Almost all game programs require a random number generator. When implementing games for embedded systems, generating random numbers raises certain interesting issues. While generation of random number can be done using the rand() C library function, getting a suitable seed is a challenge.

During development and testing of embedded systems, the serial port is used for communicating with the host. This applies to firmware based embedded systems or Linux based embedded systems. But laptops and desktops today generally do not have a serial port. At Zilogic, we hit on this problem every time we go out for a corporate training.

One solution is to use a USB-to-Serial converter. But our experience shows that the USB-to-Serial converters available in the market are hardly reliable. Fed up with the USB-to-Serial converters we decided to develop our own Remote Terminal Server, which makes the serial port available over the network.

This article describes how to build a simple 4-port Remote Terminal Server, using a Linux and various other open source tools. We hope this also serves to show how a product can be built using Linux and other Free and Open Source software components.

Qmax Test Equipments is looking for candidates who has experience in Embedded Systems and Linux.

ZigBee is a low power, wireless mesh network standard. It is used in home automation, medical data collection, industrial control, etc.

This article is a first in a series of articles explaining the ZigBee protocol. We start with an introduction to various components of a ZigBee network. The article explains the components using a series of example network configurations, with increasing complexity.

Zilogic has launched a course on Android, to help people familiar with Java, to come up to speed with Android Application Development.

Android has become the OS of choice, for smartphone developers. Android is also increasingly being used in embedded systems that require a graphical user interface. These systems include car navigation systems, set top boxes and e-book readers. Knowledge of Android has become inevitable for every embedded system developer. This course serves a good starting point for developers who would like get their feet wet in the wonderful world of Android application development.

For details about the course, please check the syllabus page.