Seeking for suggestions from embedded professionals

Hi Friends,

I am hardware engineer. I worked in Hardware desing and verification
but i dont have any experience in embedded system desing and
programming. I want to move in to embedded system field from hardware.
Can any one suggest me that which field is easy to move? embedded
system desing or embedded system programming? I know C/C++ at
intermediate level. Can any one suggest me what is best way to move in
to ...

MicroChiP78 wrote:

> I am hardware engineer. I worked in Hardware desing and verification
> but i dont have any experience in embedded system desing and
> programming. I want to move in to embedded system field from hardware.

If you already have experience with H/W design and these designs
contained microcontrollers and you also have C/C++ experience (I guess
on computer platforms?) then you are >>80% of the way to being an
embedded engineer already.

I doubt there is a formal qualification you NEED to acquire. I would
advise picking an architecture, gaining some experience with it,
assembling a portfolio, and approaching potential employers.

Some people will argue with this comment but I don't recommend you
position yourself either as a "just firmware" guy or a "just hardware"
guy. I'd advise you to make the most of the synergy. Employers want
people with experience on both sides of the HW/SW fence.

Also if you have 5+ years of hardware experience, I'd suggest you aim
at an intermediate-level position rather than entry level, even though
you are changing fields.

MicroChiP78 wrote:
> Hi Friends,
>
> I am hardware engineer. I worked in Hardware desing and verification
> but i dont have any experience in embedded system desing and
> programming. I want to move in to embedded system field from hardware.
> Can any one suggest me that which field is easy to move? embedded
> system desing or embedded system programming? I know C/C++ at
> intermediate level. Can any one suggest me what is best way to move in
> to ...

You already have something that many embedded designers lack - formal
qualifications in a related field. Now go and read a book or two, get a
small contract, come back here for advice, and learn on the job.

Try these books:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0750678720
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/020161569X
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931448000

--
Joe Legris

MicroChiP78 wrote:
> Hi Friends,
>
> I am hardware engineer. I worked in Hardware desing and verification
> but i dont have any experience in embedded system desing and
> programming. I want to move in to embedded system field from hardware.
> Can any one suggest me that which field is easy to move? embedded
> system desing or embedded system programming? I know C/C++ at
> intermediate level. Can any one suggest me what is best way to move in
> to ...

Hi,

If you know c/c++, the best way might be follow the books previously
mentioned. It may be good idea to learn RTOS concenpts. This will be
useful in developing real time systems. There are many free RTOS are
available on the net like ecos,RTlinux. 

Regards

As an earlier poster said, if you can do hardware and program in C/C++ you are 80 percent of the way there.

Some things to try:

Try to find a local consultant that is doing embedded development that needs some
help with the hardware side. Try to form a relationship and  work on shared projects.

Where are you located?

Try to build some kind of embedded device from scratch. 
Make sure you understand the software aspects specific to embedded design such as
Linker scripts, memory maps etc... Often with some thing like C/C++ or java on a PC
you don't even see that part of the compiler setup.

You could buy a 32 bit embedded devkit and play with that.

An Arm, Coldfire, PPC, I'm personally partial to our products ;-) www.netburner.com
Try : http://www.netburner.com/products/core_modules/mod5213.html

The world seems to be moving toward 32 bit parts even in applications that were formerly 
8 bit, as a result I would shy away from such 8 bitters as the Z-80 , 8051 or Rabbit.
If you think the work your looking for will be in minimalist systems then maybe do some 8 bit stuff.
I personally like the AVR for tiny devices. See www.avrfreaks.net


You say that you are proficient at C/C++, the exact details of this will
make some difference. If you've always used the project builder wizard witn microsoft visual C
then you have more to learn than if you have been hand assembling makefiles for a linux system.

Study the GCC manuals with specific attention to the linker.
Make sure you know what CRT0 is and what it does. (the startup code)

Paul

CTO NetBurner.

larwe wrote:

> 
> MicroChiP78 wrote:
> 
>> I am hardware engineer. I worked in Hardware desing and verification
>> but i dont have any experience in embedded system desing and
>> programming. I want to move in to embedded system field from hardware.
> 
> If you already have experience with H/W design and these designs
> contained microcontrollers and you also have C/C++ experience (I guess
> on computer platforms?) then you are >>80% of the way to being an
> embedded engineer already.
> 
> I doubt there is a formal qualification you NEED to acquire. I would
> advise picking an architecture, gaining some experience with it,
> assembling a portfolio, and approaching potential employers.
> 
> Some people will argue with this comment but I don't recommend you
> position yourself either as a "just firmware" guy or a "just hardware"
> guy. I'd advise you to make the most of the synergy. Employers want
> people with experience on both sides of the HW/SW fence.
> 
> Also if you have 5+ years of hardware experience, I'd suggest you aim
> at an intermediate-level position rather than entry level, even though
> you are changing fields.

I'm with larwe on this issue. Having myself started in electronics back in
1969 and picking up the programming of micro-controllers (my first was the
6800 in the early 70's) as I went. Latter employers seemed to appreciate
having someone with experience on both sides of the hardware/software
divide. The dichotomy also allowed me to see simpler solutions than would
have been obvious from the standpoint of just a hardware or software point
of view.

You, the OP, are already a long way towards having all you need to be a good
embedded systems engineer. You just need to see a few projects under your
belt that require both the hardware and software to be done by you. Whether
this is an own (documented) project or one for an outfit willing to hire
you on-spec would not matter.

On the topic of doing home-grown projects, be sure to document the project
in a suitably detailed fashion which would indicate the development process
you used to produce it.

-- 
********************************************************************
Paul E. Bennett ....................<email://peb@amleth.demon.co.uk>
Forth based HIDECS Consultancy .....<http://www.amleth.demon.co.uk/>
Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972
Tel: +44 (0)1235-811095
Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk..
********************************************************************