“Every fix seems to break something else.”
Responsibilities are tangled across tasks, modules, drivers, and product features, so local changes create system-wide behavior that is difficult to predict.
Engineering service / Firmware debugging & architecture
Firmware consulting for crashes, lockups, and fragile code.
A device reboots after hours of operation. An RTOS task stops responding. Fixing one bug breaks another feature. Hughie Systems investigates the failure, implements corrections, and strengthens the firmware architecture so your team can keep shipping.
Architecture assessment · RTOS/Linux · BSPs · drivers · refactoring · recovery
When to bring us in
When intermittent crashes and recurring bugs are holding up a release.
Bring us the symptoms you can observe, even if you cannot reliably reproduce them. We investigate reset causes, task timing, stack and heap use, shared resources, and driver behavior to distinguish an isolated defect from an architectural problem.
“It runs for hours, then crashes or reboots.”
Watchdog resets, memory corruption, stack exhaustion, or timing-dependent faults leave the team chasing failures that disappear under the debugger. We add fault context and investigate the conditions that trigger them.
“The next hardware revision changes everything.”
A new MCU, modem, board, peripheral, or product variant exposes assumptions that were embedded directly into the original application.
“The device freezes, and a power cycle is the only fix.”
Tasks stop progressing, a driver waits indefinitely, or shared resources deadlock. We trace the stalled execution path and define timeout and recovery behavior that can be verified.
Scope
Architecture decisions tied directly to implementation.
The work is scoped around the product constraint, not a generic code review. Hughie Systems can assess the whole firmware platform, define the smallest useful architectural change, and stay involved through implementation and system verification.
01 / ASSESSMENT
Failure investigation and architecture assessment
Inspect crash dumps, reset reasons, stack and heap usage, task scheduling, and driver interactions alongside module boundaries and boot flow. Add targeted instrumentation where the existing evidence is insufficient.
02 / RESTRUCTURING
Bounded refactoring
Separate responsibilities and establish stable interfaces without turning the engagement into an open-ended rewrite of code that already works.
03 / PLATFORM
RTOS and embedded Linux foundations
Clarify concurrency, IPC, resource ownership, driver and BSP boundaries, services, application responsibilities, startup sequencing, and failure behavior.
04 / IMPLEMENTATION
Hands-on platform work
Implement the high-value changes, integrate them with the existing product, and leave the internal team with code and architecture it can continue to own.
Engagement model
Start by finding the real constraint.
The first step is usually a focused assessment or a bounded implementation problem. The work expands only when deeper ownership will materially improve the outcome.
01
Focused architecture assessmentA typical 1–2 week review that identifies the highest-risk design and delivery constraints, with a prioritized path forward.
02
Implementation and stabilizationA bounded effort to make the highest-value architectural changes and prove them in the real system.
03
Fractional platform leadershipOngoing ownership of architecture, integration, and release decisions when the internal team needs senior embedded leadership without a permanent hire.
A useful outcome
A stronger system and a clearer internal path.
Prioritized technical risksA concrete view of what is fragile, what is blocking delivery, and what can safely wait.
Explicit system boundariesClear ownership and interfaces across hardware, platform software, services, and product behavior.
Maintainable handoffImplemented improvements, documented decisions, and an internal team that can continue the work.
Related services
Other parts of the connected product.
Are crashes, lockups, or recurring bugs blocking your next release?
Tell us the MCU or Linux platform, the symptoms, when they occur, and the release at risk. Include any reset reasons or logs you already have; you do not need a confirmed root cause to start.