ESS 2002 – Embedded Systems Conference and Exhibition, London UK, May 2002

Citation

Mann, C.J.H. (2003), "ESS 2002 – Embedded Systems Conference and Exhibition, London UK, May 2002", Kybernetes, Vol. 32 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2003.06732cab.007

ESS 2002 – Embedded Systems Conference and Exhibition, London UK, May 2002

Described as the United Kingdom's largest event for system design and embedded software development the conference and exhibition was held in ExCel, London, UK, during 15-16th May 2002. We were presented with a formidable conference programme that included over a 100 papers, tutorials and seminars, The Exhibition, held at the same venue and on the same days, was supported by over 60 exhibiting companies.

The conference itself was arranged in a series of parallel sessions, with as many as 8 sessions held at one time. These were concerned with the main themes which included. Developing and Testing Embedded Software, Debugging Real-Time Systems, Using Real-Time OS, System and Software Modelling, Low Power Embedded System Design, Using FPGAs, and Internet Appliance Design.

The sessions were contributed by a formidable array of presenters, with many speakers directly responsible for developing processors and tools for embedded systems. Others were contributors to the “all-important” standardisation initiatives that aim to ensure future productivity. There was no doubt that the conference was arranged at a crucial time in the development of standards for both software and systems modelling and for high-speed data transfer.

It was obviously impossible for any participant to attend every session of interest so it was fortunate that the organisers had included in their conference pricing structure a CD-ROM of all the presentations from the programme. It also included live links to more information on the presenters' Web sites as well as a classified product finder. Having the sessions on CD allowed the attendee a much greater choice of session and indeed, one could indulge oneself by going to many that, although not strictly in one's field of study, had an intrigueing title or a speaker of some repute.

Some of the sessions selected proved particularly worthwhile. The session: – Developing High Reliability Software: “C++ Language: Fit for Purpose in Embedded Systems” – contributed by Fergus Bolger of Programming Research repeated the general perception that “C++ is not well suited to smaller embedded applications” and outlined some of the reasons put forward. The seminar then addressed some of these “fables” that support this perception and showed how C++ can actually be an inspired choice for embedded application.

In the same theme of developing high reliability software, the session – Obtaining Proof of Adequate Testing for Embedded Software – contributed by Janice Wai Chun Man of the University of Liverpool, reiterated the belief that “high versatility and multiple features coupled with high speed” are the main trends of modern software-based products. Advanced software techniques with a high degree of automation it is believed will overcome the complex and difficult operation of manual software testing. Experiences of applying current techniques to ARM architectures were presented.

A number of the other sessions proved to be well-worth attending, and they included many/concerned with Unified Modeling Language (UML):

System 7 – Software Modelling Sessions

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  Achieving Complete Code Generations – Alan Jenkins, Rational – looked at some of the “myths” surrounding full code generation from UML and sought to examine optimal approaches for code generation for embedded systems.

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  Real-Time UML Profile – Mark Richardson, I-Logix – reviewed the conceptual foundations of the “Profile” to see how it could be used to model timers and timeouts, resources, qualities of service and concurrency.

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  Formal Verification for UML Systems models – G. Bleakley, I-Logix. – discussed the approach that covers automated formal verification techniques (based on Binary Decision Diagrams) that can be applied to a UML systems model to ensure that safety requirements are met before coding takes place.

The Systems and Software Modelling sessions also included a panel: “What should Users expect from UML 2.0?”, as well as a tutorial: “The Case for Using Use Cases” (Stephen Mellor, Project Technology). Another tutorial by Stephen Mellor was concerned with “Extreme Modelling”.

The dominant seminar subject at ESS 2002 was UML and the programme of seminars and tutorials provided the latest information about UML 2.0. The event also provided a valuable forum about the way UML 2.0 is evolving and enabled participants to voice their own opinions about its development. The body which ratifies UML standards, OMG, will undoubtedly be listening. UML 1.x has had its successes and limitations recognised and UML 2.0 submission process is well under way. It is scheduled to be completed by 2002/3.

The ESS programme convinced most who attended the conference that whatever their software focus, whether in analysis design, systems engineering, testing or quality assurance UML, and hopefully UML 2.0, has much to offer those who wish to improve the ways in which to develop software.

The combination of conference and exhibition is now a well tried, and indeed time-saving device for those busy software and hardware developers. It provided an excellent opportunity to peruse the latest market products and, of course, the opportunity to discuss, at first hand, their merits with the designers and producers.

ESS 2002 was sponsored by Embedded Systems Engineering (ESE) and arranged by EDA Exhibitions Ltd (ess@edaltd.co.uk). All who attended not only received some 100 presentations which had been carefully reviewed by a panel of experts but also an insight into future developments in the pivotal areas of software and systems modelling and also high-speed data transfer. Indeed, participants had the very real opportunity of influencing the all-important standardisation initiatives that will ensure future productivity.

C.J.H. Mann