Case Studies by Technology

Team Board
Design, development and optimisation of a highly sophisticated graphical drawing package to be used with touch sensitive whiteboards. Originally developed in C++ for Windows and subsequently ported to Java permitting use on a wider range of platforms including Macintosh

Operating System: Windows®95/98 ME Windows®2000 XP Mac OSX
Development Skill: Device Drivers Windows application Porting Java application

A major UK mobile network operator
Design and implementation of Minicom emulation software for profoundly deaf users. The software runs on a handheld device running Windows CE, and connects to any infrared-enabled mobile phone using IrDA.

Operating System: Windows®CE
Development Skill: Comms Protocols Windows application

Major mobile handset & base station manufacturer
Device drivers for PCMCIA card that interfaces to a cellular phone, allowing engineers to diagnose phone or network problems.

Operating System: Windows®95/98 Windows®NT Windows®CE
Development Skill: Device Drivers

Lo-Q
Software development for a theme park queuing system. Ride users enter a virtual queue by carrying a pendant or portable belt pack which alerts them when a time-slot on a ride becomes available. The system is coordinated from a central computer via a network of infra red and low power radio links. The trial at Thorpe Park was featured on BBC's Tomorrow's World programme. Now in service in the USA.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded Comms Protocols Time critical

Action Information Management
An application to validate the contents of bus timetable data files, in varying formats, against standard formats. The project also required the development of a wireless communications protocol.

Operating System: Windows®2000 Windows®2000
Development Skill: Windows application Comms Protocols

An airport security system supplier
Development of an application which provides automated transmission of image files using standard internet protocols.

Operating System: Windows®2000
Development Skill: Application

High-speed network component supplier
Investigation and implementation of Windows 2000 drivers for a portable high-speed network analyser. The original drivers for this product had been found to be unreliable on some laptops: our replacement drivers provided a complete solution to the problem.

Operating System: Windows®2000
Development Skill: Device Drivers

Sinetica
Development of a very low cost module to act as an intelligent network-managed device. The unit was designed to monitor and control a variety of serial devices, such as UPSs and building environmental controls. These devices can then be remotely managed and controlled via several different network protocols, including SNMP, HTTP and Telnet.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded Comms Protocols Web application

Oxford Instruments
Development of an API 'wrapper' for an NT device driver to enable the customer's Windows 95 application to run under NT. This approach saved our customer a great deal of time and money by avoiding the need to make changes to a family of large legacy applications. The API communicates with industrial PLC devices to control a machine for manufacturing silicon wafers, and our software was fully multi-threaded to achieve the desired response times.

Operating System: Windows®NT
Development Skill: Device Drivers Comms Protocols Porting

Net Voyager
Consultancy and development for a variety of low-cost X86 based products aimed at home web browsing and terminals to Windows application servers. Products use both embedded Linux and Windows CE 3.0 with Microsoft WBT (Windows Based Terminal) thin client software.

Operating System: Embedded Linux Windows CE
Development Skill: Embedded Windows application

KD Electronics
Development of an embedded system that simulates the audio side of an Air Traffic Control system for training purposes.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded

KD Electronics
Embedded warehouse security system which monitors up to 60 remote inputs via a two-wire 'bus'. The device is able to identify exactly which of its inputs have generated the alarm by polling an inexpensive intelligent monitoring device located at each of the contact points.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded

KD Electronics
Firmware for a microprocessor-based security device. The system tests emergency lighting within a building up to a maximum of 500 lights. Various forms of light failure are detected and reported via a central console.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded

KD Electronics
Development of a microprocessor based Alarm Controller which monitors up to eight movement detectors (PIRs) and triggers various alarm devices when pre-configured alarm limits have been reached. The software automatically detects the number of PIRs and features complex safeguards against false triggering.

Operating System: -
Development Skill: Embedded

An airport security system supplier
Development of an application which provides automated transmission of image files using standard internet protocols.

Operating System: Windows®2000
Development Skill: Application