Cloudy with a Chance of Embedded Systems

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, the fusion of embedded systems with cloud services represents a significant leap towards achieving higher computational power, scalability, and efficiency. This integration offers a compelling solution for embedded systems constrained by limited resources, enabling them to offload complex computations, enhance storage capabilities, and improve overall system performance through shared data insights. 

However, this advancement comes with its unique set of challenges, particularly in the realm of combining the traditionally resource-constrained embedded systems with the vast, scalable cloud infrastructure. 

This talk aims to explore the intricacies of integrating cloud services with embedded systems, highlighting the complexities introduced and the innovative testing strategies required to ensure reliability and performance. We will examine the complexity added to the system architecture, notably through the interface of a REST API that bridges the embedded and cloud components. The discussion will extend to the adaptation of testing frameworks and environments, considering the distinct languages and platforms used in embedded systems (C/C++) versus cloud services (potentially Java or Python). The talk will cover unit testing, integration testing, and system testing, emphasizing the need for separate testing activities for embedded and cloud components, the role of hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation, and the critical aspect of system integration testing to ensure seamless interaction between embedded software and cloud services.