EMBEDDED

SYSTEMS
ASSIGNMENT

Phases of Embedded Product Development Life Cycle

(EDLC)

Submitted By: Sarath Pradeep

Class : CSE Gamma
Roll No: 40
Embedded Product Life Cycle Model contains the phases: 'Need',
'Conceptualisation','Analysis', ' Design', 'Development and Testing',
'Deployment', 'Support', 'Upgrades' and 'Retirement/Disposal' (Fig. 1).

Fig 1. Classic Embedded Product Development Life Cycle Model

1. NEED
Any embedded product evolves as an output of a 'Need'. The
need may come from an individual or from the public or from a
company based on the need for the product, 'Concept Proposal' is
prepared. The 'Concept Proposal' must be reviewed by the senior
management and funding agency. The product development need
can be visualized in any one of the following three needs.
a) New or Custom Product Development :The need for a product
which does not exist in the market or a product which acts as
competitor to an existing product in the current market will
lead to the development of a completely new product.
b) Product Re-engineering: process of making changes in an
existing product design and launching it as a new version.
c) Product Maintenance: providing technical support to the end
user for an existing product in the market. Corrective
maintenance deals with making corrective actions following a
failure or non-functioning. Preventive maintenance is the
scheduled maintenance to avoid the failure or non-functioning
of the product.

2. Conceptualisation
Conceptualisation is the 'Product Concept Development Phase'.
Conceptualisation phase defines the scope of the concept,
performs cost benefit analysis and feasibility study and prepares
project management and risk management plans. The
Conceptualisation' phase involves two types of activities, namely;
'Planning Activity' and 'Analysis and Study Activity'.

Various activities involved in conceptualization phase

a) Feasibility Study : Feasibility study analyses the Technical as

well as financial feasibility of the product.
b) Cost Benefit Analysis (CEA) : The Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is
a means of identifying, revealing and assessing the total
development cost and the profit expected from the product.
Some common underlying principles of Cost Benefit Analysis
are illustrated below:
1. . Common Unit of Measurement: 'Money' is taken as the
common unit of measurement. Hence all benefits and costs
 of the product should be expressed in terms of money.
Money in tum may be represented by a common currency. It
can be Indian Rupee (INR) or US Dollar (USD).
2. Market choice based benefit measurement: Ensure that the
product cost is justifying the money(value for money), the
end user is spending on the product to purchase, for a
commercial product.
3. Targeted end users: it is very essential to understand the
targeted end users for the product.

c) Product Scope : Product scope deals with what is in scope for

the product and what is not in scope for the product.
d) Planning Activities : Covers various plans required for the
product development. Resource Planning How many resources
should work on the project, Risk Management Plans The
technical and other kinds of risks involved in the work and what
are the mitigation plans, reports on 'Analysis and Study
Activities' and 'Planning Activities' are submitted to the client
with recommendations:
1. The product is feasible; proceed to the next phase of the
product life cycle.
2. The product is not feasible; scrap the project.

3. Analysis
Development of detailed user requirements. Requirement analysis is
performed to develop a detailed functional model of the product. Tthe
product is defined in detail with respect to the inputs, processes,
outputs, and interfaces at a functional level. It gives emphasis on
determining 'what functions must be performed by the product' rather
than how to perform those functions.
 Various Activities involved in Requirement Analysis Phase

a) Analysis and Documentation: The analysis -and documentation

activity consolidates the business needs of the product under
development and analyses the purpose of the product.
Requirements that need to be addressed are:
a) Functional capabilities like performance
b) Operational and non-operational quality attributes
c) Product external interface requirements
d) Data requirements
e) Operational requirements
f) Maintenance requirements
b) Interface Definition and Documentation: The interface definition
and documentation activity should clearly analyse on the physical
interface (type of interface) as well as data exchange through these
interfaces and should document it.
c) Defining Test Plan and Procedures: Identifies what kind of tests are
to be performed Define-the test-procedures and create a master test
plan. Types of testing performed in a product development are listed
below:
1. Unit testing-Testing each unit or module of the product
independently for required functionality.
2. Integration testing-Integrating each modules and testing the
integrated unit for required functionality.
3. System testing-Testing the functional aspects/product
requirements of the product after integration.
• Usability testing-Tests the usability of the product
• Load testing
• Security testing-Testing the security aspects of the product
• Scalability testing
• Smoke testing-Non exhaustive test to ensure that the crucial
requirements for the product are functioning properly.
• Performance Testing
• Endurance testing-Durability test of the product

4. User acceptance testing-Testing the product to ensure it is

meeting all requirements of the end user.
4. Design
Product 'Design phase' deals with the entire design of the product,
'how' the required functionalities can be delivered to the product and
creates an overall architecture. Product design starts with 'Preliminary
Design/High Level Design'. Preliminary design establishes the top-level
architecture for the product, lists out the various functional blocks
required for the product, and defines the inputs and outputs for each
functional block. Design team can take the work to the next level -
'Detailed Design'. Detailed design generates a detailed architecture,
identifies and lists out the various components for each functional
block, the inter connection among various functional blocks, the control
algorithm requirements. A hardware software co-design approach is
used. co-design. The other activities performed during the design phase
are 'Design of Operations and maintenance manual' and 'Design of
Training materials'.
Various Activities involved in Design Phase

Preliminary Design Illustration

Detailed Design Illustration

5. Development and Testing
The 'Development Phase' transforms the design into a realizable
product. Hardware and firmware is developed. The development
activities can be partitioned into embedded hardware development,
embedded firmware development and product enclosure
development. PCB using CAD tools and its fabrication using CAM Tools.
Embedded firmware development is performed using the embedded
firmware development tools. The mechanical enclosure design is
performed with CAD Tools like Solid Works, AutoCAD. The testing phase
can be divided into independent testing of firmware and hardware
(Unit Testing), testing of the product after integrating the firmware and
hardware (Integration Testing), testing of the whole system on a
functionality and non-functionality basis (System Testing) and testing of
the product against all acceptance criteria mentioned by the client/end
user for each functionality (User Acceptance Testing). The deliverables
from the 'Design and Testing' phase are firmware source code,
firmware binaries, finished hardware, various test plans (Hardware and
Firmware Unit Test plans, Integration Test plan, System Test plan and
Acceptance Test plan), test cases (Hardware and Firmware Unit Test
cases, Integration Test cases, System Test cases and Acceptance Test
cases) and test reports (Hardware and Firmware Unit Test Report,
Integration Test Report, System Test Report and Acceptance Test
Report).

6. Deployment
Deployment is the process of launching the first fully functional model
of the product in the market (for a commercial embedded product) or
handing over the fully functional initial model to an enduser/client. lt is
also known as First Customer Shipping (FCS). Product is made opera-
tional in a production environment. Important tasks performed during
the Deployment Phase :

a) Notification of Product Deployment

Whenever the product is ready to launch in the market, the
launching ceremony details should be communicated to the
stake holders ( all those who are related to the product in a
direct or indirect way) aμd to the public if it is a commercial
product. The notifications can be sent out through e-mail, media,
etc. mentioning the following in a few words.
1. Deployment Schedule (Date Time and Venue)
2. Brief description about the product
3. Extra features supported with respect to an existing product

b) Execution of Training Plan

Proper training should be given to the end user to get them
acquainted with the new product.

c) Product Installation
Install the product as per the installation document to ensure
that it
is fully functional.

d) Product post-Implementation Review

Once the product is launched in the market, conduct a post
 implementation review to determine the success of the product.
Also helps in understanding the customer needs and the
expectations of the customer on the next version of the product

7. Support

Deals with the operations and maintenance of the product in a

production environment. Support should be provided to the end
user/client to fix the bugs in the product. The support phase ensures
that the product meets the user needs and it ·continues functioning in
the production environment. The various activities involved in the
'Support' phase are listed below:

a) Set up a Dedicated Support Wing

Certain embedded products in terms of product functioning in
production environment is crucial and they may require 24x7
support in
case of product failure or malfunctioning. Any malfunctioning of
the product requires immediate technical attention/support
from the supplier. Set up a dedicated support wing ( customer
care unit)
and ensure high quality service is delivered to the end user.
'After service' plays significant role in product movement in a
commercial market. The support wing should be set up in such a
way that they are easily reachable through e-mail, phone etc.

b) Identify Bugs and Areas of Improvement

Give the end user a chance to express;,their views on the
product and suggestions, if any, in terms of modifications
 required or feature enhancements (areas of improvement),
through user feedbacks. Conduct product specific surveys.

8. Upgrades
During the upgrade phase the system is subject
to design modification to fix the major bugs reported or to incorporate
the new feature addition requirements. Some bugs may be easily fixed
by modifying the firmware and it is known as firmware up-gradation.
Some feature enhancements can also be performed easily by mere
firmware modification. Version numbering is essential. Certain feature
enhancements and bug fixes require hardware modification and they
are generally termed as hardware upgrades.

9. Requirement/Disposal

The retirement/disposition phase is the final phase in a product

development life cycle where the product is declared as obsolete and
discontinued from the market. There is no meaning and monetary
benefit in continuing the production of a device or equipment which is
obsolete in terms of technology and aesthetics. The disposition of a
product is essential due to the following reasons.
I. Rapid technology advancement
2. Increased user needs