Posted October 10, 2019

"Later equals never." --LeBlanc's Law

In this issue:

  • Case Study: Lethal Firmware Defects - Patriot Missile Failure
  • Further Develop Your Embedded Programming Skills this Fall
  • Rule Changes in the 2018 Update of Embedded C Coding Standard
  • ARM-based "Embedded Software Training in a Box"
  • Industry News That's Not Boring

Firmware Update is a free, monthly-ish newsletter by embedded systems expert Michael Barr. Firmware Update is a trademark and this issue is Copyright ©2019. You may forward whole issues to colleagues that design embedded systems.  No other uses are permitted.

Case Study: Lethal Firmware Defects - Patriot Missile Failure

During the Gulf War, twenty-eight U.S. soldiers were killed and almost one hundred others were wounded when a nearby Patriot missile defense system failed to properly track a Scud missile launched from Iraq. The cause of the failure was later found to be a programming error in the computer embedded in the Patriot’s weapons control system.

Read on: case-study-lethal-software-defects-patriot-missile-failure

Further Develop Your Embedded Programming Skills this Fall

The following opportunities to learn firmware development best practices remain open:

Consult the full course catalog for prices and other details. Beware that prices increase two weeks prior.

Alternatively, consider bringing an instructor to your office for an on-site training for your whole team.  Teams of five or more usually find this is more cost effective than attending public courses.

Register today...

Rule Changes in the 2018 Update of Embedded C Coding Standard

book coverThe book Embedded C Coding Standard began as the internal coding standard at a consulting company and was first published in 2008 by that company. In 2013, the book’s cover was given a new look and the standard became known as the Barr Group Embedded C Coding Standard. A 2018 update to the book was released last year with the first substantive changes in a decade.

The primary motivation for making updates was to better harmonize the rules with the MISRA-C Guidelines. The older Barr Group standard made reference to MISRA C:2004, which was superseded by MISRA C:2012. The few known direct conflicts between BARR-C:2013 and MISRA C (stemming from our earlier embrace of ISO C99) were effectively eliminated with their 2012 update. But we wanted to do more than just remove those noted conflicts and push even further in our embrace of harmonization.

Learn more: rule-changes-for-embedded-c-coding-standard

ARM-based "Embedded Software Training in a Box"

For a limited time you can save $50 when you buy an Embedded Software Training in a Box kit. 

Based on Barr Group’s Embedded Software Boot Camp®, this do-it-yourself training kit allows you to learn from the valuable content of this popular hands-on live training without the need to take a week away from the office and/or travel.

Featured in this kit are an ARM-Cortex microcontroller board from STMicro along with a full set of training materials that includes a series of exercise instructions and solutions.  In brief, you get everything the live course attendees do except the instructor.

Use coupon code "KIT_SAVE_50" to receive your $50 discount.  This offer ends December 31, 2019!

Industry News That's Not Boring

A call for greater scrutiny of algorithms that generate data used in criminal trials: https://t.co/1dOJsh8I0d?amp=1

Russian cyberweapon aimed at 2020 U.S. election results exposed: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/09/24/new-cyberwarfare-rep…

Google´s Advanced Technology group is testing a radar-based gesture detection chip that turns hand motions into device commands.  Video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFO_lRhGZX/

IoT Inspector is an open-source Windows/Linux/Mac app that monitors the network interactions of the IoT devices on your local network.  Get it here: https://iotinspector.org/

More news: https://twitter.com/embeddedbarr

Quick Links to Useful Stuff

How to Contact the Author

I'm always interested in hearing from embedded systems designers and happy to take a few minutes to help you find the resources to get a design done right. Send me an email anytime. And be sure to also connect with me on Twitter (@embeddedbarr) and LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/embeddedbarr).