Worldwide Embedded Devices and Software trends
Remember the time when you had adjust the cooling on your Home AC with those huge dials while it kept getting cooler or when you had to write in your Employee code, Name, Time in and out on that huge register in office which could be classified as a lethal weapon? What happened to the time when you could go out with your buddies and chill and you didn’t have that virtual leash (read Mobile Phone) around your neck?!
All of these advancements, most people would agree, are for the best. They get people closer, tedious tasks are simplified and life in general is made more easy, efficient and Safe. The common technologies that bind all of the above tasks together are called Embedded Technologies.
As the assimilation of Embedded Technology in common people’s life has increased so has the affinity of the market for Embedded Software Developers. To add weight to the above statement is the announcement of several companies to invest heavily in the Embedded Software Research and Development sector by opening up Facilities in India. To put a figure to the “invest heavily” verse, the investment is to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. This is Investment in a sector which was quite unheard of in India in the past. Now these companies have products in various Domains of Embedded technologies, such as, Home Electronics, Computer Peripherals and more importantly Mobile Phones and their Applications.
The sectors mentioned above arent the only ones employing Embedded technologies, Automobiles is another. Robert Bosch is arguably the worlds leading Developer of Embedded Devices/Software for the Automotive and the Industrial Field. Other Majors in the Auto Embedded Software Development race would be Delphi, Visteon and Infenion all of whom are investing heavily in R&D centers in India.
In a nutshell the demand for Embedded Software Developers in the Indian marketplace is on an upswing. Even worldwide the market for Embedded Software Development tools and RTOS’s rose 8.4% from 2002. More startling is the Fact that the growth (Year on year) in the Asia Pacific region was a whopping 40%! No wonder global Electronics giants from Samsung to LG and Bosch to Delphi have decided to set up shop in India. An infusion of massive funds in this sector by these global giants can only mean an opening up on another avenue on the IT super highway. Are we prepared for it? Do we have the “Vehicles” to cruise along this avenue, and what is our destination?
The Requirements for the Embedded Field vary, from Hard Core Software Developers to Embedded Software Testing/Debugging to Embedded Hardware Design. The Thrust of the requirement in the Embedded sector in India is in Embedded Software Development.
NASSCOM, India’s Apex body on Software and Service Companies comments in their annual conference (
NASSCOM 2003): “The embedded software market offers a huge opportunity for Indian software vendors. Indian companies can contribute significantly in all the stages of semiconductor value chain, be it design, packaging or testing.” Also confirming the fact that Embedded Software Development is a very important area of interest is President of NASSCOM, Mr. Kiran Karnik, saying: "What is enabling this growth are advances in underlying embedded technologies. Hardware is becoming more powerful and cheaper with 64 bit processing power available at US$ 120 - 200 today. Additionally, automatic code generation tools are significantly accelerating the process of code generation. Therefore development as well as value needs in the future will lie in the software."
NASSCOM has identified the following four factors that will make embedded systems space an exciting arena for Indian companies:
- Rising software content: As mentioned earlier, software content in many traditionally non-computing industries is rising.
- Rapidly evolving hardware: Every time a manufacturer chooses to upgrade to a more superior/newer hardware, all applications and tools need to be ported onto the new hardware. This calls for significant software input.
- Lack of protocols: Most industries, lack one standard platform/ protocol (likes of MS-DOS in the PC industry). As a result OEMs need to ensure all devices are compliant with all major protocols. This offers a huge opportunity for Indian players since a lot of software development will have to be done on different platforms.
- Lack of software skills in OEMs: Many OEMs in industries like automotive revealed that they face a huge challenge in attracting and retaining high quality software talent. This, coupled with the increasing need for services in this market is likely to result in a large number of OEMs and suppliers looking for third party service providers or talent hubs to augment their software development capabilities.
(Source: NASSCOM, 2004 (
http://www.nasscom.org/artdisplay.asp?Art_id=1623#1)
Having Deduced the fact that there will be quantum growth in the software embedded systems field what is the Profile that such Companies are looking for? This is an attempt to help you leverage your knowledge and experience to get the maximum success right?
What then are the Requirements for an Embedded Software Developer?
After scanning several job requirements I have boiled it down to a few critical Skills. Here is a sample of what a Job Requirement for an Embedded Software Developer looks like.
Typically an Embedded Software Developer Requirements would read like this:
1. Knowledge of Microprocessors/Microcontrollers
2. Knowledge of Debuggers/Emulators
3. Knowledge of Real Time Operating Systems
4. Knowledge of C, C++, Embedded C, Assembly Language
5. Familiarity with Hardware Design and Software Engg. Practices
6. ‘N’ Years of Experience
7. Miscellaneous
In India the base of engineers having knowledge of Microprocessors and Microcontrollers is huge. The reason for this of course is the fact that the curriculum of the B.E./Btech courses has microprocessors/microcontrollers as a part of their compulsory coursework. So the knowledge of the Architecture and Assembly language of Microprocessors and Microcontrollers is a given for Faculties of Electronics / Electronics&Telecom / Computers / Instrumentation, the base, from where to grow is made for most engineers.
Embedded Devices however also use several proprietary protocols and in some cases Custom made Processors so some amount of training on them is imparted to the new joinees.
What are the Areas in which Embedded Devices can be used?
There are several domains within Embedded Devices they are as follows:
Automotive Electronics:
Automotive systems are increasingly using Embedded, the rate at which Embedded systems are invading our cars can be gauged from the fact that upto 3 years ago there were about 50 Embedded Systems in a typical Car now there are more than 150.
Typical areas that embedded systems would be used would be in an Engine Management Systems (EMS) where a few hundred sensors would feed in data about air temperature, fuel quality, fuel temperature, pressure, piston position etc to the EMS and it will calculate the optimum firing timing to achieve a particular characteristic (either fuel efficiency, or greater torque or better performance Etc) for a car.
Consumer Electronics
The onslaught of Embedded systems is on in Consumer Electronics also, sample this example, and want your toast to be Browned? Well, don’t be surprised if your once tame toaster wants to know how brown you want your Toast? Sensors in the toaster can sense how much to toast a given slice of bread or a Refrigerator that orders your groceries for you, it keeps a track of the groceries that you buy and stock your fridge with using smart tags and makes a list in its inbuilt memory, it also tracks the items that you remove, on reaching a preset level the inbuilt browser goes online to your friendly Grocer and orders the items! This technology, admittedly, may not be available in refrigerators sold in India, but it is happening and the systems and software are being built right here in India
Mobile devices and Applications
Do these phones sound familiar? The Motorola StarTac, or the Nokia 5110 these were the running models not more than 4 years ago! (I actually had to get on the net to get the model numbers!) I had one of those Nokia’s and I thought it was fantastic back then! Now if you were to buy a new phone would you buy a phone without a Color screen, 500 Number phone book and Camera/Bluetooth? I think not. From MP3 Players to GPRS and 5MP Digital Cameras to Global Positioning systems in Mobile phones all of the applications have been a miracle of Embedded systems. If we can go from basic phone to Feature rich Do-Everything Gizmo in less than 4 years using embedded systems, then imagine the Growth in the field!
This growth in the embedded system field is not hypothecation the signs are there for all to see in things that we see in action everyday.
Apart from this Embedded systems are also used in areas like:
Avionics
Computing Peripherals
Computing platforms and Software Products
Industrial Automation
Medical Devices
Multimedia
What sectors currently use Embedded Technologies the most?
Worldwide, the Consumer Electronics sector, for the first time, overtook the Telecom sector in the application of embedded technology in 2004. The leading Sectors for the Application of embedded technology are shown below:
Consumer Electronics – 28%
Telecom – 24%
Control Security test and medical equipment – 21%
Computer/Computer/Peripherals – 12%
Automotive Electronics and Design Services – 6% (Each)
Avionics/Marine/Military – 3%
(Source – Gartner Survey for Asia, 2005)
What are the Technologies involved in the Embedded Domain?
Processors: These are called as the “Cores” in an Embedded Device implementation. These can be either of the following types: Microcontrollers, Microprocessors or DSP’s.
8-Bit Microprocessors continue to enjoy a preference over the other types of processors despite a shift towards 32 bit processors. 64 bit processors are also fast gaining ground.
This year (2005) 32 bit processors are predicted to be where the market seems to be shifting.
The shift to 32 bit processors also vividly demonstrates the complexity of the end device that the process is going to run, so as the end devices get more and more complex expect the processors to go from 32 bit to 64 bit in the near future.
As far as Processors are concerned Intel, Atmel and Motorola continue to dominate the market in Asia.
(Source: - Gartner Survey, Asia 2005)
Programming Languages
The most frequently used languages that are currently being used are as follows:
C, C++, Embedded C
Linux, UNIX
Embedded Operating Systems
The most frequently used “Real Time Operating Systems” are as follows:
Windows CE
VxWorks
pSOS
Nucleus
VRTX
Embedded Real Time Operating Systems trends are changing fast, from a time when there were over a 100 RTOS’s to now when there are just a few handful of them. The nature of the RTOS market has matured to where there are those RTOS makers like Microsoft (with CE) to Mentor Graphics and Wind River who do not share their Source Code and those who have an open source RTOS a prime example being Embedded Linux.
The problem with products like CE is that Microsoft does not ship tools, compilers; service, support and drivers, plus these are royalty based software’s. On the other hand open source RTOS vendors have adopted a policy where they work closely with their client in tailoring the RTOS to the customer’s requirement apart from creating the drivers, compilers, etc.
What Domains are companies working on in India?
The trends for Embedded Technologies are pretty much following the trends in the rest of the world, with the maximum work going into the Consumer Electronics Industry after that comes the Telecom sector which receives a significant amount of work in the embedded sector. Another sector getting a lot of attention is the Computer Peripherals sector and then the Automotive sector. All of the work happening here is Very high end and is comparable to work being done anywhere else in the world.
IT Institutes offering courses in Embedded Systems
In case any of you is interested in branching out or even starting out on your career with Embedded Technologies, I have included a list of institutes that offer courses in Embedded Technologies, some of these are full time courses while some of them are part time courses.
IIT Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur and Madras
http://www.dep.iitb.ac.in/courses/
http://embedded.cse.iitd.ac.in/
Indian Institute of Information Technology - Bangalore
Address: IIIT-Bangalore, 26/c, Opp. Infosys (Gate1), Electronics City, Hosur Rd, Bangalore.
Tel: +91 80 28527627-635
http://www.iiitb.ac.in/
Course: Computer Engineering, Advanced Operating System, VLSI, Embedded Systems, Real-Time Operating System, Advanced VLSI, Automotive IT, Informatics in Industrial Process Automation, Mobile Computing
International Institute of Information Technology
Address: Gachibowli, HYDERABAD, Andhra Pradesh.
http://www.iiit.net/
C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing)
Diploma in Embedded System Design (DESD)
http://acts.cdac.in/actsonline/Website/html_asp/JtoI/embedded.htm
The courses are offered at the following locations of C-DAC
http://acts.cdac.in/actsonline/Website/Html_asp/Activity_tree/ctrmain.htm
Micromax Informatics Ltd. (Mumbai/Delhi)
Embedded Application Consultant (Full/Part time)
VxWorks
http://www.micromaxinfo.com/career-boom.html
C-CIT Hyderabad
Embedded Systems
http://www.nisiet.com/embedded.asp
ACCEL IT Academy, Hyderabad
Accel Certified Embedded Systems Engineer
http://www.accelitacademy.com/
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