Product Development Life Cycle of an Embedded System

Introduction

Embedded Systems are a large segment of the computing sphere.  They are becoming more uniquitous and span all aspects of modern life. Embedded devices are used in a wide variety of systems such as aircraft, automobiles, appliances and consumer electronics devices.

This white paper discusses the product life cycle of an Embedded System. It also attempts to provide some insights into challenges of developing a advanced embedded OR consumer product. In order to deliver a consumer electronics at a competitive price, every electronics company is incorporating electronics and software together into their consumer products.

Consumer Electronics Product Life Cycle

Following diagram represents the typical product life cycle and key functional areas of a Consumer Electronics OR Embedded Product

Figure 1. Product Life Cycle of a Embedded System

1.       Concept Phase:

A comprehensive analysis of the market trends is done here in the concept phase. The phase involves brainstorming of innovative ideas driven by technology trends and customer inputs. The customer here could be strategic partners for an established company OR end- users of similar product in the market.

Expected Deliverables: Concept Paper

Participants: Idea Initiators (include VPs, Directors, Product Managers), Product Architecture Teams, Product Marketing and Management.

2.       Requirements Gathering Phase:

A critical stage for Embedded Product as it determines what kind of hardware and software support is required to satisfy the scenarios identified for the customer. The number of requirements will eventually determine the scope of the product and what problem areas are being addressed by your new version of the product. A detailed feasibility (technical and business) is done by soliciting feedback from all critical stake holders of this project.

Expected Deliverables: Requirements Functional Spec OR PRDs, System Specifications.

Participants: Idea Initiators (include VPs, Directors, Product Managers), Product Management and Systems Engineering.

3.       Design Phase:

During this phase, the product owner and design team will identify the relationship between input and output.  A System Specification is written after investigating the overall behavior of the embedded system. All the required components to build the embedded product are identified and also how these components interact with each other. A functional design document is written to compile the findings of all the above components. A detailed Hardware and Software partitioning is determined. Rapid Prototyping is done in order to validate the identified and proposed design.

Architecture viz. target processor architecture and Host O.S is also identified for the implementation purposes. 

Expected Deliverables: Architecture Doc, High Level Design, Low Level Design for HW & Software.

Participants: Idea Initiators Limited Set (include VPs, Directors, Product Managers), Product Engineering Team (Development & Quality Assurance).

4.       Development & Implementation Phase:

Based on the specification of embedded system regarding functionality & power consumption and  cost all the different hardware add on components are chosen and hardware ( viz. ASIC )  implementation will start in the first sub-phase of implementation.  Then the software component, which deals with code running on a microcontroller running together on a RTOS is done as a next step in the development process. Some new development approaches recommend both the hardware implementation viz. VHDL programming & Software Implementation using C programming is done in parallel so that integration becomes easier.  

Expected Deliverables: Implemented Hardware & Software Components

Participants: Product Engineering Team (Development & Quality Assurance).

5.       Integration Phase:

The next step in the implementation process is the testing of the entire embedded system.  This will ensure whether the embedded system is complying with entire system specification defined above.

Expected Deliverables: Implemented Embedded System – Beta and Working

Participants: Product Engineering Team (Development & Quality Assurance), Systems Engineering

6.       Verification and Validation Phase :

The Validation phase is to ensure that the entire system is implemented as against the design and eventually against the requirements. Emulation based approaches can be followed for verification. Compliance testing and certification testing are carried on the target embedded system OR consumer device.

Expected Deliverables: Implemented Embedded System – Beta and Working

Participants: Product Engineering Teams (Development & Quality Assurance), Systems Engineering, Partner Teams and Beta Customers

7.       Maintenance and Retire Phase :

The Maintenance phase includes changes and additions as required by the users and also fixing bugs to keep the product up and running at the customer site.

Expected Deliverables: Implemented Embedded System – Working

Participants: Field Engineering, Product Engineering Teams (Development & Quality Assurance), Systems Engineering, Partner Teams and Beta Customers

Challenges in developing an Embedded Product

1.       Predicting product behavior with existing set of fuzzy requirements.

2.       Difficulty in understanding the design change and implication across all disciplines.

3.       Handling Distributed Software and Hardware Teams - Early identification of system level problems becomes challenging because of distributed teams.

Summary

Embedded Systems have widely different requirements. The demands of the specific technical application dominate the system design. Wide varieties of tools are becoming available to understand the scope and help accurately design the embedded system.

Digital Video’s Important Role in Enterprises

There is a lot written, discussed and blogged about the usage of Video for the Consumer World. We continuously read about the new deployments of exceptional digital video Technology for Consumers. However, very little is written on the usage of Video for Enterprises. My objective of writing this blog is to highlight the usage of Digital Video Technology for Enterprises. I want to enumerate the different uses of Video Technology for Enterprise needs and also discuss on how this technology can be used for the betterment of society in general.

1. Oil Exploration and Disaster Recovery ( viz. Oil Spill )

Before I go into real usage of Enterprise Video Solutions for Oil Explorations, let me talk about the recent Oil Spill episode at Gulf. The Oil spill at Gulf was described as the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The deep water spill was caused by the Rig, which can drill down in waters up to 8000 ft. At the time of the explosion, it was drilling an exploratory well at a water depth of approximately 5,000 feet about 41 miles (66 km) off the Louisiana coast. As this depth is dangerous for human beings, access to real time videos of the spill led the Government and also BP to take swift action on this disaster. Access to real time video feeds was possible due to the deployment of VBrick Streaming Video Technology ( VBrick is a Video Company which offers streaming solutions for wide range of applications ). VBrick Systems provided the complete end to end video IP solution for providing the live feed of the oil disaster. Almost every channel including CNN and Fox channels were broadcasting the live video feed, however the technology usage was not mentioned by these Media and Broadcast Companies.  This is one of the best example of how Video Technology can also be used for disaster recovery and resolution.

Oil and Gas Industry is deploying and using Video for enhancing their efforts on upstream exploration and drilling. This Industry is discovering to use video collaboration tools to deliver effective communications and increase their productivity overall. Real time 'Video over IP' can used as instant communication tool.

IP Video Surveillance solutions such as IP video servers and IP cameras are more useful and reliable than the traditional DVR systems, since the IP solutions offer greater installation flexibility and easier maintenance compared with traditional CCTV and DVR systems. IP Cameras also make security monitoring more feasible and safer.

2. Health Care & Surgery Industry

IP Video Solutions can be best utilized to build medical devices, toolset and infra-structure, used in modern health care specially Telesurgery. Telesurgery is perhaps the most demanding network video application requiring the lowest latency and highest quality video transmission, usually over great distances. Telesurgery using advanced robotic equipment can be over a long-distance communications link providing visual feedback through dual HD channels (OR multiple HD channels).

Haivision’s network video system and MAKO-HD™ H.264 codec was being used by Titan Medical and Bell Canada to support a test of Telesurgery performed with Titan Medical’s Amadeus® robotic surgical system. Haivision Network Video is a world leader in delivering the most advanced video networking technology and IP video distribution solutions. Their solutions help to connect operating theaters and clinics through their real-time video collaboration products.

IP Video Solutions can be used to assist life savings procedures, endoscopes (miniature cameras) and build motion video devices. Making real time video available to consulting physicians, interns, and Device experts helps them to communicate instantly and provide critical care for needy patients. The increasing number of mission critical video transmission systems at Hospitals has immensely helped the medical community to do their job more effectively and save more lives. This kind of technology can go a long way in outsourcing costly surgeries and eventually save money.

Here is another example of usage of IP Video OR Network Video. IP Video System’s Video2Data and DMS product are integrated in inStereotaxis Odyssey Platform. Stereotaxis is a Medical device company building cardiac interventional solutions. Stereo-taxis via its Odyssey Workstation platform is implementing global interventional support.

3.  Digital Signage and Corporate Training

Today’s large enterprises have diverse needs for IP Video. They need solutions which will deliver broadcast feeds to the desktop OR flat panels at the targeted locations. These solutions will also help enterprises to implement cost effective signage systems. They need to make stored video content available for training and reference. And some need to launch internal broadcasts of events or even complete internal Video Broadcast Sites. For example. Microsoft built Channel 9 website to promote conversations amongst Microsoft Customers OR educate the end-users on Microsoft products.

4. Defense and Government Establishments

IP Video OR Network Video Solutions can be used to build Network Simulation Products for training defense personnel. Video Collaboration tools can be used for dynamic and timely exchange of information between the military planners and commanders in the field.

IP Video Collaboration tools can be used for multiple purposes at Defense Institutions:

• Providing critical information to key service-men deployed in war OR disaster situations
• Improves mission capability and operational excellence of defense personnel
• Improving morale of overseas defense personnel
• Improves real-time collaboration between agencies
• Defense Manufacturers are increasingly deploying the IP Video Collaboration Tools to collaborate between the engineering experts and manufacturing personnel.

 IP VIDEO Companies building Enterprise Solutions

I would now like to list some of the top Companies, who are building real time, low latency Video Collaboration Solutions for Enterprises

1. Cisco Tandberg Division -> Cisco is the world leader in delivering comprehensive reliable Video Collaboration Tools. Tandberg Telepresense and HD Video Conferencing Solutions help you conduct high quality reliable conference calls between the interested parties. TANDBERG's real-time visual solutions are utilized by Financial institutions, Medical Practitioners, Manufacturers.

2. HP -> HP is also in the bandwagon for providing Video Collaboration solutions which help Enterprise Organizations to reduce travel and increase productivity amongst the geographically distributed diverse teams. HP has also collaborated with Tandberg to unify their Video Collaboration Tools to provide maximum efficiency.

HP’s flagship Halo Service supports the following critical features:

•        Seamless Company-to-Company connections
•        24/365 monitoring of network activity
•        Network Diagnostics and Monitoring
•        AES-256 encryption
•        24/7 concierge
•        Account management


3. Polycom -> Polycom’s Conferencing Solutions help Enterprises collaborate and build stronger teams and partnerships. Polycom’s solutions provide you the flexibility to choose from multiple mission-critical UC platforms. Polycom has variety of Industry Standard products for conferencing needs. Their HDX line of products deliver both performance and amazing clarity.

4. VBrick -> VBrick Systems is a leader in Enterprise IP Video with over 6000 customers. VBrick Solutions integrate five essential elements of streaming video communications which include

·         Video Capture

·         Video Transport

·         Record and Store

·         Playback

·         Manage and Control

5. Radvision -> Here is another Industry’s leader provider of products and technologies for unified visual communications over IP networks. RADVISION offers the most complete set of standards-based video networking infrastructure and developer toolkits on the market today. Radvision’s SCOPIA line of video conferencing products deliver a video experience that provide the extra personal touch need to do business communications. Radvision has also developed a comprehensive communication solution for both voice and video collaboration.

6. Optibase -> Optibase’s EZ TV Solutions are extensively deployed in military bases, government and enterprises to deliver real-time video over the WANS and LANs. The Company’s platforms are fully interoperable with equipment from IPTV vendors including set-top box developers, middle-ware software companies and network access vendors. Take a look at the work-flow of their end to end Video Solution using the link below.

http://www.optibase.com/imgs/uploads/Images/Diagrams/military_workflow.pdf

7. IPVideo Systems -> IP Video Systems have built real time encoders which stream ultra high-definition video and also desktop over IP networks. Their HD collaboration tools enable scalable high-performance data networking solutions serving distributed visualization applications and video over IP OR transport network. Their Digital Media Servers can record up to 50 1080p HD streams in unicast mode. IP Video Systems is partnering with Medical Device Companies to help build automated and interventional surgery applications.

8. Haivision -> Havision Network Video develops broadband interactive video communication solutions for all Enterprise and Consumer needs.  Haivision’s flagship product delivers extreme low latency multi-stream solutions for many enterprise needs including virtual classroom, and medical systems. The Hai1000 manages up to 10 high performance channels of MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 or MPEG-2 per system.

9. Kontiki -> Kontiki’s Enterprise Video Platform provide an integrated solution for video creation, management, delivery and engagement. Their solution is available as software as service (SAAS) running in cloud behind a firewall.

10. Avistar -> Avistar claims to have invested 15 years on research to develop their desktop video conferencing solution. Their flagship product C3 Desktop offers a commercial-grade, scalable and manageable desktop video conferencing solution. Avistat also uses a patenet-protected bandwidth management, firewall traversal and system central features.

A lot of Companies above and other Start Ups claim their Video Collaboration and Telepresence tools are meant for Enterprise usage. Not all Companies offer live video for enterprises. Their claim can only be verified based on the number of deployments and value-add for their Customers.

Summary: Digital Video Technology can be used to address Enterprise’s top issues and challenges. Future advancements in Video Technology has the ability to adopt and create new solutions and unique applications for Enterprises.

How IT Project Manager Interviews have changed in Recent Years

Interviews today for Software Project Managers OR IT Managers are definitely different than the interviews which happened 10 years back. Although interviews are a way to sell yourself, today's interviews do not just see how you present yourself but would like to see how you analyze, assess given a specific technology issue and see how you propose and sell new ideas to your Customers OR Partners. With the changing economy and technology trends, the standards are much higher for Software OR IT Project Managers. Companies would like to see how you use the existing technology to your advantage in terms of enhancing your productivity on a day today life.

TRADITIONAL INTERVIEWS

Back in late 1990s, a candidate was really inquired about the role he played in every project and also how did he drove the project to a successful completion. Candidate was asked about every project he worked on OR at least one favorite project. As most of the candidates were involved in their projects for a long time, the candidate was very successful in representing his expertise on the projects, his approach and methodology.

Specific technical queries were asked for the Candidate to know his expertise around a specific technology OR business domain. Some interviewers even asked to write algorithms from IT managers to find out whether he was hands-on. This would allow the interviewer to see how the candidate thinks and also presents his problem solving approach.

Here were some standard queries in traditional interviews.

1. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

2. What did you like about your last job? What didnt you like about your last job?

3. Where do you see yourself in five years? ten years ??

4. Which technology OR domain did you work on ?? How do you plan to learn the new technology OR domain ??

5. In a scale of 1 to 10 ( 10 being the ideal score ), how much do you rate yourself on a certain area ?? Why ??

Interviewers would see the confidence level of that candidate as well as the attitude of the candidate as he presents a solution to a problem including the unexpected ones. The candidate was sent to see representatives from Development, Quality Assurance, Product Marketing and other key groups. All the representatives would then sit and decide on the candidate's performance. Referrals were also checked to verify how the candidate has been in his previous Companies.

THE NEW GEN-Y INTERVIEWS

The Interviewers today are increasingly following a new approach to interviews. This is called the Gen Y Style of Interview . Interviewers today belong to MySpace generation and are very efficient in using all kinds of gadgets and devices to be very productive in their day today activities. Interviewers today are very respectful of candidate's freedom of thoughts and are instant communicators. Apart from technical competence, they expect a candidate to be humorous and enthusiastic.

Here is what to expect from the current generation of Interviewers:


1. Do not expect the interviewer to ask about your Resume at all....

2. Today's Interviewers expect the IT Managers to have technical as well as business perspective of the problem.

The candidate has to be able to assess on current technology trends and see what the next gen technology looks like. Interviewers want to really see your passion for the technology you are working on. They would like to verify how would the next generation technology save money for all their Customers ?? OR directly impact the revenues for your Company. How would it improve the quality of your life OR people around you.

3. Interviewers want to see how you communicate your ideas and thoughts with wit and humour. Content of your ideas are as important as your Style.

4. Interviewers would like to hear and see real examples of your team building activities. They want to see how many people are following you and your blogs. They want to see whether you have exercised your leadership skills by organizing any major events, whether it is a personal OR professional related.


Here are some real examples, I can quote based on my recent experience. Recently I attended a Google interview for the position of 'Product Manager'. Here were some sample queries posed to me.



1. Where does Google's main revenue comes from ?? Who are Google's main competitors ??

2. What Google service do you use and how would you improve it?

3. Where do you see Google in the mobile space with Android

4. If you were heading a Google's product ( you name it), what questions would keep you awake at night ??



These queries demonstrate how Google is trying to identify a candidate's Business and Analytical skills as a Product OR Program Manager. They want to see how much are you interesting in using Google's products and services. Google is less interested in your previous projects. Google is rather interested to assess how are you applying your current expertise to analyze a specific business situation OR market condition ?? How does an IT Manager OR project takes a decision in a specific circumstance ?? what are the attributes he focuses on to make those decisions.

I also applied for another Leadership Opening in Project Management at a Social Networking Company. This reputed Company sent me a quick set of pre-interview queries to be answered before the first technical interview. Here are some sample queries.


1. Describe a website that you think doesn't work well, why don't you like it, how would you improve it.

2. How can you speed up the user's internet experience?


I was asked the following queries in another interview. This interview was for a Mobile Company. This Company was trying to assess my interest and passion in any specific technology and what am I doing to improve this Technology.



1. What technology excites you? How would you improve it? How would you measure the success of the technology?

2. Which Desktop OS OR Mobile platform do you use to develop a new application ?? Why ??

3. How do you bring about Synergies between all the groups at your Company ?? What role do you play to achieve a better synergy ??


Yea you may say.. So what the heck ?? How is it different now ?? Can you summarize it ??


Here are some key differences. The interviews are not the same anymore. Here are some of the expectations from the potential Software Project Managers.

1. PASSION FOR A SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY IS PRACTICED BY THE CANDIDATE NOT JUST PREACHED ??

Candidate's passion in any Technology is seen by your actual knowledge of that specific technology. How may patents did you file OR attempt to file on this specific technology ?? How many White Papers did you publish on this specific technology ?? Can they see your interest in Technology through actual work not through your discussions. The more footprint they find about you through any social networking sites OR blogs will confirm

Generate a trail of your activites using Social Networks - White Papers, Blogs, Presentations, Videos, News Paper Articles, Books etc.

2. HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE PEOPLE AROUND YOU ?? HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE GROUPS ??

Interviewers would like to find out how many people are really following you ?? This can be done through inquiry OR using the social networking sites. How many people have subscribed your blogs OR presentations ??

What is your approach to win new customers. Customers could be internal OR external. What is your Philosophy OR Management style ?? Why would it win new customers ??

Did you influence people at a personal level by leading a non-profit Organization ?? How many websites did you conceptualize or build ??

3. COMPANIES WANT TO GIVE YOU CASE STUDIES UNRELATED TO YOUR DOMAIN TO UNDERSTAND YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS AND BUSINESS SKILLS ??

By giving case studies and asking queries relevant to this case study, Interviewers are trying to see how you think and analyze a technical and a non-technical problem. A candidate is necessarily given appropriate amount of time to study and answer related queries.

4. COMPANY WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT RESTRUCTURING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

In the changing world, it is important for an IT Project Manager to be aware of change coming around you and how do you adopt to the changing situation.

For a candidate, it is certainly a diligent idea to prepare for both traditional as well as the next gen interviews. Some Interviewers follow a middle path between the traditional and new style of interviews.

SUMMARY :

Preparing for a 'Software Project Manager' OR 'IT Manager' interview is really a long process. Choose the technology you are passionate about. Your passion on a specific technology domain OR area should be seen in your enthusiasm to evangelize that technology with your colleagues and in general 'Society'. It should start with your ability to influence people. Leadership qualities do not accumulate as you gain number of years of experience in a certain field. You will have to take opportunities to lead teams OR groups at a personal level OR professional level. This will help you to transition from your current role to the next role at your Company. Use professional networking sites to connect with people, influence people, solicit feedback on your performance, appreciate your colleague's performance, gather and express your thoughts both personal and professional.

Start Websites...Write blogs. Create presentations using document sharing sites like scribd. Evangelize and Influence people on the technology you are working on. Participate in organizing local events at non-profit Organizations. These experiences will go a long way in becoming a successful Project Manager.