Publications: Articles, Papers and Presentations

Tue 18 May 2010: Series of articles: "Improving embedded software development processes using Open Source software"
"Part 1/4 : The case for Embedded FOSS and the consequences"

By: Arnout Vandecappelle & Gian-Carlo Pascutto.

Abstract: Basing an embedded device on Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) brings many advantages, not the least of which is complete control over the software stack and free reuse of existing high quality solutions. However, it also means having to deal with large amounts of code, mainly coming from external parties. Coping with this can be a challenge for small embedded teams, used to smaller stacks developed in-house.
In this series of articles, we take a step by step tour of good software development processes and how to use them to improve your organisation. We emphasise embedded development and point out particular pitfalls to avoid.

In this first part, we focus on the evolution of embedded systems, how this fuels use of FOSS, and what effect this has on your organisation. Future parts will discuss tools supporting the software development process, testing and debugging of embedded systems using FOSS, and FOSS components that you can use in embedded projects.

Sat 6 February 2010: Presentation: "Embedded Software Development Best Practices"

By: Gian-Carlo Pascutto.
Presented at FOSDEM 2010 on February 6th 2010 in Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract: Basing an embedded device on FOSS brings many advantages, not the least of which is complete control over the software stack and free reuse of existing high quality solutions. However, it also means having to deal with large amounts of code, mainly coming from external parties. Dealing with this can be a challenge for small embedded teams, used to smaller stacks developed in-house.
In this presentation, we take a step by step tour of good software development processes and how to use them to improve your organization. We emphasize embedded development and point out particular pitfalls to avoid.

Wed 18 November 2009: Presentation: "State-of-the-art open source software for embedded systems: from Linux distributions to multimedia frameworks"

By: Arnout Vandecappelle.
Presented at the Bits&Chips Embedded Systemen exhibition on November 18th in Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract: A lot of Open Source software technologies are available nowadays, covering different software aspects such as: kernels and distributions, build-systems, protocol stacks, GUIs, multimedia frameworks, etc... But the efficiency and reliability of these technologies varies a lot. In this presentation we will introduce several Open Source software technologies and describe their advantages and limitations. We will also present concrete examples of use and alternative technologies.

Tue 9 June 2009: Presentation: "Qt: the open source framework for cross-platform embedded GUI development"

By: Bart Cerneels.
Presented at the DSP Valley seminar "Exploring GUI Design for Embedded Systems" on June 9th 2009 in Ghent, Belgium.

Abstract: Qt is a cross-platform application and User Interface framework which provides all the functionality needed to develop advanced GUI applications on desktop and embedded platforms. The large standard set of widgets are themeable using simple CSS, and the advanced accelerated GraphicsView canvas makes any interactive and highly visual user interfaces possible.
Qt Software has recently released Qt under the terms of the LGPL v2.1 and they have opened up their source repository and roadmap to the public. This should lead to an important increase in Qt adoption in the coming months.
During this presentation you'll learn more about Qt from the embedded developers' viewpoint with specific examples. Demos will focus on fast, cross-platform application creation and a few very innovative applications made with Qt.

Mon 8 June 2009: Article: "Mind helps companies to implement open source technologies for multimedia streaming"

By: Arnout Vandecappelle.
Published in the DSP Valley newsletter of June 2009.

Abstract: Streaming multimedia is used in many embedded devices today, like surveillance and security systems, home automation systems, residential gateways, telecommunication and traffic control systems. And this is probably just the beginning. In a growing number of markets, multimedia features are becoming key to differentiate from competition and win market shares.
However, building an embedded multimedia streaming application is not a simple task. It requires a thorough understanding of a number of technologies like codecs, network protocols, and synchronization, which are often not the core expertise of the companies that decide to embed multimedia in their products. Codecs come in a variety of flavors for the different compression standards available, like MPEG (1, 2, 4), H.264, Motion JPEG, and Theora. Each of these standards has its advantages and drawbacks in terms of video quality, bit rate, robustness, and HW/SW required...
The complete article, can be read in the DSP valley's Newsletter of June 2009.

Tue 14 April 2009: Article: "Mind provides services on Qt to enable improved user interface and application development"

By: Bart Cerneels.
Published in the DSP Valley newsletter of April 2009.

Abstract: Qt is a cross-platform application and User Interface framework which provides all the functionality needed to develop advanced GUI applications on desktop and embedded platforms. Qt uses the native graphics APIs of each platform it supports, taking full advantage of system resources and ensuring that applications have native look and feel. One of the main features of Qt is that it allows to write applications once and to deploy them across many desktop and embedded operating systems without rewriting the source code....
The complete article, can be read in the DSP valley's Newsletter of April 2009.

Tue 10 June 2008: Presentation: "Buildroot: The open source way for streamlined custom embedded systems"

By: Arnout Vandecappelle.
Presented at the DSP Valley seminar "Tool chains for embedded SW: proprietary vs open source" on June 10th 2008 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Abstract: Embedded system development based on open source frameworks gives you the advantage of full flexibility for customising your system to your needs. However, setting up the system requires a large infrastructure: cross-compilation tool chain, operating system, boot loader, standard C library, tools and debugger. In this presentation, we show how the buildroot system streamlines the process and configures a linux-based system very quickly. From there, you can easily add your own applications and/or modifications. We also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of embedded system development based on open source.

Tue 1 April 2008: Article: "Mind assists clients with hardware acceleration in embedded video applications"

By: Roeland Van Praet.
Published in the DSP Valley newsletter of April 2008.

Abstract: An embedded multimedia system usually contains a video display chipset and a video capture chipset next to the CPU, just like in a PC platform. These auxiliary processors provide some extra features, in addition to displaying and capturing images. A video display chipset can for example provide large and fast video memory, double buffering, an overlay buffer, blitting, color key and alpha key support, stretching, video encoding or decoding, multiple outputs, and much more. A video capture chipset can provide, for example, YUV/RGB color space conversions, resolution transformations, changing saturation and brightness, multiple inputs, streaming, channel tuning, and much more....
The complete article, can be read in the DSP valley's Newsletter of April 2008.

Wed 20 February 2008: Article about the control flow in the Linux Networking kernel

By: Arnout Vandecappelle.
Posted on the Linux Foundation.

Abstract: This article describes the control flow (and the associated data buffering) through the networking kernel of Linux. It starts at the socket system calls, goes down through the networking layers to the network device, and back up for received packets. The article describes which functions are called and when data and headers are copied. It serves as a starting point for people who want to modify, optimise or debug the networking kernel.

Mon 11 February 2008: Article about Memory Allocation in the Linux Kernel

By: Arnout Vandecappelle.
Posted on Kernel Newbies.

Abstract: In the kernel, malloc() is not available. Instead, the kernel has to define its own memory allocation functions. However, many different allocation mechanisms exist. This article gives an overview of them, with a bit more insight in the use of high memory and of DMA. It serves as a starting point for kernel developers that need different memory allocation mechanisms.

Fri 31 January 2003: Portable programming on Complex Systems

By: Peter De Schrijver.
Presented at the 1st Embedded & Kernel Track at FOSDEM 2003, 8-9 Feb 2003, Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract: Portable programming is an important requirement for system level programming, especially in embedded systems. However, as CPU and system architectures have become more complex over the years, this is a growing challenge. System programmers have to cope with such things as non coherent I/O, out of order memory accesses, various busses and address translations next to things like endianess mismatches and alignment issues. We will discuss these issues and give ideas on how to build a device driver framework to allow for portable system programming.

Tue 15 October 2002: Porting Linux to the Virtex II Pro

By: Peter De Schrijver.
Presented at the Bits & Chips Micro-Event on Reconfigurable Systems on 15 Oct 2002 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
All material from the above presentations is Copyright Mind NV and may be reused in original or modified form, as long as the Copyright notice (Copyright Mind NV. Author: Peter 'p2' De Schrijver) is retained. Mind and the author(s) cannot be responsible for any consequences of using a presentation. The material is provided AS IS. The source code for the patches is available from our Virtex pages under GPL or other licenses. We would appreciate to receive updates/corrections to these materials.

Mon 9 September 2002: Linuxdevices.com article

By: Peter Vandenabeele.
This linuxdevices.com article recounts some of the company history up to mid 2002 and how Mind concentrated on Embedded Development as a niche market.

Fri 11 January 2002: eCos Presentation

By: Peter De Schrijver.
This is a MagicPoint presentation, used for commercial presentations about eCos. It discusses the alpha 2.0 version. The original MagicPoint file is available here.

Mon 12 November 2001: Linux in Embedded Systems

By: Peter De Schrijver.
Presented at Linux Kongress 2001, 12 November 2001, Twente, The Netherlands.
Abstract: Using Linux in a environment which has a limited amount of RAM and boots or runs from flash, requires some special care in setting up the system. There are a number of approaches varying from running everything from RAM using a ramdisk to using execute in place and a flash file system to rum as much as possible from flash. The appropriate choice is based on the amount of RAM you have, how much writes are necessary, what kind of persistency the application needs, ...