Embedded Software Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Tinkercad-Assisted Learning on Student Performance in Industrial Electronics Subject

This research explored the impact of implementing Tinkercad-assisted learning media on the learning outcomes of 11th-grade Electronics Engineering students at SMK Negeri 5 Padang, focusing on embedded system programming. Employing a quasi-experimental design with a Non-equivalent Control Group Design method, the study comprised an experimental group using Tinkercad and a control group undergoing traditional direct learning. The analysis of pretest and posttest data revealed a significant difference between the two groups, with the experimental group exhibiting an 11.5% improvement in learning outcomes. The hypothesis test, employing the t-test, yielded a t-value of 2.231, surpassing the critical t-value (1.708). Consequently, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis (H1) was accepted. The study concludes that the implementation of Tinkercad-assisted learning media had a significantly positive influence on the learning outcomes of Electronics Engineering students. These findings contribute to both practical and theoretical understanding regarding the effectiveness of Tinkercad in enhancing student learning outcomes in embedded system programming. It is recommended that further emphasis be placed on integrating Tinkercad into the curriculum to enrich students’ learning experiences and elevate the overall educational quality at SMK Negeri 5 Padang.

Digital Twin Prototypes for Supporting Automated Integration Testing of Smart Farming Applications

Industry 4.0 marks a major technological shift, revolutionizing manufacturing with increased efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. This transformation is paralleled in agriculture through smart farming, employing similar advanced technologies to enhance agricultural practices. Both fields demonstrate a symmetry in their technological approaches. Recent advancements in software engineering and the digital twin paradigm are addressing the challenge of creating embedded software systems for these technologies. Digital twins allow full development of software systems before physical prototypes are made, exemplifying a cost-effective method for Industry 4.0 software development. Our digital twin prototype approach mirrors software operations within a virtual environment, integrating all sensor interfaces to ensure accuracy between emulated and real hardware. In essence, the digital twin prototype acts as a prototype of its physical counterpart, effectively substituting it for automated testing of physical twin software. This paper discusses a case study applying this approach to smart farming, specifically enhancing silage production. We also provide a lab study for independent replication of this approach. The source code for a digital twin prototype of a PiCar-X by SunFounder is available open-source on GitHub, illustrating how digital twins can bridge the gap between virtual simulations and physical operations, highlighting the symmetry between physical and digital twins.

Experimental evaluation of RISC-V micro-architecture against fault injection attack

Today, the use of embedded processors is increasing dramatically and they are used in all aspects from our daily life to security applications. Physical access to hardware has made the hardware security a major concern. Hardware attacks compromise the hardware security by physically accessing target devices. Among the available techniques for hardware attacks, Fault Injection Attacks (FIAs), such as clock glitching, are one of the most harmful types of non-invasive attacks that can disrupt the operation of an embedded system. Thus, it will be important and fundamental to evaluate embedded software programs before using them in critical applications and check their vulnerability against fault injection attacks. However, it is often difficult for software developers to assess vulnerabilities. In this paper, an easy-to-use platform is presented to facilitate the process of evaluating the vulnerability of programs running on embedded processors against clock glitching attacks. Our experimental results show the vulnerability window of RISC-V micro-architecture for different high-level C-functions. The results of this research can help the developers of embedded systems that are used in security applications to evaluate their system against clock glitching attacks with the least cost in a short time.

Report on the 2022 Embedded Systems Week (ESWEEK)

Embedded Systems Week (ESWEEK) is the premier event covering all aspects of hardware and software design for intelligent and connected computing systems. By bringing together three leading conferences [the International Conference on Compilers, Architecture, and Synthesis for Embedded Systems (CASES); the International Conference on Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis (CODES+ISSS); and the International Conference on Embedded Software (EMSOFT)] and a variety of symposia, hot-topic workshops, tutorials, and education classes, ESWEEK presents to the attendees a wide range of topics unveiling state-of-the-art embedded software, embedded architectures, and embedded system designs.

Mutation Analysis for Cyber-Physical Systems: Scalable Solutions and Results in the Space Domain

On-board embedded software developed for spaceflight systems ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">space software</i> ) must adhere to stringent software quality assurance procedures. For example, verification and validation activities are typically performed and assessed by third party organizations. To further minimize the risk of human mistakes, space agencies, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), are looking for automated solutions for the assessment of software testing activities, which play a crucial role in this context. Though space software is our focus here, it should be noted that such software shares the above considerations, to a large extent, with embedded software in many other types of cyber-physical systems. Over the years, mutation analysis has shown to be a promising solution for the automated assessment of test suites; it consists of measuring the quality of a test suite in terms of the percentage of injected faults leading to a test failure. A number of optimization techniques, addressing scalability and accuracy problems, have been proposed to facilitate the industrial adoption of mutation analysis. However, to date, two major problems prevent space agencies from enforcing mutation analysis in space software development. First, there is uncertainty regarding the feasibility of applying mutation analysis optimization techniques in their context. Second, most of the existing techniques either can break the real-time requirements common in embedded software or cannot be applied when the software is tested in Software Validation Facilities, including CPU emulators and sensor simulators. In this paper, we enhance mutation analysis optimization techniques to enable their applicability to embedded software and propose a pipeline that successfully integrates them to address scalability and accuracy issues in this context, as described above. Further, we report on the largest study involving embedded software systems in the mutation analysis literature. Our research is part of a research project funded by ESA ESTEC involving private companies (GomSpace Luxembourg and LuxSpace) in the space sector. These industry partners provided the case studies reported in this paper; they include an on-board software system managing a microsatellite currently on-orbit, a set of libraries used in deployed cubesats, and a mathematical library certified by ESA.

Reconfigurable Electronic Platforms: A Top-Down Approach to Learn about Design and Integration of Electronic Systems.

This case report presents a real example of a study which introduces the use of reconfigurable platforms in the teaching of electronics engineering to establish a bridge between theory and practice. This gap is one of the major concerns of the electronics engineering students. Different strategies, such as simulation tools or breadboard implementations, have been followed so far to make it easier for students to practice what they study in lectures. However, many students still claim to have problems when they face real practical implementations. The use of reconfigurable platforms as a teaching tool is proposed to provide the students the possibility of fast experimentation, reducing both development time and the learning curve. In addition, reconfigurable platforms available on the market make this methodology suitable to be applied throughout the different courses of their curricula. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated in a course at the M.Eng. level, where the objective is the study, design and development of electronic sensor nodes. We firmly consider, based on the students’ results and reflections collected during the course, that this methodology helps students to address the theoretical framework from a practical viewpoint, as well as to acquire some of the fundamental skills for their professional careers, such as the usage of communication protocols and embedded systems programming, in a more intuitive way when compared to traditional teaching methodologies.

Refactoring embedded software: A study in healthcare domain

In embedded software industry, stakeholders usually promote run-time properties (e.g., performance, energy efficiency, etc.) as quality drivers, which in many cases leads to a compromise at the levels of design-time qualities (e.g., maintainability , reusability, etc.). Such a compromise does not come without a cost; since embedded systems need heavy maintenance cycles. To assure effective bug-fixing, shorten the time required for releasing updates, a refactoring of the software codebase needs to take place regularly. Objective: This study aims to investigate how refactorings are applied in ES industry; and propose a systematic approach that can guide refactoring through a 3-step process for refactoring: (a) planning; (b) design; and (c) evaluation. The aforementioned goals were achieved by conducting a single case study in a company that develops medical applications for bio-impedance devices; and follows a rather systematic refactoring process in periodic timestamps. Three data collection approaches have been used: surveys, interviews (10 practitioners), and artifact analysis (51 refactoring activities). The results of the study suggest that: (a) maintainability and reusability are the design-time quality attributes that motivate the refactoring of Embedded Software (ES), with 30% of the participants considering them as of “Very High” importance; (b) the refactorings that are most frequently performed are “Extract Method”, “Replace Magic Number with Constant” and “Remove Parameter”. We note that the “Extract Method” refactoring has an applicability of more than over 80%; and (c) to evaluate the refactoring process engineers use tools producing structural metrics, internal standards, and reviews. The outcomes of this study can be useful to both researchers and practitioners, in the sense that the former can focus their efforts on aspects that are meaningful to industry, whereas the latter are provided with a systematic refactoring process.

Empirical Assessment of the Long-Term Impact of an Embedded Systems Programming Requalification Programme

Digital transformation has increased the demand for skilled Information Technology (IT) professionals, to an extent that universities cannot satisfy it with newly graduated students. Furthermore, the economical downturn has created difficulties and scarcity of opportunities in other areas of activity. This combination of factors led to the need to consider requalification programmes that enable individuals with diverse specialisations and backgrounds to realign their careers to the IT area. This has led to the creation of many coding bootcamps, providing intensive full-time courses focused on unemployed people or unhappy with their jobs, and individuals seeking a career change. A multidisciplinary group of higher education teachers, in collaboration with several industry stakeholders, have designed and promoted an embedded systems programming course, using an intensive project-based learning approach comprising 6 months of daylong classes and a 9 months internship. Having finished two editions of the programme, a questionnaire was presented to the students that finished successfully, in order to evaluate the long-term benefits to graduates and companies. This paper presents a brief discussion of the programme organisation and pedagogical methodologies, as well as the results of the questionnaire, conducted following a Goal–Question–Metric (GQM) approach. The results demonstrate very positive outcomes, both for graduates and companies.

A Process Model for Service-Oriented Development of Embedded Software Systems

The concepts of service-oriented computing (SOC) have previously been used in the embedded systems domain, mostly at the device level in ad hoc manners to achieve advantages of device integration. However, SOC has not been used for the development of embedded software systems (ESS), i.e., software controlling the embedded devices. To fill this gap, a process model is proposed in this article that allows the systematic development of ESS based on SOC concepts. The proposed process consists of analysis and design phases of embedded software development. The analysis phase is concerned with the collection of system information and preparation for system design. Based on this, the service-based software architecture is developed in the design phase. The effectiveness of the proposed process model is demonstrated through its application in the Smart Home case study.

Powerful authentication regime applicable to naval OFP integrated development (PARANOID): a vision for non-circumventable code signing and traceability for embedded avionics software

Purpose This paper aims to describe an effort to provide for a robust and secure software development paradigm intended to support DevSecOps in a naval aviation enterprise (NAE) software support activity (SSA), with said paradigm supporting strong traceability and provability concerning the SSA’s output product, known as an operational flight program (OFP). Through a secure development environment (SDE), each critical software development function performed on said OFP during its development has a corresponding record represented on a blockchain. Design/methodology/approach An SDE is implemented as a virtual machine or container incorporating software development tools that are modified to support blockchain transactions. Each critical software development function, e.g. editing, compiling, linking, generates a blockchain transaction message with associated information embedded in the output of a said function that, together, can be used to prove integrity and support traceability. An attestation process is used to provide proof that the toolchain containing SDE is not subject to unauthorized modification at the time said critical function is performed. Findings Blockchain methods are shown to be a viable approach for supporting exhaustive traceability and strong provability of development system integrity for mission-critical software produced by an NAE SSA for NAE embedded systems software. Practical implications A blockchain-based authentication approach that could be implemented at the OFP point-of-load would provide for fine-grain authentication of all OFP software components, with each component or module having its own proof-of-integrity (including the integrity of the used development tools) over its entire development history. Originality/value Many SSAs have established control procedures for development such as check-out/check-in. This does not prove the SSA output software is secure. For one thing, a build system does not necessarily enforce procedures in a way that is determinable from the output. Furthermore, the SSA toolchain itself could be attacked. The approach described in this paper enforces security policy and embeds information into the output of every development function that can be cross-referenced to blockchain transaction records for provability and traceability that only trusted tools, free from unauthorized modifications, are used in software development. A key original concept of this approach is that it treats assigned developer time as a transferable digital currency.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Design of visual distance teaching platform based on Internet of things and embedded software system

In visual distance education, online classroom education mode is the latest form, which requires the use of digital technology, Internet technology, so as to be able to develop. The traditional form of education is classroom education in which teachers teach the content of class textbooks. This kind of teaching method can make students simply feel bored in the learning content, and they are always not interested in learning. In the process of learning, due to the lack of initiative, the content is only blindly accepted, but not understood. This situation seriously affects the possibility of students’ autonomous learning. Moreover, due to the continuous development of the Internet, the embedded system has gradually become mature, and now has been favored by many industries, especially in the Internet of things, in order to improve the front-end equipment of the Internet of things, and help to obtain and identify information in a short time. The development of software system based on new technology of embedded devices further promotes the development of Internet of things and the application in many fields. The development scale of embedded software is more and more large and complex, which brings a lot of problems to the past embedded software testing. Through the in-depth research and analysis of the Internet of things and embedded software system, combined with the development trend and research hotspot of visual distance education, the theory and practicality, Internet of things and embedded software related to the research field are combined with engineering design, system design, theme design and system design. This paper introduces the test problem management, online testing and other functional methods. Finally, this paper analyzes the problems in the development and application of network education platform, so as to further promote the sustainable development of visual distance education platform.

A Multiple-Fault Localization Method for Embedded Software with Applications in Engineering

Embedded software is increasingly being used with high reliability. However, the fault localization of embedded software is still largely dependent on the experience of engineers. Besides, faults in embedded software programs are not independent individuals; they are related to each other and affect each other, which may lead to more complex interaction behavior. These uncertainties render the traditional methods for single-fault localization with limited practical value. This paper has proposed a multiple-fault localization method to be applied to the embedded software, with emphasis on the cache-based program spectra-acquiring method and the hybrid clustering-based fault partition method. Through case studies on 108 groups of the subject program, it has been proved that the hybrid clustering-based fault partition method has significantly improved the effectiveness of multiple-fault localization in comparison with the traditional fault localization methods. Experiments on three embedded software programs in engineering have revealed that the cache-based program spectra-acquiring method saves nearly half of the running-time cost compared with the traditional spectrum-acquiring method based on real-time transmission. Therefore, the multiple-fault localization method proposed in this paper can be applied in embedded software debugging and testing in engineering.

Изучение программирования микроконтроллеров в САПР Proteus

The creation of projects in the Proteus program based on microcontrollers is considered. A classic 8051 microcontroller from Intel is investigated, as well as an STM32F401RE microcontroller from ARM. The development of the simplest programs for use in laboratory classes on programming embedded systems (for example, the "Internet of things") for 8051 – in assembler language, for STM32F401RE – in C language using a special development environment is carried out. The research can be used in laboratory classes on embedded systems programming.

A Platform-Aware Model-Driven Embedded Software Engineering Process Based on Annotated Analysis Models

In this work a platform-aware model-driven engineering process for building component-based embedded software systems using annotated analysis models is described. The process is supported by a framework, called MICOBS, that allows working with different component technologies and integrating different tools that, independently of the component technology, enable the analysis of non-functional properties based on the principles of composability and compositionality. An actor, called Framework Architect, is responsible for this integration. Three other actors take a relevant part in the analysis process. The Component Provider supplies the components, while the Component Tester is in charge of their validation. The latter also feeds MICOBS with the annotated analysis models that characterize the extra-functional properties of the components for the different platforms on which they can be deployed. The Application Architect uses these components to build new systems, performing the trade-off between different alternatives. At this stage, and in order to verify that the final system meets the extra-functional requirements, the Application Architect uses the reports generated by the integrated analysis tools. This process has been used to support the validation and verification of the on-board application software for the Instrument Control Unit of the Energetic Particle Detector of the Solar Orbiter mission.

A RISC-V Processor Design for Transparent Tracing

Code instrumentation enables the observability of an embedded software system during its execution. A usage example of code instrumentation is the estimation of “worst-case execution time” using hybrid analysis. This analysis combines static code analysis with measurements of the execution time on the deployment platform. Static analysis of source code determines where to insert the tracing instructions, so that later, the execution time can be captured using a logic analyser. The main drawback of this technique is the overhead introduced by the execution of trace instructions. This paper proposes a modification of the architecture of a RISC pipelined processor that eliminates the execution time overhead introduced by the code instrumentation. In this way, it allows the tracing to be non-intrusive, since the sequence and execution times of the program under analysis are not modified by the introduction of traces. As a use case of the proposed solution, a processor, based on RISC-V architecture, was implemented using VHDL language. The processor, synthesized on a FPGA, was used to execute and evaluate a set of examples of instrumented code generated by a “worst-case execution time” estimation tool. The results validate that the proposed architecture executes the instrumented code without overhead.

Development and application of Sequencing Batch Airlift Reactor for Domestic Sewage Treatment

Aiming at the demand of decentralized domestic sewage treatment in rural areas, Sequencing Batch Airlift Reactor (SBAR) for domestic sewage treatment was developed and applied for sewage disposal of an office building in shenjiadun village, Deqing, Zhejiang Province. The device doesn’t need to set up sedimentation tank and sludge reflux system. It has a good precipitation effect and only occupies a small area. In the aspect of control, it adopts the self-researched embedded software system. And it integrates GPRS/GSM/SMS/CDMA/Internet communication technology and high-precision electrical parameter measurement technology. The actual operation results show that the device can ensure sufficient contact between sludge and waste water. It can effectively remove BOD5, CODCr, ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen from domestic sewage. And it has the advantages of low investment, low energy consumption, high automation and simple operation. Therefore, this device has important popularization value in the field of distributed treatment of rural domestic sewage.

A Survey on Adaptive Random Testing

Random testing (RT) is a well-studied testing method that has been widely applied to the testing of many applications, including embedded software systems, SQL database systems, and Android applications. Adaptive random testing (ART) aims to enhance RT's failure-detection ability by more evenly spreading the test cases over the input domain. Since its introduction in 2001, there have been many contributions to the development of ART, including various approaches, implementations, assessment and evaluation methods, and applications. This paper provides a comprehensive survey on ART, classifying techniques, summarizing application areas, and analyzing experimental evaluations. This paper also addresses some misconceptions about ART, and identifies open research challenges to be further investigated in the future work.

Improved Efficiency of Object Code Verification Using Statically Abstracted Object Code

One of the major challenges in the formal verification of embedded system software is the complexity and substantially large size of the implementation. The problem becomes crucial when the embedded system is a complex medical device that is executing convoluted algorithms. In refinement-based verification, both specification and implementation are expressed as transition systems. Each behavior of the implementation transition system is matched to the specification transition system with the help of a refinement map. The refinement map can only project those values from the implementation which are responsible for labeling the current state of the system. When the refinement map is applied at the object code level, numerous instructions map to a single state in the specification transition system called stuttering instructions. We use the concept of Static Stuttering Abstraction (SSA) that filters the common multiple segments of stuttering instructions and replaces each segment with a merger. SSA algorithm reduces the implementation state space in embedded software, subsequently decreasing the efforts involved in manual verification with WEB refinement. The algorithm is formally proven for correctness. SSA is implemented on the pacemaker object code to evaluate the effectiveness of abstracted code in verification process. The results helped to establish the fact that, despite code size reduction, the bugs and errors can still be found. We implemented the SSA technique on two different platforms and it has been proven to be consistent in decreasing the code size significantly and hence the complexity of the implementation transition system. The results illustrate that there is considerable reduction in time and effort required for the verification of a complex software control, i.e., pacemaker when statically stuttering abstracted code is employed.

P-D controller computer vision and robotics integration based for student’s programming comprehension improvement

The 21st-century skills needed to face the speed of understanding technology. Such as critical thinking in computer vision and robotics literacy, any student is hampered by the programming that is considered complicated. This study aims at the improvement of student embedded system programming competency with computer vision and mobile robotics integration approach. This method is proposed to attract the students to learn about embedded system programming by delivering integration between computer vision and robotics using the P-D controller since both of the fields are closely related. In this paper, the researcher described computer vision programming to get the data of captured images through the camera stream and then delivered the data into an embedded system to make the decision of robot movement. The output of this study is the improvement of a student’s ability to make an application to integrate a sensor system using a camera and the mobile robot running follow the line. The result of the test shows that the integration method between computer vision and robotics can improve the student’s programming comprehension by 40%. Based on the Feasibility test survey, it can be interpreted that from the whole assessment after being converted to qualitative data, all aspects of the learning stages of programming application tested with the integration of computer vision and robotics fall into the very feasible category for used with a percentage of feasibility by 77.44%.

The Development of an Enterprise Realignment Framework for Firms Entering Emerging Markets

Pursuing markets which are highly dynamic may require not only innovation in terms of products or services but also business model changes. This is often the case for firms in fast moving sectors such as the media, telecoms and internet industries. This article reports on case study research where high technology firms at the early stage of a sector lifecycle were studied to gain insights into their innovation strategies, technology development approaches and their accompanying enterprise realignment. The framework developed identifies three levels for enterprise realignment: (1) industry position; (2) application provision; and (3) technology development. The case study firms that were examined supported the majority of the elements that were identified for each level as follows: (1) innovation value chain and technology leadership, (2) product attributes; optimisation; interconnectivity and embedded software systems (ESS) and (3) architecture and collaborative working.