In electronic engineering, it is common to invest significant time and resources in hardware development. Quality components are selected, good layout practices are applied, power supplies are optimized, and protection circuits are carefully dimensioned. Despite all these precautions, many products still end up failing.

The cause does not always lie in the circuits. Many times, the problem is in the firmware.

The role of firmware in the reliability of a system

Firmware is the invisible layer that controls everything the hardware does. It is the code that defines how the system reacts to external stimuli, how it manages power, how it interprets signals, how it communicates with the outside, and how it recovers from failures.

Even with robust and well-designed hardware, poorly written firmware can completely compromise the user experience and, in many cases, jeopardize the functioning of the product.

Common issues caused

Lack of exception handling

Real systems operate in unpredictable environments. Electrical noise, power failures, communication interruptions or sensors that stop responding are common situations. Firmware must be prepared to handle these scenarios robustly. Ignoring these exceptions often results in freezes, silent crashes or repeated reboots. These failures directly affect the reliability of the product.

Poor power management

Battery-powered devices or those with consumption restrictions require optimized firmware. This includes the effective use of sleep modes, selective activation of peripherals and smart timer management. Firmware that does not enter sleep mode or that keeps interfaces active unnecessarily significantly compromises the system’s autonomy.

Communication without error control

Interfaces like UART, I2C, SPI or industrial buses require careful management. Firmware must be able to detect collisions, timeouts and invalid data. When this does not happen, the system can crash or enter an inconsistent state. This type of failure is especially critical in industrial environments or in devices that communicate with external platforms.

Unsafe and unstable boot

During startup, all peripherals must be correctly initialized. It is essential to avoid current spikes, oscillations or unexpected behaviour on digital outputs. Poorly managed startup can compromise the reliability of the product in the very first second of operation.

Silent failures

Not all errors manifest obviously. There are systems that appear to function correctly but do not collect data, do not communicate or perform tasks outside the expected time. Without internal supervision mechanisms, the product can fail silently and go unnoticed. Firmware should include routines for anomaly detection, error correction and, whenever possible, automatic recovery.

Writing firmware for production is not the same as for prototypes

It is common to see firmware developed for a prototype being reused, without changes, in the production phase. This is a frequent mistake with serious consequences. A commercial product requires robust firmware, capable of handling failures, well documented and subject to rigorous validation testing.

At Detus, we treat firmware as an integral part of product engineering. We do not treat it as accessory code but as the element that defines the behaviour of the system. We develop firmware in parallel with hardware, focusing on architecture, energy efficiency, communication and update capability.

Conclusion

A good circuit can be compromised by poorly implemented firmware. The reliability of an electronic product depends as much on the quality of the hardware as on the maturity of the code that controls it. Ensuring that the firmware meets the technical challenges is essential for the success of the product in a real environment.

If you are developing an embedded system and want to ensure that the firmware matches the rigour of your electronic engineering, talk to us.