News and New Products

Reference software

By Nicholas Cravotta, Contributing Technical Editor -- EDN, 11/8/2007

Although software is as important as hardware, the industry still perceives hardware as a cost incurred with every unit, whereas it sees software as a relatively fixed cost regardless of the units made. NIH (not-invented-here) OEMs approach software as an intellectual-property investment, which also serves as a barrier to entry for new companies wanting to enter a market. These OEMs aren’t interested in getting lots of software from component vendors because more software more quickly erodes the value of the software investment they have already made. If they look at software at all, it’s to confirm that they missed no critical details or that their implementation is superior.

For aggressive Chinese and Indian companies, which focus on time to market, software is truly the major barrier. Even though engineers are less expensive, the time that software takes to develop is what matters. For these companies, the availability of off-the-shelf software is important.

Software has the advantage of being easy to create in a modular fashion. You can encapsulate intellectual property as smaller elements, such as an EEPROM driver, to complete subsystems, such as a motor controller or complete TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack with an embedded Web server. An API (application-programming interface) hides most implementation details. Software is also flexible in performance and pricing. For example, a low-speed modem may be free, and a high-performance modem may require a licensing fee. Additionally, if you pay for software, it often comes as source code, providing another learning opportunity for engineers.

Having access to a foundation of software based on comprehensive libraries or a network of third-party-software suppliers reduces the number of touch points in a reference design. "Companies in China and Taiwan aren’t as concerned about adding their own special sauce as [they are about] how quickly they can realize the end product," says Kanika Carver, digital-imaging-marketing manager at Texas Instruments. "For the supplier, it’s all about how many design variables you can remove." For example, a camera design implements image-capture, compression, and storage functions. Advanced features, such as antishake or high-definition-video recording may not be readily available, however. The questions engineers ask themselves are: How many pieces are left, and how many can I acquire or design?

Reducing the number of companies an engineer must consult with also increases value. Rather than dealing with software from multiple companies, an engineer could use a reference design that integrates all the software and makes it easier to begin and complete design.