Embedded Software Development in India

The Indian embedded software industry is changing every day. To begin with, the emergence of embedded software development in India can be traced back to 70s and 80s. During this period Defence Labs and the private businesses like Bharat Electronics (BEL), Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), HAL, BHEL, etc. employed large number of technical people to work on the embedded platforms. In today’s scenario, Indian companies are becoming more proficient at designing embedded software for areas as diverse as wireless, handheld devices, consumer electronics etc. 

Development of embedded software has evolved into a large-scale and globally distributed matter. The development part does not involve two or three engineers now. It involves large teams of developers, third-party software technology vendors, outsourcers and chipset partners. 

Due to the popularity of embedded software and its varied uses, its development is of paramount importance. Embedded software can be used in different devices – from mobiles, automobiles to missile guidance systems. Any failure in the workability of the embedded software could cause a major problem for the users. For instance, any kind of a failure in mobile phones would require a huge amount of expenses for recall and replacement of the faulty products on the part of the manufacturing company. Therefore, quality requirements for the software are quite high. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to check the workability of embedded software through a detailed and meticulous testing program. 

Developing embedded software demands more reliable and scalable approach. The engineer developing embedded systems should have experience in both hardware and software systems. Error or bugs in the system may be caused by both hardware and software therefore it is essential to test both. 

Due to numerous encouraging research and development activities, there are various types of software tests available to be used for the embedded software development. The tests are differentiated according to different factors viz. testing environment, purposes, testing methodologies, and the means of testing.