embedded systems career -an outline
TRANSCRIPT
Embedded Systems Career-An Outline
Objective• This presentation is an effort to enlighten the
engineering graduates about the existing career opportunities in the field of Embedded systems.
• To explain the aspirants about the necessary skills for required to achieve success in this field.
• And also enlists the various companies that are involved in embedded system based products.
Introduction• It is my personal observation over the years
that, many students are not aware of the lucrative opportunities available in the field of Embedded Systems.
• Most of the graduates go after the popular IT industry to seek a good career.
Probably there may be two reasons for this • i)Lack of awareness & ii) Entry barrier.
contd..• During their education most of the students
may come across the name “Embedded Systems”.But they may not be aware of -“what is an embedded system”, how do they work, what knowledge and skills should be acquired to build a good career in the field of embedded systems .
• Also they have vey little idea about companies which are working in this field .
contd...
• Where as in the case of computer science – the industry is readily known – the lucrative IT industry.
• The leading IT companies are Microsoft, Google, Adobe (product based) in addition to many smaller and medium ones.
• There are service based IT firms like Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant etc.
• Knowledge and skills required is mainly about programming languages and technologies – like Java, Asp.net, C & C++, Python, PHP etc..
contd.
• A very important point to be observed here is entry barrier to the IT industry is very low.
• Any fresher with a basic skills and knowledge can get a job in the IT industry and that too with a decent entry level salary.
• But as all of us know this is not the case with core domains like Embedded and VLSI.
• Here you need lot of passion ,dedication, diligence in addition to strong foundations in basics and a compromise with entry-level package etc..
contd..• In fact most of the students are not even
familiar with the companies working in this domain and the skills needed for the jobs.
• Let me start with some top rated frontline companies which are working in this domain and their products.
• Let me start with Samsung.
Samsung • Samsung products include mobile phones and
gadgets in addition to consumer electronics like washing machines, microwave ovens, televisions, air conditioners etc.
• All these products have embedded systems – with its own hardware and software.
• For example, in an air conditioner functions like – ‘intelligent room temperature control’ will be controlled by the embedded device inside the air conditioner.
contd..
• This embedded device will be made of a microcontroller, its associated hardware and software for intelligent temperature sensing.
• Washing machines require support for motor controls, water level and temperature sensing, and user interface components that can withstand harsh environments.
• PIC18F452Microcontrollers are used automatic washing machines
Contd..• Standards-based, secure connectivity is also a
must for appliances that will connect to a home network.
• In recent advanced Washing machines 32 BIT ARM Cortex M4 controllers are used.
• PIC16F877A microcontroller is used to control various operations in Air-Conditioners.
• A low-power microcontroller MSP430FR4133 from TI is used in the remote controller of AC machines.
Bosch • It is a popular automotive MNC industry which
develop Embedded Software for Electrical Control Units(ECU) Tools and Diagnostics.
• Offer integrated system solutions in the areas of Manufacturing Automation and PLC Engineering support.
• Also handle complete ECU projects including Hardware, Software and System development.
• Provide Mechanical Engineering – Design, Simulation, Benchmarking and Reverse Engineering services.
contd..• Their configuration Software and Smart Phone
Apps development are the latest additions.• Embide from Bosch is a composite solution
for Developing, Debugging, Logging, Flashing and Emulating the System & Application Software in RTOSs and Embedded Linux.
• The tools work in tandem making the overall software development experience simple, yet highly efficient.
contd..• Bosch offers careers like Embedded Software
Engineer, for those with Masters/Bachelors degree and Working knowledge in microcontroller and microprocessor application development i.e. Interface control circuitry, Real Time Operating System knowledge, Embedded system programming.
• Students can join as Junior managers immediately after their graduation
• Ref: http://www.bosch-careers.com/en/joining graduates_sa/graduates.html
Siemens• They make products in the field of medical
electronics and automation industry.• The products will be scanner, doppler,
cardiograph machines, radiology machines etc..
• Siemens employs about 17,000 programmers and invests approximately €2 billion per year in embedded & IOT software research alone.
HP-Hewlett-Packard• Probably this may be one of the frontline
company which involved in bringing many embedded products for our day to day business.
• Either it may be a computers, Tablets ,Mobiles, Printers,Scanners, Thin clients, Digital cameras,Storage switches or Servers HP is always there.
• HP Embedded Capture makes it easier to digitize documents and share them publicly, while extending a device's digital-sending capabilities.
HP-Embedded Server Concept• An embedded web server resides on a hardware
product (such as a printer) in the firmware, rather than as software that is loaded on a network server.
• The advantage of an embedded Web server is that it provides an interface to the product that anyone who has a network-connected computer and a standard Web browser can open and use.
• HP Color Laser jet 4700 is an example for embedded web server based printer.
HP Protect Tools• HP introduces HP Protect Tools, a family of
business PC security products, services and features, with new offerings on business desktops, notebooks and workstations.
• HP Protect Tools Embedded Security is a hardware security chip, called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that integrates the core elements of trust into the subsystem.
Ge-General Electric• Another MNC company popular in embedded
products.• Ge health care, kitchen appliances, Laundry
and home appliances, Aviation systems, Marine engines and Military engines etc..
• The GE provides lot of scope for enthusiastic engineers who have talent and passion in the embedded domain.
GE Health careGE Healthcare offers wide range of medical equipment's & diagnostic products including medical imaging systems, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring etc.
Kernex Microsystems• In addition to these companies there are also some
companies which provide service to their customers.
• They offer a complete package of services to the customers from specification finalization, embedded hardware design, embedded software design, to validation and verification.
• They also provide individual embedded solutions tailor-made to meet the customers specific application requirements.
contd..• Here I tried to provide only few companies
working in the Embedded domain.• In fact there are thousands of other
companies globally in the field of embedded systems – offering various kinds of services, consultation and product building.
What are the requirements?• Knowledge and skills required in these areas are- Good
knowledge in theory and working knowledge of one or more micro controllers like x51,PIC, AVR ,MSP430 or ARM etc.
• Deep and sound knowledge in programming language C – especially embedded C.
• Knowledge in both hardware and software will always help to get an entry level job in the field of embedded systems.
• The real “learning curve” will only start at your first job – where you will deal with real issues and problem solving methods.
contd.• The trend we see here in India is, freshers will
boost their knowledge in these areas – especially in Micro-controllers and C programming by taking a good training after their graduation.
• The reason is curriculum used by many universities in India is not helping the students to expose to latest and upcoming technologies.
• Even in an engineering course also there is only a single paper about microcontrollers.
contd..• To supplement this, fresh graduates need to take 3 or
6 months additional training which will help them to land at an entry level job in a reasonably good company.
• During the training you learn various skills expected by the companies.
• You may also be exposed to some of the recent developments both in hardware and software domains.
• For example you may develop interest in domains like web development, image processing (Machine vision) Robot based designs etc..
contd..• For this you may need training in some advanced
processor architectures like ARM Cortex(M, A or R series) ,Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc..
• Similarly certain software skills like Perl ,Skill and Python etc.. Which may help in web designing , mobile applications etc..
• So what I can suggest you all is, once you have passion ,sky is the limit for your growth in these domain.
contd..• I think there is nothing to add except saying best
wishes to all those aspirants who wish to excel in this field.
Acknowledgement
• There is nothing like my original work here.I am inspired by many websites and Google docs to develop this presentation with a hope to help the student community. I humbly thank and acknowledge their help.
• I acknowledge the motivation from the website http://www.circuitstoday.com
• Especially the info is taken from many company Web sites like Samsung,HP,Simens,Ge and Kernex etc..