by Niall Murphy

When it comes to safety-critical applications, sometimes you have to protect users from the software. And sometimes you have to protect users from themselves.

by Niall Murphy

To keep a watchdog timer from resetting your system, you've got to kick it regularly. But that's not all there is to watchdog science. We will examine the use and testing of a watchdog, as well as the integration of a watchdog into a multitasking environment.

by Niall Murphy

Embedded systems programmers often value the assert() macro. This article explores the underlying definition of this handy macro, to show you how to roll your own.

by Niall Murphy

The information that a user gets from a life-critical system may spell the difference between a slight mishap and a serious accident. This article addresses the issue of safety in the design of a user interface.

by Niall Murphy

Concerned about the number of programmers who don't use or know about assert(), Niall explains the macro and how to use it.

by Anthony Massa

The first task when using any new real-time operating system (RTOS) is to get it up and running on your hardware. The open-source eCos RTOS makes that part pretty easy.

by Nathan Tennies

Whether you are creating an operating system, firmware, or even device drivers, the way you write the software could affect the power consumption of the resulting product. Here are four approaches to minimizing power consumption through software.

by Nigel Jones

The limitations of an 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) can sometimes make conventional C constructs produce suboptimal code. In this article we look at common problems on the 8051 family and discuss workarounds in C.

by Nigel Jones

Language specifications, including those for C and C++, are often loosely written. A static analysis tool called lint can help you find dangerous and non-portable constructs in your code before your compiler turns them into run-time bugs.

by Jason Steinhorn and Mark Kohler

New standards are making the delivery of Web-based and enhanced content alongside television a reality. This article describes the ATVEF enhanced television standard and the requirements for designing ATVEF-compatible receivers.