Area · Industry
Embedded Systems – Industry
Firmware, communication stacks and functional safety for devices that have to hold up in the field – in power engineering, process automation and building automation. We have developed protocol stacks ourselves, qualified device platforms with dozens of variants and brought development processes up to standard.
Services
Every service with a clear result – no consulting fog.
- 01
Firmware development and communication stacks
Embedded software in C/C++: technical specification (functional and non-functional) taking standards and safety requirements into account, firmware architecture, module, integration and system tests. We have not just used communication stacks but maintained and extended them ourselves – IEC 61850 for substation automation, Foundation Fieldbus for process automation – including device descriptions (DDs), test frameworks and test tools.
ResultSpecification, implementation, test specification, conformance evidence
- C/C++
- IEC 61850
- Foundation Fieldbus
- HART
- Ethernet/IP
- CAN
- MVB
- Modbus
- Profibus
- BACnet
- 02
IEC 61850 and substation automation
From stack to certificate: IED integration, GOOSE/MMS/Sampled Values, conformance testing with the UCA programme tools (KEMA toolsets edition 1 and 2, ITK/CTK), interoperability of several devices in concert, support through to laboratory accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. In the standard since 2012, in the committees of the UCA International Users Group since 2016.
ResultConformance evidence, interop test plan, test schemas
- IEC 61850 Ed. 1/2
- IEC 61850-10
- GOOSE
- MMS
- ISO/IEC 17025
- UCAIug
- 03
Reverse engineering of interfaces, protocols and legacy systems
When documentation is missing, the manufacturer no longer supplies or a third-party system has to be connected: we analyse bus traffic, protocols, firmware behaviour and hardware interfaces until the system is understood and can be reproduced. The result is specifications, simulators and adapters. That is how we integrate any device into any test bench and any platform – independent of the tool vendor. Most recently in rail: connecting existing vehicle systems to a new telematics solution.
ResultInterface and protocol specification, simulator or adapter, test coverage
- Reverse engineering
- Protocol analysis
- CAN
- MVB
- Modbus
- Legacy systems
- Simulation
- 04
Functional safety
Test concepts and evidence for embedded platforms to IEC 61508-3, implemented up to SIL 2 – most recently for a platform with 32 device variants. Environmental and stress testing: EMC, temperature, stress, load. Testability is checked during requirements analysis, not at the test bench. Unit and integration tests with Tessy and VectorCAST.
ResultTest concept, evidence documentation, test systems
- IEC 61508-3
- SIL 2
- EMC
- HIL
- Tessy
- VectorCAST
- 05
Code quality and static analysis
Static code analysis with Klocwork and SonarQube, clean code principles, code walkthroughs and reviews – daily practice for more than 15 years. Coverage targets, coding guidelines and quality gates are anchored in the pipeline, not in a presentation.
ResultQuality gates in CI, coding guidelines, measurable coverage
- Klocwork
- SonarQube
- Clean code
- Code coverage
- Reviews
- 06
Independent review of test concept and development process
Vendor-neutral assessment of test process and test concept to ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 and ISTQB: test levels, test types, code coverage, defect lifecycle, traceability. Solution options and roadmap for test automation, static code analysis (SAST) and CI/CD. CRA readiness assessment with reference to IEC 62443-4-1. Stakeholder workshops and mentoring – drawing on more than 20 years of agile and classic development projects (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe). Because we come from testing, we deliberately find concrete bugs and architecture problems along the way, not just process gaps.
ResultPrioritised action plan with implementation horizons
- ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119
- ISTQB
- IEC 62443-4-1
- CRA
- SAST
- CI/CD
- SAFe
- 07
Development and test processes, CI/CD
Build and test automation with Jenkins, GitLab and Azure DevOps – in embedded projects since 2007. Versioning and branching concepts, automated test environments, visualisation with Grafana and SonarQube. Introduced in teams of 5 to 8, scaled to platforms with 10 communication protocols.
ResultRunning pipeline, documented process, dashboard
- Jenkins
- GitLab
- Azure DevOps
- Grafana
- IAR Workbench
- 08
Integration with control systems
We know the control systems your devices connect to: ABB 800xA, Emerson DeltaV and ControlCare, Siemens S7 and WinCC, Siemens Desigo in building automation. Integration, commissioning tests and troubleshooting at the interface between device and system.
ResultIntegration concept, interface tests, fault analysis
- ABB 800xA
- DeltaV
- ControlCare
- S7 / WinCC
- Desigo
Technology and tools
- C/C++
- C#/.NET
- Python
- Assembler
- IAR Workbench
- dSPACE
- LabVIEW
- Klocwork
- SonarQube
- Tessy
- VectorCAST
- Jenkins
- GitLab
- Azure DevOps
- KEMA toolsets Ed. 1/2
- ITK / CTK
- IEC 61850
- Foundation Fieldbus
- HART
- Ethernet/IP
- CAN
- MVB
- BACnet
- Modbus
- Profibus
- EtherCAT
- KNX
- LON
- DALI
- ABB 800xA
- DeltaV
- Siemens S7
- WinCC
- Desigo
Domains
Three industries whose protocols, standards and control systems we know from our own development projects.
Power engineering and substation automation
In the energy sector since 2012: IEC 61850 stack, protection and control IEDs, conformance and interoperability testing, system tests of complete substation automation systems.
- IEC 61850
- GOOSE / MMS / SV
- Ethernet/IP
- Modbus
Process automation and instrumentation
Process automation from the field level up: fieldbus stacks, device descriptions, functional safety for field devices, firmware for flow and process instrumentation.
- Foundation Fieldbus
- HART
- Profibus
- IEC 61508
Building and plant automation
Device platforms and engineering tools for building automation, drives and machines: test automation across 10 communication protocols, smoke tests, BACnet.
- BACnet
- KNX
- LON
- DALI
- CAN
- EtherCAT
Typical assignments
This is what the requests our clients come to us with look like.
- 01
Mastering variant diversity
A device platform with 32 variants has to be proven to IEC 61508 SIL 2 – with a test concept that covers every variant without multiplying the effort.
- 02
Ten protocols, one pipeline
A platform speaks 10 communication protocols; every change must be tested and deployed automatically against all of them – fully automated, with HIL.
- 03
Proving conformance
An IED has to pass IEC 61850 certification. We pre-test with the official tools, find the deviations and support you through to the test laboratory.
- 04
Assessing CRA readiness
The Cyber Resilience Act is coming; the development process is to be assessed against IEC 62443-4-1 and given a roadmap.
- 05
Bringing a process up to standard
A grown development process without traceability and with manual tests is to be lifted to ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 and CI/CD – without stopping ongoing development.
- 06
Maintaining a stack when nobody is left
A communication stack has grown historically and the knowledge has gone. We take over maintenance, extension and the test framework.
Where we come from
Before founding in 2018: more than ten years of embedded development and test leadership in energy and process automation – development on the Foundation Fieldbus stack and on functional safety solutions, maintenance and extension of an IEC 61850 stack with its own test framework, leadership of a system verification & validation centre for substation automation with seven people. UCA International Users Group working groups since 2016, IEC 61850 laboratory accreditation since 2018.
References in this area
Engagements since 2018. Details on the projects page.
since 05/2025
ABB Switzerland Ltd, Turgi
Independent review of the test concept for a medium-voltage platform, roadmap for test automation, SAST and CI/CD, CRA readiness to IEC 62443-4-1, mentoring programme.
2021
IFM
Embedded functional safety platform to IEC 61508 SIL 2 with 32 device variants: test concept, CI, branching concept, HIL with dSPACE and LabVIEW, EMC, temperature, stress and load tests.
2018–2020
ABB Switzerland Ltd, Drives
Test automation for a platform with 10 communication protocols, fully automated system test deployment, BDD, HIL extension, clean code.
2018–2019
Siemens Building Technologies
Test automation architecture and smoke tests for building automation device platforms and engineering tools (BACnet), in a SAFe team.
since 09/2025
Rota Yokogawa
Firmware specification and architecture, module to system tests, static analysis and CI/CD for HART devices in process automation.
since 2016
UCA International Users Group
Testing Committee, IEC 61850 laboratory accreditation (lead accreditor), Director of Quality and Operational Excellence since 07/2026.
A device that has to pass the standard?
We review concept, process and code – and find what would otherwise only surface in the field: bugs, architecture problems, gaps in the evidence.
What happens next
- 01
Intro call
30 minutes online: your task, our questions, a first assessment.
- 02
Short written assessment
Whether and how we can help, which approach fits, roughly what it takes.
- 03
Offer with a clear scope
Service, result, time frame – you decide, we start.
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