Procuring key middleware components in embedded systems leads to faster time to market and higher quality.
Embedded systems are a key component of cars, airplanes, factory assembly lines, electricity grids, and more. This means it’s critical that embedded systems work as expected. But producers also face pressure to release embedded products on time and on budget. Outsourcing middleware for embedded systems will help you meet both of these goals.
An ever-increasing amount of data
The number of connected devices is continuously increasing – and by 2030 Internet of Things (IoT) devices will outnumber people three to one. This generates a lot of data: 79.4 ZB from IoT devices alone by 2025, according to one industry estimate.
A significant amount of data processing occurs at the edge (locally on an IoT device), mainly due to latency and bandwidth issues. When processing data locally on a device, it makes sense to use a professional-grade file system to extend the device’s flash memory lifetime. The file system should provide fail-safe operation to ensure proper data storage. Connected devices also need a secure way of communicating. Developing all of these features takes time.
Middleware development challenges and solutions
One way to enable a connected device is TCP/IP stack. Creating a very basic TCP/IP stack, ported to just one hardware and operating system, takes approximately 1.5 man-years, with standard modules like TCP, ARP, ICMP, Ethernet interface, IPv4, IGMP and DHCP.
You can significantly improve your time to market and save costs by doing two things: outsourcing key elements like this in your embedded devices and get more modules and support for multiple different hardware. For example, one of our customers decided to develop the TCP/IP stack themselves. But after spending one million US dollars and a lot of time on in-house development – and the project still ongoing – they asked us to take care of it instead.
Embedded devices also need flash translation layer (FTL) software, which manages solid-state drives. This is another area where you might start to think about developing the code in-house. However, developing even a basic FTL takes approximately four to six man-months. With more advanced features, development can take as long as 12 to 18 man-months.
Another thing to consider when developing embedded products is bugs in the code. One often-cited statistic is that there are 70 bugs per 1,000 lines of code on average, and 15 of those bugs end up with customers. Fixing a bug takes 30 times longer than writing a line of code. Wouldn’t it be nice if fixing middleware-related bugs wasn’t your organization’s responsibility? When you use the same product as other companies, you get the benefit of having many people reporting issues and errors – meaning bugs are found and resolved – quickly. The benefit of this is clear: bugs are ironed out before they land in your system.
Supply chains and cybersecurity
Everyone in this business still remembers the chip shortage that started in 2020 and the difficulties that caused. We’ve successfully ported Tuxera products to multiple operating systems and hardware. This makes your product development more future-proof as you can use a wide range of chips in the event of any supply chain problems.
Another important thing to remember is that when there’s connectivity, there needs to be security. My next blog post will focus on cybersecurity, which is becoming more important every day – and will be increasingly regulated, too. The European Parliament passed the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) on 12 March 2024. This means the need for more stringent security compliance is increasing.
So this is my pitch: add value with the in-house development in embedded devices where it matters most to have that expertise. There is very little sense to spend the valuable resources developing something that has been solved by the middleware experts who have been in the business for decades already. Our solutions have all the connectivity components you need, with a small footprint, high throughput, and low CPU cycle operations.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you get your embedded products to market with our Tuxera TCP/IP Stack and Tuxera SafeTCPIP, please get in touch.
Katja Hakoneva
Katja is product manager for networking and crypto products at Tuxera. A veteran in product management, Katja brings experience from both ends of the scale: from large OEMs and physical products to smaller growth companies selling SaaS. Katja actively participates in different industry events, with a particular focus on cyber security events. In her free time, she is an enthusiastic épée fencer, and you typically hear about it in the first 5 minutes of meeting her.