LEARN FIRMWARE DEEP DIVE - Expanded Project Guides

Generated from: LEARN_FIRMWARE_DEEP_DIVE.md

This folder contains deep-dive guides for each project in the learning path.

Overview

These guides expand each project into a full learning guide with theory, architecture, implementation phases, testing, and extensions.

Project Index

# Project Difficulty Time Key Focus
1 The Simplest Bare-Metal Program (LED Blinker Without Any Framework) Level 2: Intermediate 1-2 weeks Bare-Metal / Embedded Systems
2 x86 Bootloader - The First 512 Bytes Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Boot Process / x86 Architecture
3 Multi-Stage Bootloader with Kernel Loading Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks Boot Process / Protected Mode
4 UART Driver from Scratch (Serial Communication) Level 2: Intermediate 1-2 weeks Peripheral Drivers / Serial Communication
5 GPIO and Interrupt Controller from Scratch Level 2: Intermediate 1-2 weeks Peripheral Drivers / Interrupts
6 SPI Driver and Talking to External Chips Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Communication Protocols / Peripheral Drivers
7 I2C Driver and Multi-Device Bus Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Communication Protocols / Peripheral Drivers
8 Timer and PWM Controller Level 2: Intermediate 1-2 weeks Timing / Motor Control
9 DMA Controller - Efficient Data Movement Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Memory / Performance
10 Watchdog Timer and System Reliability Level 2: Intermediate 1-2 weeks Reliability / Safety
11 Flash Memory Driver and Wear Leveling Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks Storage / Filesystems
12 USB Device Firmware (CDC Serial) Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks USB Protocol / Enumeration
13 UEFI Application - Modern Firmware Development Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks UEFI / System Firmware
14 Simple RTOS Implementation Level 5: Master 1-2 weeks Operating Systems / Real-Time
15 OTA (Over-The-Air) Firmware Update System Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks Bootloader / Security
16 Power Management Firmware Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Power / Battery
17 Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) Design Level 3: Advanced 1-2 weeks Software Architecture / Portability
18 Custom Bootloader for Your MCU Level 4: Expert 1-2 weeks Bootloader / Embedded

Prerequisites

  • Basic programming and system fundamentals
  • Comfort with command line tooling