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SAN FRANCISCO - Embedded-systems projects are falling months behind schedule and failing to deliver as promised on performance and features, a survey of developers finds.
EE Times' corporate parent, CMP Media LLC, conducted the survey, which was to be discussed at this week's Embedded Systems Conference. Among other things, 1,100 embedded developers reported that more than half their projects were running late, with a four-month lag the norm, and that most had failed to achieve even half their expected performance. Nevertheless, the survey found few shelved projects-and even fewer answers to the problems.
"Some of that [project lateness] is due to poor scheduling or management giving unrealistic deadlines," said Jerry Krasner, executive director of CMP's Electronics Market Forecasters, which conducted the survey. "Still, it looks like it's something endemic. And the results are pretty consistent with surveys we've done before."
A veteran industry analyst, Krasner said the problems uncovered in the survey suggest a need for more-sophisticated tools and a move to simulation modeling. His researchers questioned 3,500 embedded developers who read EE Times and another 3,500 readers of sister publication Embedded Systems Programming.
Indicating widespread slippage in schedules, one survey question put the designs not completed on time at more than 50 percent. The percentages of behind-schedule projects were mostly consistent across embedded processor architectures, types and vertical markets. The rate was 53 percent for both industrial controls and telecom projects and 54 percent for automotive designs. The medical category reported a significantly higher rate of 66 percent, most likely attributed to unique regulatory hurdles.
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