Services
Firmware and connectivity for battery-powered devices that have to keep working in the field. You work with me directly, from the first network choice to thousands of units deployed.
Overview
Firmware
Complete firmware from a spec at a fixed price, reviews of existing firmware, hardening and QA.
Read moreConnectivity
Which network to choose: cellular, satellite or LoRa, and moving a fleet from LoRa to cellular.
Read moreSupport
Ongoing maintenance and reviews, and sitting in with your firmware team as an experienced hand.
Read moreFirmware
Most prototypes work on the bench and fall over in the field. Whether you're starting from a spec or already have firmware, I make sure it's ready for thousands of units.
Firmware from a spec, at a fixed price
No prototype yet? I write the complete firmware from your spec, for a fixed price agreed up front, with the hardening below built in from the first release rather than added later.
Firmware reviews
A review of your existing firmware: what will break in the field, what will drain the battery, and what to fix first. You get a written report with concrete findings.
Hardening
What I look at when making firmware ready for the field:
- Recovering by itself. The network drops, the modem hangs, a tower goes away for a night. The device has to get back online without anyone driving out to it.
- Surviving power cuts. A battery that browns out mid-write must not leave the device bricked or its settings corrupted. Watchdogs bring a stuck device back.
- Safe updates over the air. Signed images, updates that roll back by themselves when the new version doesn't come up, and delta updates so a release doesn't eat the data plan.
- The battery life you promised. Measured, not estimated: the current in sleep and the charge of every report and network attach, turned into a battery-life figure.
- Observability. Reset reasons, crash reports and metrics from the fleet, so a device going quiet is something you can explain.
QA and testing
Automated tests that run the firmware in simulation and on the real hardware, so every release is checked before it reaches devices in the field.
Connectivity
Before you build anything, I look at where your devices will go, how much data they send and how long the battery has to last. You get a clear recommendation on network, hardware and SIM, plus an estimate of battery life.
Most connectivity problems start with a choice made too early. A team picks a network and then learns it doesn't work in the countries they sell to, or in the fields where the devices go.
I help you choose between cellular, satellite and LoRa, or a mix, based on where your devices are, what they send and what battery you can afford. When choosing cellular, I help you choose the radio technology: LTE-M, NB-IoT, 2G, Cat-1 bis or NTN. There is no silver bullet; it depends on your business and application.
LoRa, and moving from LoRa to cellular
LoRa can be the right answer, and I'll help you set it up well. I've also moved a fleet from LoRa to cellular. If running your own gateways costs more than it's worth, or your coverage ends where your gateways do, I can plan the switch and keep existing devices running while the new ones roll out.
Support
For teams that already have firmware and a firmware team. I sit in with your engineers and bring the experience of shipping thousands of devices into the field.
Ongoing maintenance
Keeping your firmware healthy after launch: modem firmware and SDK updates, fixes for what the fleet reports, and releases that roll out safely.
Review work
A second pair of eyes on pull requests, architecture decisions and release plans, before they reach devices.
Advice for your team
Help with the hard calls: network and hardware choices, debugging field issues, and how to set up testing and releases. Your team keeps ownership; I help them move faster and avoid the mistakes I've already made.
2 of 3 client spots open
Send me two lines about your device, where it will be deployed and what's going wrong. I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.