally, developers often spend a lot of time on debugging. To make this process faster, developers need experience and professional knowledge. Also Published here

How to Solve the Common Problems of Embedded Firmware

Firmware development is a necessary process in creating a new device and an embedded system. All the features and functionality of a device depend on its firmware. In simple words, firmware lies between software and hardware parts. So, it helps run software on a device and makes hardware perform required functions without involving users. Modern electronic products and systems have complex functionality and a high workload. One device can perform various functions: it can work as a camera, or a cell phone, and transmit, for example, location data. In so doing, such devices require more advanced, more complex firmware with high quality and security. There are three basic types of firmware, let’s talk about them in detail. is stored on read-only chips with ROM, PROM, and PLA architectures. This is an implicit part of the hardware that cannot be updated or rewritten. Low-level firmware allows for upgrades and is used with flash memory chips. High-level firmware contains a microcode that is integrated into flash chips, LCD units, and CPUs. Subsystem firmware Firmware is a vital part of any device, and writing firmware is considered to be a difficult and challenging process. However, there are several tips that can optimize the firmware development process and can make it organized and smooth. Here are 5 basic tips for writing proper firmware from scratch. The five tips for developing firmware from scratch 1. Define the requirements The success of the firmware development is dependent on precise requirements. So. at the very beginning of the process, you should identify all the features of your product, its functionality, for example, what data it should process. Besides, you should know for sure what microcontroller, SBC, SoC, etc., your product is based on. Moreover, these requirements don’t contain the approaches and methods for building features and writing firmware. Ideally, your requirements should include explicit statements that won’t stir discord among people involved in the development process. Another important thing is that the requirements should allow for testing the firmware easily and properly. If the requirements are clear and precise, it is easy to define a set of necessary tests for verifying the firmware. Also, there should not be any pairing between the testing and development processes. 2. Choosing the right tools and technologies The selection of tools for writing firmware depends on the hardware platform that your product uses. Various programming languages, integrated environments, tool kits are at your service, and they can make the firmware development process smooth and easier. If you choose the proper tools, you can enjoy such bonuses as organizing development process, completing the code in auto mode, highlighting the lines of the code, auto-formatting code, etc. So, modern tools and technologies can help you automate and speed up firmware development. 3. Using an operating system You can use an operating system for building your firmware, however, you should have strong knowledge about its functionality and abilities. Before starting the development process, it is better to know how everything works in it, for example, tasks, schedules, configurations, communications, and so on. This will help you write a clean and reliable code without any unexpected errors. 4. Collaborating with your team and sharing experiences with other developers Intercommunication with your team is also of extreme importance. Such services as GitLab, GitHub, can help you share the parts of codes you write with other developers and organize the storage of the code. Besides, such sources can provide you with libraries and written codes that can be useful for you. By the way, sharing experience with other engineers can improve your development process as well, for example, you can have your code reviewed by another developer. 5. Creating and leveraging a reusable code This will help you save much time and make the development process more efficient. Leveraging a reusable code allows for creating new functionality on top of the components that already exist: libraries, classes, methods, and others. Writing a reusable code will optimize the work of your team and allow for implementing changes without any errors and difficulties. Conclusion In a nutshell, a usual firmware development process includes the following parts: high-level and low-level firmware; drivers; writing algorithms; code composition; developing testing software. The tasks and approaches can vary as the requirements for firmware vary as well. For example, your device can transmit real-time data, and it means that you need to use RTOS or a device can be based on a microcontroller that requires using a limited set of tools for programming it. These and other factors can influence your choice of technologies and approaches.

The Basics of The Firmware Development Process

On average, companies spend days on on-site firmware updates. Meanwhile, over-the-air ones take minutes. Real estate representatives often сhoose the second option, meeting customer needs and increasing revenue. In this article, I share my experience with making a traditional firmware update and how it slowed down business and describe how to design the Internet of Things (IoT) platform. Why We Gave Up Traditional Firmware Update Processes How is the firmware of devices usually carried out in smart buildings? The company appoints an employee who periodically conducts on-site customization. If you are a developer with several properties in one city, it is suitable. But whether it will allow your business to expand - remains a mystery. When a company enters a regional or international market, inconveniences arise. For example: To flash the software on time, developers need to monitor its work. Difficulties in tracking devices worldwide. That's why companies cannot serve smart buildings efficiently. Lack of a single control center for sensors from different manufacturers. Every time an employee has a business trip, the company loses resources. High traveling costs. Usually, developers provide on-site firmware for free. They lose the opportunity to generate additional revenue and improve the customer experience. Work to the detriment. That is why we considered implementing an IoT platform for device management for our client. Why not? Thus the client can control buildings' functioning, timeliness of utility provision, settlement transactions, and many other lovely options. Developers understand the value of this approach and benefit from it and create paid platforms as an additional service to their buildings. Here're a few companies that offer to implement monetization options: provides two IoT platforms for smart house control: Alarm.com and Control4. The company offers keyless entry door lock, garage, utility sensors management. It provides clients with the freedom of action, regulating the situation from its side. It affects the customer's convenience and provides a single point of control. TBI Home Builder promises that your entire home will work as one harmonious system meaning the lighting, heating, blinds and more will all work in tandem together to create a truly intelligent home. Loxone gives you complete control from anywhere. A Vivint smart home system lets you control your lights, check on your porch, or adjust the temperature from anywhere—all from the Vivint app. All Vivint products work together seamlessly giving you the peace of mind that comes with a secure, comfortable home. Vivint helps keep the people and places you care about safe. And works on subscription starting from just $10 per month. XFINITY Home Even well-known tech giants don't stand aside. For example, states they can help you to be relaxed and feel safe in your home by simplifying your routine and having all essential systems like fire, security, water leaks and others at your sight (or screen). ** **brings smart lighting to everyday homes, allowing anyone to create memorable moments and automate with light. promises a totally Connected Life with SmartThings (and they do connect almost everything). BOSH Philips Hue Samsung In turn, by creating a single IoT ecosystem, the developer gets the opportunity to: analyze up-to-date data on device operation in real-time form predictions concerning further devices operation and eliminate all potential risks promptly respond to any issues with connected devices and make over-the-air firmware updates implement a variety of action plans depending on the situation try new business models, expanding revenue streams cut hidden costs improve employee efficiency Win-win. How To Start Designing Digital Service Platform For IoT Devices Management: tips from the practice Define business goals and learn business processes. You should decide with your client, what issues this IoT platform will fix and what goals to achieve. For example, one of our clients, a global developer with 1 million smart buildings around the world, tried to solve the following issues using software: create firmware management platform and launch it as a paid service gain control over all devices at the facilities create a new business model that allows for reselling firmware All of these goals are directly related to current business processes. Therefore, their analysis is vital. You may need to upgrade some of them before building the platform. Otherwise, the last one will not live up to expectations. Decide on a way of platform creation. You can always initiate development from scratch and build your unique product, as the Belgian MCS Solutions did. Management engaged Intellias to design a that fully enables smart buildings within their lifecycle. Thus, the company has provided customers with additional value and boosted their experience. facility IoT platform You can and should choose a route if your business requires it. But get ready to invest more time and resources. An alternative is to use a sort of an open-source low code platform like IBM Watson Studio, XME platform or Bosch IoT Suite. Consequently, you'll also get a custom flexible product, but 2x faster and cheaper. Find a suitable vendor. Sure, the client can deal with it by engaging in-house engineers. But one of the key challenges in building IoT platforms is a lack of expertise in this field. Sometimes you should tell the client that the time needed to train their technicals is much more than designing a digital service platform. On the other hand, vendor-side engineers have experience and probably specialize in creating IoT software. Therefore, everyone benefits more from working with a remote team. Write down requirements for software and estimate the future project from your side. Please pay special attention to requirements, as clarity depends on the entire future development process. You should simulate a vision for the product and convey it to anyone creating it. Besides, if you have a resource, try to estimate the project yourself. You can find an independent expert, use the analogy method, etc. It will help determine the approximate budget for the IoT platform development. Take care of product architecture. A firmware update architecture for the Internet of Things devices is a crucial stage. An involved architect will simulate interactions between the platform, connected devices, and web app. Consider microservice architecture first. It will allow your product to be scalable and handle countless requests simultaneously. Notice the way the architect tries to connect all sensors and the platform. You should know in advance what types of devices you are using in your smart buildings, as the quality of the connection depends on them. Use middleware. Point-to-point integration leads to several risks. For example, one service failure can provoke downtime in a core ​process. By implementing middleware, you reduce the load on the underlying systems and ensure a quality connection. Deal with challenges. Building a platform that allows you to manage devices remotely and make over-the-air firmware updates is not an easy process. You will have to unify lots of devices from different manufacturers using a variety of communication protocols. An indicator of the quality platform here is the secure firmware update. So take care of it, especially if you want to receive additional commercial benefits (for example, the above firmware resale). The Bottom Line Following predictions, there will be about by 2025. Considering that we're using 175 mln smart buildings now, the lion's share of devices will fall on them. It means the sooner we all think about developing an IoT platform for over-the-air firmware, the more benefits we’ll get. 75 bln of connected devices

Why we Gave Up on the Traditional Firmware Update Process

This guide explains how to build a simple ESP8266 firmware updater in NodeJS. The ESP8266 will send a GET request to my application with some key information stored in its header. This will then be used to serve up the appropriate binary. For this example I’m using the . But you can use the as well. ESP8266 ESP12E ESP32 NodeJS Application Let’s get started by generating a new Express app using the following command in terminal: express ota_updater This creates a fresh instance of Express which we’ll use as the foundation of our version controller. For the sketch that I want to upload to the ESP8266 I’m using the example Blink sketch from the Arduino library. { pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
} {
 digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); delay( ); digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); delay( ); } void setup () // initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output. // the loop function runs over and over again forever void loop () // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level) 1000 // wait for a second // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW 1000 // wait for a second We’ll need the compiled binary to upload to the sketch, which you can find in the debugger once you turn on the option “Show verbose output” for sketch compilations. After clicking the verify button you can find the compiled binary as per your debugger. Place your blink.ino.bin inside a new /updates folder and updating our index.js file inside the routes folder to serve up our binary. express = ( ); path = ( ); fs = ( ); router = express.Router(); md5 = ( );
router.get( , { .log(req.headers); filePath = path.join(__dirname, ); options = { : { : md5.sync(filePath)
 }
 }
 res.sendFile(file, { (err) {
 next(err)
 } { .log( , file)
 }
 });
}); .exports = router; var require 'express' var require 'path' var require "fs" var var require "md5-file" '/update' ( ) function req, res, next console var '../updates/blink.ino.bin' var headers "x-MD5" ( ) function err if else console 'Sent:' module After you confirm this works on your local machine it’s time to move your application to an external instance such as EC2 or Linode. After setting this all up you should be presented with the download dialog after navigating to your external domain. Now that you know your application works you can start testing it out on your ESP8266. ESP8266 sketch For the ESP8266 sketch we use the library. ESP8266httpUpdate.h * ssid = ; * password = ; {
 
 Serial.begin( );
 Serial.setDebugOutput( );
 WiFi.begin(ssid, password); (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
 Serial.print( );
 delay( );
 }
t_httpUpdate_return ret = ESPhttpUpdate.update( , ); (ret) { HTTP_UPDATE_FAILED:
 Serial. ( , ESPhttpUpdate.getLastError(), ESPhttpUpdate.getLastErrorString().c_str()); ; HTTP_UPDATE_NO_UPDATES:
 Serial.println( ); ; HTTP_UPDATE_OK:
 Serial.println( ); ;
 }
} {
} # include <ESP8266httpUpdate.h> const char "ssid" // Set your router SSID const char "password" // Set your router password void setup () 74880 true /*connection to WiFi*/ while "." 1000 "http://domain.com/update" "1.0" switch case printf "[update] Update failed (%d): %s" break case "[update] Update no Update." break case "[update] Update ok." break void loop () Upload the sketch to your ESP8266 and your console will output the something similar to the following, after which your ESP8266 module resets and executes the blink sketch. And when looking at our NodeJS app we see information about the ESP8266 be outputted to the screen: { : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : } connection 'upgrade' host 'domain.com' 'content-length' '0' 'user-agent' 'ESP8266-http-Update' 'x-esp8266-chip-id' '14454826' 'x-esp8266-sta-mac' 'CC:50:E3:DC:90:2A' 'x-esp8266-ap-mac' 'CE:50:E3:DC:90:2A' 'x-esp8266-free-space' '659456' 'x-esp8266-sketch-size' '302832' 'x-esp8266-sketch-md5' '97bbf0d228c88673b9c040df1f7317f4' 'x-esp8266-chip-size' '4194304' 'x-esp8266-sdk-version' '2.2.2-dev(38a443e)' 'x-esp8266-mode' 'sketch' 'x-esp8266-version' '1.0' Now this appears to work very nicely. However, now that the blink sketch is uploaded there is no way for us to upload a new sketch to the module. The preferred outcome would be that your ESP8266 will periodically check whether there are new firmware updates available, and update the module if necessary. For all of that, and more, please see of this article. Part 2

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