Timesys Secure by Design vs. Simcenter Embed

Ensuring the security of connected embedded systems is of utmost importance, especially for those that need to operate with high availability and serve critical functions. As the prevalence of cyber threats continues to escalate, it becomes imperative for these systems in diverse fields like industrial controls, transportation, navigation, communications, aerospace, military, healthcare, and logistics to adopt strong security protocols right from deployment and maintain them throughout their operational lifespan. Amidst the pressure to accelerate time-to-market, product developers frequently choose to integrate third-party software components, whether they are open source or proprietary, to meet vital product specifications. Typically, security assessments are performed only after development and testing are completed, just before the product launch. This delayed method often fails to identify vulnerabilities that could have surfaced during earlier development stages, underscoring the necessity for a more holistic security approach that is embedded throughout the entire lifecycle of connected embedded systems. Consequently, implementing continuous security practices from the outset can significantly enhance the resilience of these systems against emerging threats.

Simcenter Embed is a Siemens software environment for embedded firmware development, automatic code generation, and hardware-in-the-loop prototyping. It allows engineers to create systems using block diagrams and state charts, making it easier to design, simulate, and test embedded control applications. The platform is tailored for dynamic systems that involve scaled and fixed-point operations, helping users generate efficient and compact ANSI C code. Simcenter Embed supports both continuous and discrete-time system behaviors, as well as event-based logic for more complex embedded applications. It includes deep support for popular on-chip peripherals and libraries for electric motor control, digital power design, image processing, and video processing. Engineers working on motor control can use prebuilt field-oriented control diagrams to quickly operate PMSM, ACI, or synchronous reluctance motors on an inverter. By automatically converting diagrams into MCU hardware-ready code, the software reduces manual coding, lowers the chance of errors, and speeds up the edit-debug cycle. Users can simulate both controller and plant models to tune control strategies offline before moving to physical hardware. Integrated hardware-in-the-loop testing lets the plant model run on the host computer while the control algorithm runs in real time on the target MCU. Real-time monitoring and parameter tuning help engineers verify embedded system performance more effectively. With support for a broad range of microcontrollers and processors, Simcenter Embed helps industrial and academic teams accelerate embedded development from design through validation.