embedded

Precisely time a function call

I am using a microcontroller with a C51 core. I have a fairly timeconsuming and large subroutine that needs to be called every 500ms. An RTOS is not being used. The way I am doing it right now is that I have an existing Timer interrupt of 10 ms. I set a flag after every 50 interrupts that is checked for being true in the main program l...

Resetting a Pic18 from C

What is the best way to reset a Pic18 using C code With the HiTech Pic18 C compiler Edit: I am currenlty using void reset() { #asm reset #endasm } but there must be a better way ...

How does a DSP/FPGA phase accumulator work?

I'm looking at the code for a phase accumulator, and I must be a simpleton because I don't get it. The code is simple enough: Every Clock Tick do: accum = accum + NCO_param; return accum; accum is a 32-bit register. Obviously, at some point it will roll-over. My question really is: How does this relate to the phase? ...

User interface for text mode LCD display

Does anybody know any resources on this subject? I'm developing an embedded application for 2x16 LCD display. Ideally I would like to have a general (display independent) framework, that could be used virtually on any display - one or more segment(s) LED, 1x16, 2x16 LCD, etc. Also would like to learn about general guidelines for such sm...

Running multiple applications in STM32 flash

Hey! I would like to have two applications in my STM32 flash, one is basically a boot and the other the 'main' application. I have figured out how to load each of them into different areas of flash, and after taking a memory dump everything looks like it is in the right place. So when I do a reset it loads the boot, all the boot does a...

How do you organize code in embedded projects?

Highly embedded (limited code and ram size) projects pose unique challenges for code organization. I have seen quite a few projects with no organization at all. (Mostly by hardware engineers who, in my experience are not typically concerned with non-functional aspects of code.) However, I have been trying to organize my code accordingl...

Event handling in embedded code

Hi all, I want to know how events are used in embedded system code. Main intention is to know how exactly event flags are set/reset in code. and how to identify which task is using which event flag and which bits of the flag are getting set/reset by each task. Please put your suggestion or comments about it. Thanks in advance. (ed...

online book library for embedded

Hello, Does a good library for embedded programming/design/testing and so exist? Something like Safari from O'Reilly? To be more specific, embedded programming like µC ...

Looking for 16-bit x86 compiler

I am working on an embedded systems project and have run into an issue of the compiler being programatically embedded in the Paradigm C++ IDE. I would like to be able to automate building. The processor is the AMD186ES. I am not working with the OS - just baremetal stuff. I need to generate real-mode 16-bit 8086 machine code from C++. ...

What is the correct way to declare a pointer to a __far pointer?

On an embedded target I use far pointers to access some parts of the memory map. near pointer (without explicitely specifying __near): unsigned int *VariableOnePtr; Pointer to near pointer: unsigned int **VariableOnePtrPtr; far pointer: unsigned int *__far VariableTwoPtr; What is the correct way to declare a pointer to a far point...

Is non multiple of machine word primitives good idea?

Let's say you have a dynamic language (similar to common scripting languages) and want to write a compiler for it. Is it good idea to reserve some bits of a machine word for something like type tags? Especially for microcontrollers and similar devices, is it a good idea? I can think of some advantages like reduced storage for type infor...

Is low-level / embedded systems programming hard for software developers?

Given my background as a generalist, I can cover much of the area from analog electronics to writing simple applications that interface to a RDBMS backend. I currently work in a company that develops hardware to solve industry-specific problems. We have an experienced programmer that have written business apps, video games, and a whole...

what is the difference between c and embedded c?

can any body tell me the differences between them? ...

RS232 Communication - Can I use it to create a steady state signal?

In all honesty, I think the answer is "no;" however, I want to get a second opinion. Basically, I need one micro-controller device to send a steady signal to another one, but the communicate between them is using RS232. So I think that I have to create/update the communication messages to get it to do what I want. What do you think? ...

ELF file headers

Hey! A quick question about elf file headers, I can't seem to find anything useful on how to add/change fields in the elf header. I'd like to be able to change the magic numbers and to add a build date to the header, and probably a few other things. As I understand it the linker creates the header information, but I don't see anythin...

Which Graphical Subsystem for Touchscreen Kiosk Development

I'm starting a hobby project in which I would like to have a graphical, touchscreen interface for interacting with a kiosk-like device running on top of Windows XP Embedded. For development of a rich UI experience, I was considering using WPF. However, a number of demonstration videos that I have come across have used Silverlight, whil...

.NET Microframework SDK with VS 2008

I am trying to get started developing using the .NET Micro Framework but appear to have hit a road block. I am using Visual Studio 2008 and it will not let me install the SDK because I do not have Visual Studio 2005. I downloaded the SDK from this link. I know this is not truly a programming question but it is definitely holding me bac...

What tools to use for developing flash/flex based touch screen user interface for embedded system

We are looking at developing a device with a touch screen and an embedded PC like computer for the user interface. What are the benefits and disadvantages of using flash/flex for this user interface development? One of our goals is to seperate the design (= look and feel) and the functionality of the application to ease the development...

Low cost embedded project

I am a student. I've done an embedded system "home automation" project using GSM and I could succeed. Now I've got to do an academic project, and my brain is blank. Can anyone suggest some new ideas? ...

Anyone using Python for embedded projects?

Hi All, My company is using Python for a relatively simple embedded project. Is anyone else out there using Python on embedded platforms? Overall it's working well for us, quick to develop apps, quick to debug. I like the overall "conciseness" of the language. The only real problem I have in day to day work is that the lack of stati...