- Hardware
- NXP i.MX8 · Toradex Apalis i.MX6 · Broadcom
- The work
- Bring-up, secure boot and updates in the field
The work
A traffic radar platform, from a system diagram
The first platform, an image the unit can prove, and data that survives the field
Case data
- Industry
- Urban mobility, traffic radar
- Product line
- Roadside traffic radar units
- Module
- Toradex SoM
- Scope
- Platform creation, Yocto recipes, boot loader, FIT image, GPS, field data reliability
The first platform
We started from the system diagram. We built the development image and the Yocto recipes it needs, for USB-Ethernet, network file storage, time synchronisation and the disk image itself.
Boot loader
We moved U-Boot to the current version for that module.
A verifiable image
We built the FIT image and the tools that check it. The unit can prove what it is running, which is the piece secure boot is built on later.
GPS
We enabled it in the platform. A roadside unit has to know where it is.
Validation
We documented the script that validates the operating system, so the customer runs it without us.
Field data
We restructured where the device writes its data. It now copies to remote storage on a schedule, and it checks that the remote storage is there at boot.
Data loss
Local data was deleted when it should have been kept. We found the cause and we fixed it.
A Doppler application, and a platform rebuilt
New application work on one board, and the build restored across two
Case data
- Industry
- Urban mobility, traffic radar
- Product line
- Doppler radar units, two boards
- Module
- Toradex Apalis i.MX6
- Scope
- Application development, machine configuration, kernel and boot loader rebuild, production imaging, GPS, validation
The Doppler application
We developed it and we took it through several rounds with the customer.
A board that reset
One hardware revision reset by itself. We found the fault and we fixed it.
The build, restored
The machine configuration for this product had been lost. We restored it, then rebuilt the kernel, the boot loader and the FIT image on top of it.
Two images, named
We defined a production image and a development image, so it is clear which one a unit is running.
Installation
We built the tooling that writes an image to a board, using the silicon vendor's own update utility.
GPS and validation
We integrated GPS, and we ran validation and integration tests across both boards.
Documentation
We documented the image format, so the customer's own engineers can work on it.
Bring-up, over-the-air updates and secure boot
A connected mobility platform, from first boot to a signed image and a modem that stays up
Case data
- Industry
- Urban mobility, connected devices
- Product line
- Connected mobility units
- Silicon
- NXP i.MX8 · Microchip MCP2515 · Broadcom Wi-Fi
- Scope
- Platform creation, connectivity, installer, over-the-air updates, secure boot, kernel driver work, licence compliance
The platform
We created it, and we reworked the machine definition as the hardware settled.
Connectivity
We set up the access point through NetworkManager and the mobile modem through ModemManager. We then fixed the modem faults that showed up in use.
Over-the-air updates
We integrated SWUpdate and we versioned what it ships. It was the largest single piece of this engagement.
Secure boot
The device now checks the software it is about to run before it runs it.
A kernel that hung
A boot loader upgrade made the kernel hang. We found the interaction between the two and we fixed it.
Hardware support
We added CAN through an MCP2515 controller, a slave SPI port, Broadcom Wi-Fi, a real-time clock and a gyroscope, on Linux 5.19.
Licence compliance
We removed the GPLv3 components from the shipping image, so the product ships under terms the customer can accept.
Factory image
We built the image the production line writes to a new unit.