Software versus Hardware

Electronics Hardware

The idea for this post came from an interesting article by Bryan Murdoch who also writes a blog on technology topics. In the article he looked at why some developers can be Averse To Change and made some interesting observations about why that is so. One of those conclusions I agree with very strongly.

 

Before I come to that, let’s look at the basics of the Embedded System.

 

An Embedded System is a computer that lives inside a system and is dedicated to that system. It has specific control functions and can be quite simple or quite complex depending on the system. An Embedded System therefore has Electronics Hardware that Embedded Software runs on.

 

Electronics PCB

Electronics PCB

 

The Electronics Hardware can be as simple as a tiny 8 bit processor such as the Atmel ATtiny13 or a full blown Intel multi-core processor. But the key is that it is dedicated to that system and not a general purpose computing device such as a Windows or Linux PC that we just happen to be using for that purpose today and can use for something else tomorrow.

 

Electronics Hardware is not generally reconfigurable in the field and where it is, such as FPGAs, it is really the software control portion that is changed and not the underlying hardware itself.

 

Embedded Software

 

Embedded Software

Embedded Software

The Embedded Software is therefore the software that runs on the Embedded System. This can be as simple as a few lines of assembler through to a full Information Kiosk product running on Windows Embedded. As usual with software, it can be anything. We are not going to focus on what it is, but why we prefer to use Software for much of a modern system’s functions.

 

Why Software?

The real reason for the focus on software, is that once you deploy the hardware, the only thing you can easily change to improve it is the software. This is one of the core points made by Bryan Murdoch that I agree with.

 

Another point he made in a post on Software Cost is that software becomes more valuable and more usable when we make the effort to make it simple, testable and compact. This makes it more readily reusable and also more easily maintained. These are two life cycle costs not often considered at the front end development phase of a project. It is also a good reason why the number of lines of code is not a good indicator of the real value of a piece of software.

 

Product Development

So this is where the rubber of the New Product Development process hits the road. Amongst other things, you have to be able to decide what you will do in software and what you will do in hardware. And it also depends on your core competencies as a company and those in your supply chain. During the development of the XBOX processor Microsoft told IBM that they were a software company and so any issues with the silicon they would fix in the drivers. This was done to reduce the development time frame and fits with the comments from Bryan Murdoch about one of the primary reasons people use software, its changeability. It also played simultaneously to both IBM’s and Microsoft’s strengths and was a smart business move on Microsoft’s part.

 

Successful Endeavours specialise in Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development. Ray Keefe has developed market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. This post is Copyright © 2011 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd

What’s So Good About Being An Engineer?

An Engineering Problem in Disguise

A funny thing happened to me the other day during the Christmas shopping rush at our local shopping centre in Endeavour Hills. Our daughter had purchased some clothes for her nieces for Christmas and used the self serve checkout. When she got home she discovered she had not had one of the security tags removed so she asked for my help.

OK, I might be an Electronics Hardware and Embedded Software Engineer but I did do a year of Physics and Chemistry at Deakin University before switching to Engineering and I have had a role in the design of Multidisciplinary Systems with Electromechanical Actuators and Variable Frequency Motor Drives including Multi-Axis Robotic Handlers. So I thought, “How hard can this be?”

The first step was to review the problem and identify the information. Those familiar with Edward De Bono‘s Six Thinking Hats will recognise this as the White Hat stage.

I had:

  • circular plastic sealed tag with an alignment feature – a hole through it to accept a tapered pin
  • a metal pin with a large head inserted into the centre of the plastic disk
  • no other visible connection points

So assuming the tag was made at a minimum price, needed to be aligned correctly to be released and could be disconnected without an external power source; I concluded that the release mechanism was probably magnetic. So I got a magnet and did some experiments and I could hear something click inside the security tag as I moved the external magnet around. Now I am very confident that it is a Magnetic Latching Mechanism. But no orientation of a single magnet released the pin.

I got 2 magnets and worked around the unit until the pin released and the problem was solved.

Having released the tag I gave the garment to my daughter to wrap in Christmas paper and put the tag with pin inserted back into it by the front door. Since we were shopping the next day I thought I would return the tag. At the very least it would get recycled.

 

What’s so good about being an Engineer?

At the shops, I went to the help desk and offered them the tag. They were very confused. I explained that it had been accidentally left on one of the items we purchased so I took it off and was returning it to them. The stunned reply was, “You took it off yourself”? “Yes” I said. “I’ll have to call security” was the next reply. So I said, “It’s all right, I’m an Engineer“. “Oh, that’s fine then” was the reply and I wandered off to collect some final groceries for Christmas dinner.

So apparently there was a connection in the shop assistants mind that made being an Engineer something special. They may not have known what that connection was. And that got me wondering about Engineers and what is so special about us. Here is a bit of a list of my initial thoughts if I ignore specific Engineering Disciplines:

  • we create the future by designing and constructing the machines and systems that it requires
  • we routinely solve complex problems that others do not know even exist
  • we do all of this because we want a better world and are prepared to do our part to achieve it
  • we have learned that covering up a symptom is not the same as solving the underlying problem

You might have some thoughts of your own so please leave a comment.

And of course, I hope you had a Merry Christmas in 2009 and that 2010 is a very good year for you all. Happy New Year!

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.