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Open Source Days 2008 Project Management of Embedded Linux Project

whoami
Poul Bondo
Master of Science Electrical Engineering Ålborg University 1992
GateHouse 1992 => 2004 (except for a year at Terma)
All things communication systems (radios, trunked radios, satellittes, GSM, DECT, network)
System architect and project management
Self employed software consultant 2004 => present
Payment solutions / security
Project and program management
Software development of medical systems and radio systems
[email_address]

Agenda
Project Description (Embedded Linux Platform)
Why use Linux ?
What makes a Linux project different from other projects in relation to project management
Demonstration

Project Background
Payment terminals
Attended (shops) and unattended (petrol, vending/ticket machines)
Payment Application
Run everywhere (Sales PC, embedded sales platform, embedded standalone platform)
Java
Acquirer (bank) Sales Application Payment Application

Problem (Unattended)
Integration issues
Sales application running on embedded platforms
Required in some countries
Sweden
Customer requirements for all sorts of interfaces
USB, Ethernet, RS232 etc.

Solution
Build a cheap generic platform
Hardware interfaces
USB host+device, MDB, Ethernet, PSTN, GPRS, PSAM, IR, SD/MMC, RS232

Software Platform
Java platform
Able to support all the hardware
Device drivers
Spec's for all hardware devices
Testing the hardware platform
Operating System candidates
Windows CE
Nucleus RTOS (supported by then mother company)

Choosing an Operating System
Political environment
Management View (you don't get fired for choosing IBM)
Lessons learned from previous projects
Other stakeholders
Resources and support
Internal: Skills and motivation
External support
Requirements
Technical requirements
Evaluation of candidate OS'es

Why was Linux chosen ?
Windows CE did not have any good Java support
Chosen Windows CE provider was not trusted
Support for Nucleus less than excellent (volume)
Previous closed source platform has bugs that will never be fixed
Software developers did a spare time proof of concept with Linux
Support from one person in management

Project Management
Compared to other types of projects
Understand the application environment
Understand the platform
Understand the resources
Understand outsourcing

The target environment
Understand the target environment for the application
What is the application supposed to do
Can you access the platform on site
Are you supposed to monitor / maintain it on site
How is software updates handled on-site
How is debug information handled on-site
Platform Application Java Machine Operating System Device Drivers Hardware

The Linux based Platform
Understand the platform you are trying to build
Distinguish between the platform and the application
Don't be scared of the Linux ”language”. Getting the Linux kernel to boot is the least of your problems.
Maintenance
Is the platform a one time off or is it supposed to be maintained and updated.
Plan on how to handle bugs/issues relating to the platform
Don't underestimate the complexity of maintaining an embedded platform.

Resources: Motivation
They are typically highly motivated and focused
They don't care about anything but Linux
They have their own success criteria
They are typically self tought

Resources: Management Issues
They will stay on during the development, but run away afterwards
You may not have enough qualified resources
They underestimate ”everything”

Resources: Outsourcing
Advantages
Typically not your core business
Better control of getting the job done.
You may have better control of the economy
You may be part of a larger volume (similar customers)
Disadvantages
You loose the quick turn around and bug fixing
May be more expensive. Good things cost money
Be very careful about remote outsourcing

Second Project: Flexi PCI
New requirements for a more secure payment terminal
Mostly hardware issues
Some security issues on the software platform. Mainly regarding software updates and remote access.
Reuse the hardware platform
Design the hardware platform to be identical.
Now the software platform was known to work
Only few changes required for the software platform
Fewer serial ports
Parallel production lines. Configuration of networks

Production
Downloading software initially
Bootloader
U-boot
TFTP server
Flashing partitions or updating single files.

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