Consumer Embedded Software Testing

Consumer embedded systems are:

• Designed for a specific device with limited functions
• Tightly integrated with hardware
• Typically built around microcontrollers or application-specific ICs
• Resource-constrained (memory, Flash, CPU)
• Increasingly connected via Wi-Fi, BLE, ZigBee or cellular networks

In this domain:

• Time to market is critical
• Cost is decisive
• Power, speed and silicon area must be optimised
• Connectivity and security cannot fail in the field

Testing must therefore balance engineering rigour with commercial reality.

In consumer markets, product delays directly impact revenue and competitiveness.

We support accelerated development through:

• CI/CD integration and automated test execution
• Device-to-cloud automation pipelines
• Test and debug automation frameworks
• QA farm setups and scripted regression flows
• Early defect detection (shift-left methodology)

Automated validation ensures that every firmware change is tested systematically, reducing regression risk while supporting rapid release cycles.

• SoC development and verification
• SoC functional verification
• SoC PPA verification
• Hardware/software integration testing
• Validation of internally developed or externally supplied silicon

Using emulation-based virtual hardware environments:

• Software and RTL performance metrics are combined
• Performance benchmarks run in a single frequency domain
• Peak and average power are measured
• Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) per Watt can be evaluated
• Architectural refinements are made before silicon finalisation

This approach reduces re-spin risk and improves product readiness before launch.

• Selection of widely available, standard components
• Simplified PCB design to reduce layer count
• Integration using System-on-Chip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP)
• Avoidance of over-design
• Prioritisation of Surface Mount Technology (SMT)

• Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
• Automated Quality Control (QC)
• Optical Inspection (AOI) to reduce rework

Embedded firmware design directly impacts silicon selection and production cost.

We support optimisation strategies including:

• Compiler optimisation for size (-Os) to reduce Flash and RAM usage
• Removal of unused OS features
• Dead code elimination
• Conditional compilation
• Efficient data type selection (e.g. int8_t vs int32_t where appropriate)
• Function inlining for performance improvement

Profiling and performance testing tools (e.g. gprof, perf, Valgrind-class tooling) identify CPU bottlenecks, memory inefficiencies and energy hotspots.

Testing under varied operating scenarios ensures reliability under realistic load conditions.

Consumer electronics frequently leverage open-source operating systems and frameworks.

We support environments such as:

• Linux kernel
• Yocto-based build systems
• Arm Mbed OS
• Open-source embedded frameworks

Benefits include:

• Reduced licensing costs
• Faster development
• Community-driven security patching
• Avoidance of vendor lock-in

We also support Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) awareness and vulnerability management for regulatory compliance.

• Round-trip time (RTT) measurement
• Latency analysis
• Network condition simulation
• Task complexity evaluation
• End-to-end functional validation (sensor → cloud → device → app)
• Power consumption measurement
• Data integrity and security testing
• Error handling validation

We also support validation across edge-to-cloud and hybrid architectures.

AI-supported testing enhances defect detection and scenario coverage.

Applications include:

• Machine vision for real-time inspection
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing
• GUI and functional automation
• Predictive quality modelling
• Synthetic scenario generation
• Bias and outlier detection in AI/ML models
• Vulnerability analysis against common risk classes
• Non-functional requirement (NFR) pattern analysis

AI-assisted methods can support predictive maintenance, zero-downtime strategies and full specification coverage.