Embedded Firmware Engineering

From bare-metal microcontrollers to multi-core ARM+FPGA SoCs — we develop production ready firmware across any application domain. Prototype, commercial, industrial, or aerospace / safety-critical: our 2500+ module in-house IP library means faster delivery with proven, verified and validated reliability.

2500+

In-house Firmware Modules

20+

Years Experience

50+

CPU / FPGA Architectures

Full-Lifecycle Firmware Development

SIL3 delivers firmware at any level of the stack: from bare-metal HAL drivers and RTOS integration through to application-layer algorithms, inter-processor communication, and PC-side tooling. We work with any microcontroller, DSP, or SoC — whether it is your first prototype or a production build heading for regulatory certification.

Our common-code library spans 2500+ verified software modules covering silicon drivers, motor control, communications, signal processing, safety functions, data acquisition, and more. Every module is designed to slot directly into a new project, cutting integration time and eliminating re-invention of already-proven building blocks.

Regulatory compliance is available at every level — IEC 61508 SIL 1–3, DO-178C, IEC-60790 Class B —We apply exactly as much process as the application demands, using our in-house systems engineering and software quality tooling.

Our Development Process

All SIL3 projects follow a structured V-Model lifecycle. Specialised processes and documentation artefacts are layered on top depending on the target standard — DO-178C, IEC 61508, or IEC 60730 — ensuring full traceability from customer need through to verified, released software.

↓ Specification

Verification ↑

01 — Requirements

Requirements Capture

Customer requirements, ConOps and use cases are captured and managed using ARPTool — SIL3’s in-house Systems Engineering tool. Stakeholder needs are formalised into traceable High Level Requirements with full audit history.

06 — Release & Acceptance

Controlled Software Release

Verified builds are baselined in SVN with a configuration index, release notes and traceability summary. QA sign-off is recorded against the applicable standard — DO-178C SAS, IEC 61508 software validation report, or IEC 60730 compliance evidence.

02 — Architecture

System & Software Architecture

Customer requirements are decomposed into system requirements and mapped to a software architecture. Module boundaries, RTOS task allocation, IPC protocols, memory maps, safety partitioning and hardware interfaces are all defined and modelled before any code is written.

05 — Integration & System Testing

System-Level Validation

Integrated firmware is exercised on target hardware. Tests cover functional correctness, communication protocol integrity, real-time performance, stress and endurance, fault detection and recovery, and hardware edge cases. HIL rigs with instrumentation provide additional observability.

03 — Implementation

Structured Firmware Development

Firmware is written in structured C against Software Requirements, with full traceability from code to specification. Static analysis, Doxygen documentation, peer review and configuration management are applied throughout. Safety-critical modules follow additional coding constraints appropriate to the target standard.

04 — Unit Testing

Module & Unit Verification

Each firmware module is independently verified against its LLRs. Test techniques include boundary value analysis, equivalence partitioning, branch coverage and MC/DC for safety-critical decision points. IEC 61508 Table A.6 methods — functional testing, performance testing and fault injection — are applied at module level.

IP Library — 2500+ Source Code Modules

Our source code modules are typically documented, tested, and compliant to the relevant standards to which they were designed. New projects inherit the full library on day one. The categories below detail some of the functionality of our modules.

Motor Control

Field-Oriented Control (FOC)

Sensored • Sensorless • Observers • Parameter Estimation

Space Vector PWM (SVPWM)

DC-DC Converter Control

Digital Power • BiDir Current

Gate Driver Interfacing

DRV8350 • DRV8301 • UCC5870 • DRV8323

Encoder / Resolver Decoding

eQEP • Incremental • Absolute

Control Loops

Single / Multi-Axis Motors • Servos • Actuators • Linear Motors

Communications

Ethernet UDP/TCP

FreeRTOS+TCP

Ethernet PHY

DP83848 • DP83867 • DP83869

CAN / CANopen

TM4C • AM263Px • MCP2515

RS-485 / Modbus

SPI / I2C / UART

1-Wire

SSDP / UPnP

SafeUDP Redundancy

Multicore IPC

On Chip • Across Chip • Mailboxes • RPC

Signal Processing

Extended Kalman Filter (EKF)

AHRS / INS

IMU Drivers

ICM-20948 • MPU-6050 • LSM6DSO

GPS / GNSS Parsing

Magnetometer Calibration

FFT & Spectral Analysis

Filtering

Thermistor Linearisation

Safety

Fault Tree Management

Watchdog Management

CRC Data Integrity

NVM Parameter Storage

Hardware Self-Test

Redundant Voting

Safe-State Management

IEC 60730 Class B

ROM CRC • RAM March • Clock • ADC

MPU Configuration

SDL (Safety Diagnostics Libraries)

RTOS & Scheduling

FreeRTOS

FreeRTOS+TCP

WCET Analysis

Heap Monitoring

NoRTOS Scheduler

Power Management

Event Logging

Data Acquisition

ADC Multi-Channel DMA

DAQ Ethernet Streaming

FRAM / EEPROM / Flash

SD Card / FAT32

Ring Buffer

Parameter Store

Data Logging

Thermocouple / RTD

Imaging

MIPI CSI-2 Cameras

D-PHY • RAW10 • RAW12

Vision Processing Pipelines

OpenCV

MIPI Displays

ST7703 • TC358778

LVDS / Parallel Displays

Touch Screens

FT5x16 • GT911

Framebuffer / VDMA

FPGA / SoC (140+ Custom IP Cores and Drivers)

ADS1262

MAX11665

PWM / FOC

IEEE1588 RTC

TensorFlow

CAN

UART

QSPI

Mailboxes

SFP

NVMe

PCIe

FFT

Bootloader & Update

Boot Image Manager (BIM)

In-Application Programming

Ethernet Firmware Update

CAN Bootloader

Industrial

EtherCAT

Modbus TCP

4–20mA / 0–10V I/O

Motion Sequencing

Safety Relay / STO

Aerospace & Avionics

DO-178C Lifecycle

Simulation Models

6DoF

ARINC

ARINC 429 • ARINC 664

AHRS / INS for UAV

UAV / Drone

Flight Control • Motor Control • Telemetry

Peripherals

USB CDC / HID

Ethernet Packet Switches

RTC Drivers

DS3231 • PCF8563

Temperature Sensors

LM75 • TMP117 • MAX31856

Pressure Sensors

MS5837 • BMP280 • MPX4250

Power Monitor ICs

INA226 • INA3221

GPIO Expanders

MCP23017 • PCA9535 • PCA9554/5

OLED / LCD Drivers

SSD1306 • ST7789 • ILI9341

Supported Silicon Platforms

SIL3 have created board support packages, tooling and verification projects for the following silicon platforms.

Arm Cortex-M — Microcontrollers

MSPM0

Cortex-M0+ • 32MHz • NoRTOS / FreeRTOS

CC1310

Cortex-M3 • Sub-GHz wireless • SimpleLink

CC1312

Cortex-M4F • Sub-GHz • SimpleLink

CC1350

Cortex-M3 • Sub-GHz + BLE • SimpleLink

CC1352

Cortex-M4F • Multi-band wireless • SimpleLink

CC2650

Cortex-M3 • BLE / Zigbee / 6LoWPAN

CC3120

Cortex-M3 • Wi-Fi network processor

CC3220

Cortex-M4 • Wi-Fi SoC • 256KB RAM

CC3235

Cortex-M4 • Dual-band Wi-Fi • SimpleLink

TM4C123

Cortex-M4F • 80MHz • FreeRTOS

TM4C1294

Cortex-M4F • 120MHz • Ethernet • FreeRTOS

MSP430

16-bit RISC • Ultra-low-power

MSP432

Cortex-M4F • 48MHz • Ultra-low-power

Arm Cortex-R — Safety MCUs

RM46L852

Cortex-R4F • Lockstep • IEC 61508

RM48L952

Cortex-R4F • Lockstep • IEC 61508

RM57L843

Cortex-R5F • Lockstep • IEC 61508

AM263Px

Cortex-R5F • 400MHz • CAN FD • CPSW

AM2434

Cortex-R5F • EtherCAT • Industrial

Arm Cortex-A — Application Processors

AM3358

Cortex-A8 • Linux • PRU • CAN

AM67A

Cortex-A53 • DSP • MMA • Linux

TDA4VL

Cortex-A72 + R5F • ADAS • Ethernet AVB

TI C2000 — Real-Time DSP

TMS320F28002

C28x • 100MHz • ePWM • Entry-level

TMS320F28021

C28x • 60MHz • Motor control

TMS320F28027

C28x • ePWM • Motor control

TMS320F28035

C28x • 60MHz • CAN • ADC

TMS320F28069

C28x • InstaSPIN • FOC

TMS320C5505

C55x DSP • Low-power • Audio processing

TMS320F28384

C28x + CLA • Dual-core • High-voltage drive

TMS320F28388

C28x + CLA • Dual-core • Ethernet • FPU64

Xilinx / AMD — FPGA SoC

XC7Z012S

Zynq-7012S • Cortex-A9 + PL • Low power

XC7Z030

Zynq-7030 • Cortex-A9 + PL • Gigabit Ethernet

XCZU2CG

UltraScale+ CG • Cortex-A53 + R5F + PL

XCZU3EG

UltraScale+ EG • Cortex-A53 + R5F + PL • GPU

Microchip Technology

PIC18

8-bit • 64MHz • CAN • USB

dsPIC

16-bit DSP • Motor control • FOC

PIC32

MIPS32 • 80MHz • USB • Ethernet

ST Microelectronics — STM32

STM32F4

Cortex-M4F • 168MHz • USB OTG • Ethernet

STM32F7

Cortex-M7 • 216MHz • DSP • FPU • SDRAM

STM32H7

Cortex-M7 • 480MHz • Dual-core • TrustZone

STM32G4

Cortex-M4F • Motor control • HRTIM • Math accelerator

Specialised & Wireless

IWR6843

mmWave radar • 60–64GHz • DSP + Cortex-M4F

RISC-V

Open ISA • GD32VF103 • ESP32-C3 • NEORV32

ESP32

Xtensa LX6 • Dual-core • Wi-Fi + BT • 240MHz

nRF52832

Cortex-M4F • BLE 5.0 • Nordic • 64MHz

Standards & Compliance

SIL3 has developed extensive in-house tooling and Quality Assurance Process Documentation to deliver projects to the following standards.

DO-178C / DO-254

Airborne software and hardware qualification. Full lifecycle documentation, reviews, traceability, independence, and configuration management using ARPTool.

IEC 61508 SIL 1–3

Functional safety for E/E/PE systems. Hardware fault tolerance, software safety integrity, proof testing, and FMEDA analysis. Applicable to industrial, energy, and machinery sectors.

IEC 60730 Class B

Automatic electronic controls for household appliances. Software self-test library: ROM CRC, RAM march, clock frequency, ADC plausibility, watchdog, and stack integrity checks.

Ready to Start Your Firmware Project?

Tell us about your platform and requirements. We can scope a fixed-price engagement or ongoing embedded engineering support.