Embedded Software for SoC - Grupo de Mecatrônica EESC/USP

114 Chapter 9
platform consists of: the so-called tracker application (for an illustration, see
Figure 9-2; a use case diagram is given in Figure 9-5 on page 10).
The SWCD hardware platform in a suitable configuration, combined with
the tracking application, is meant to resemble a tracking device to be deployed
in fleets of trucks or other vehicles. There, they gather and relay (via, e.g.,
GSM) positional (GPS-determined) and auxiliary (from general-purpose I/Os,
GPIOs) data to a remote administrative center, allowing it to optimize
operations.
Considered in conjunction with the fact that the underlying hardware
platform was engineered to be variable with respect to its assortment of
components, this implied the same degree of variability for the tracker
application. Other than offering a full-fledged tracking functionality for the
purposes of fleet management, the tracker application had to be easily extensible
or otherwise customizable to fit varying areas of application. If distributed
as open-source software, customers would be able to adapt the device
to their specific requirements, relieving them of the effort of developing a
completely custom application from scratch.
3. THE OVERALL SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
To maximize flexibility, an overall software architecture consisting of a middleware
framework and application product line development was found to
be the most promising approach.
Examining this layered architecture, depicted in Figure 9-3, from bottom
to top, different hardware platforms as a whole form the basis for a product
family of SWCDs.