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Embedded Software Engineering

The document discusses common pitfalls in embedded real-time software development. It summarizes David Stewart's work identifying 30 common pitfalls. Examples of pitfalls include incomplete testing, lack of hardware analysis before design, poor documentation practices, lack of code reviews, overuse of interrupts, global variables, and not measuring execution times. The document emphasizes that embedded software engineers must be aware of potential issues and follow best practices to develop high-quality, robust systems, as embedded software failures could harm or cost lives. Testing, documentation, code reviews, and other methodologies can help address these pitfalls.

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227 views11 pages

Embedded Software Engineering

The document discusses common pitfalls in embedded real-time software development. It summarizes David Stewart's work identifying 30 common pitfalls. Examples of pitfalls include incomplete testing, lack of hardware analysis before design, poor documentation practices, lack of code reviews, overuse of interrupts, global variables, and not measuring execution times. The document emphasizes that embedded software engineers must be aware of potential issues and follow best practices to develop high-quality, robust systems, as embedded software failures could harm or cost lives. Testing, documentation, code reviews, and other methodologies can help address these pitfalls.

Uploaded by

ulonggwapo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Embedded Software

Engineering
Ingo Sander
[email protected]

Embedded Real-Time Software


Development

Developing correct embedded real-time


software is efficiently is a very challenging
task
David B. Stewart [Ste99a, Ste99b] states that

the same mistakes are repeated over and over


most real-time software developers are not aware
that some of the methods they use are
problematic

IL2212 Embedded Software

Embedded Real-Time Software


Development

Stewart lists 30 pitfalls and claims that


correcting just one of them can lead to

weeks or months in saving of manpower


significant increase in robustness and quality

For each problem

misconception or source of problem is presented


possible solution is presented

IL2212 Embedded Software

Embedded Real-Time Software


Development

Remember that the later a design error is


detected in the design flow, the more
expensive it is to correct the error

When the product is shipped to the customer, not


only correcting the error is expensive, but also the
company will lose a lot of its reputation

IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#26 Interactive and incomplete tests

Tests require often user input


Many tests test only changes in the program and
not the entire program
Tests should be automated and should test the
entire system

IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#22 No analysis of hardware peculiarities before


starting the software design

Software designers do not analyze the characteristics


of the underlying hardware

Does it take more time to add two 32-bit numbers than two 16
bit numbers?
How much time does it take to add two floats, integer and
float?

Capabilities and limitations of target processor(s) have


to be understood!
IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#17 I dont have time to take a break

Many programmers continue to write code


although they are tired or exhausted

Inefficient use of working time


Lack of concentration can cause new bugs

Be disciplined, when you do not make progress,


take a break to refresh your mind

IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#14 Only a single design diagram

Many software systems are designed by a single


or no diagram

There are diagrams for different purposes of the


system
A good diagram properly reflects the ideas of the
designer

IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#11 Error detection and handling are an afterthought and


implemented through trial and error

Software design focuses mainly on normal operation (assuming


the absence of errors)
Exception and error handling are added after finalizing the
program
Maintenance of system becomes a nightmare

Error detection and error handling need to be incorporated from


the start

IL2212 Embedded Software

Some Pitfalls

#10 No memory analysis

Even in embedded systems many programmers


have no idea what the memory implications are
for any of their designs

Performance depends very much on efficient use of


memories
Caches or on-chip memory are significantly faster then
external SDRAM

Memory accesses should be analyzed


IL2212 Embedded Software

10

Some Pitfalls

#8 The first right answer is the only answer

Getting an embedded system or peripheral to


work is difficult and often frustrating
Thus many programmers will never change a
working code, although it might be very poor
designed

significant maintenance costs

Recheck your working code and improve it, if it is


poorly designed
IL2212 Embedded Software

11

Some Pitfalls

#6 Documentation was written after


implementation

General rule in most projects

significant increase in maintenance costs

Documentation should be written before and


during coding
If documentation is not correct, revise document
before you change the code
IL2212 Embedded Software

12

Some Pitfalls

#5 No code reviews

Many programmers do not want to show their


code to colleagues

messy code is not improved

Formal code reviews ensure robustness and will


detect bugs and sources for bugs efficiently

IL2212 Embedded Software

13

Some Pitfalls

#4 Indiscriminate use of Interrupts

Interrupt handlers are often overloaded with code and even make
I/O requests
Interrupt handlers reduce the schedulable time for normal
periodic tasks
Interrupts are very difficult to debug
Minimize the use of interrupts
Interrupt handler shall be short and shall only be used to signal
another task that a specific event has occurred
Take interrupt overhead into account

IL2212 Embedded Software

14

Some Pitfalls

#3 Using global variables

Global variables are shared automatically between all processes,


since an RTOS usually are implemented as lightweight
processes and share the same address space
Problems with race conditions can occur
To prevent race conditions semaphores are often used, but they
can create priority inversion
Try to avoid global variables or use them very carefully

IL2212 Embedded Software

15

Some Pitfalls

#2 No naming and style convention

If no convention for a project is introduced, each


programmer will have its own way to write
programs

Code review will take considerable time and it may be


much more difficult to detect bugs
Systems are designed by several programmers, which
share code with each other

Introduce naming and style convention


IL2212 Embedded Software

16

Some Pitfalls

#1 No measurements of execution time

Many programmers have no idea of the execution


time of their code
Easy to introduce synchronization errors in parallel
systems
Measure execution time for processes and interrupt
handlers
Incremental measuring:

Measure each line of code, each loop, each function,


IL2212 Embedded Software

17

What do we learn from this?

There are many pitfalls in Embedded Real-Time


Software development

Stewart listed 30, but I am sure there are more

C as a language is dangerous (The Top 10 Ways to get


screwed by the C programming language)
The role of communication and the risk for race conditions will
increase, since systems will consist of more components

Be aware of the possible problems and try to


develop your programs and systems using
methodology that ensures high quality
IL2212 Embedded Software

18

This is important

since the number of embedded systems is


increasing and in many systems can safe life
but also cost life, if not designed properly
You do not want to be listed in the following
list

Software Horror Stories

Thus keep in mind that you have a large


responsibility as embedded software
designer!
IL2212 Embedded Software

19

Read Further

[Ste99a] David B. Stewart, 30 Pitfalls for


Real-Time Software Developers, Part 1,
Embedded Systems Programming, October,
1999.
[Ste99a] David B. Stewart, More Pitfalls for
Real-Time Software Developers, Embedded
Systems Programming, November, 1999.

IL2212 Embedded Software

20

IL2212 Embedded Software

21

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