Engineering Glossary

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) — A custom silicon chip optimized for a single specific use case or application.

ATEX is the EU framework for equipment in explosive atmospheres — defining equipment groups and categories with corresponding Notified Body requirements.

Mandatory digital record under EU 2023/1542 for EV and industrial batteries — lifecycle data, carbon footprint, recycled content, and supply chain info via QR.

BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) — Wireless protocol for ultra-low-power IoT devices, enabling years of battery life with data ranges up to 240 m.

BOM Management covers selecting, tracking, and maintaining every hardware component to manage obsolescence, supply chain risk, and RoHS/REACH compliance.

BSP (Board Support Package) — Hardware abstraction layer bridging PCB design to an RTOS, including startup code, drivers, and peripheral config.

CE Marking — Mandatory European conformity marking indicating a product meets all EU health, safety, and environmental requirements.

Conformity Assessment: the structured process manufacturers use to demonstrate product compliance with EU directive requirements before affixing the CE mark.

EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Mandatory cybersecurity regulation for all hardware and software products with digital elements sold in the EU.

CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is the global standard for identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities, each assigned a unique CVE-ID.

The DoC is the legally binding document in which a manufacturer declares EU directive conformity — required to affix the CE mark to a product.

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) are engineering methodologies that ensure a hardware product can be mass-produced with high yields and assembled efficiently at the target cost.

Digital Product Passport (DPP) — Structured digital record of product identity, composition, and recycling info, mandated by EU ESPR regulation.

Digital Twin — Real-time virtual replica of a physical device or system enabling simulation, monitoring, and predictive analytics.

DO-254 (RTCA DO-254 / EUROCAE ED-80) — International standard for design assurance of airborne electronic hardware including FPGAs and ASICs.

Edge AI (Artificial Intelligence at the Edge) — Processing AI algorithms locally on hardware devices for real-time inference without cloud dependency.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) is the ability of electronic equipment to function in its environment without emitting intolerable electromagnetic interference (EMI) to other devices while remaining immune to disturbances from its surroundings.

EN 18031 defines cybersecurity requirements for internet-connected radio equipment under the RED Delegated Act — mandatory for CE marking from August 2025.

Harmonised standard for 2.4 GHz radio devices — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and spread-spectrum in the ISM band, mandated under the Radio Equipment Directive.

EU harmonised standard for 5 GHz Wi-Fi devices — transmit power limits, DFS radar avoidance, and TPC requirements under the Radio Equipment Directive.

Foundational IoT security standard — 13 provisions on default passwords, software updates, vulnerability disclosure, and secure communications for RED and CRA.

EU harmonised safety standard for AV and IT equipment under the Low Voltage Directive — replacing IEC 60950-1 and IEC 60065 with a hazard-based approach.

Standard for industrial automation cybersecurity (IACS) — defines security levels and OT requirements for industrial control systems and critical infrastructure.

ENISA — The EU's central cybersecurity authority, responsible for CRA vulnerability reports, certification schemes, and policy guidance.

EU-recognised body for harmonised telecoms standards — developing EN 300 328, EN 301 893, EN 303 645, and EN 18031 for RED and LVD CE marking conformity.

EU AI Act — First comprehensive AI legal framework establishing risk-based rules for AI systems on the EU market, with edge AI hardware implications.

EU 2023/1542 mandates lifecycle standards, carbon footprint, recycled content, and digital Battery Passports for EV and industrial batteries.

GPSR-required EU-based representative for non-EU manufacturers — legally accountable for product safety compliance and official contact for market surveillance.

Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) — A reconfigurable semiconductor device that can be programmed after manufacturing for custom hardware logic.

GPSR (EU 2023/988) mandates product safety for all consumer electronics and IoT sold in the EU from December 2024, replacing the Product Safety Directive.

A Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) is a software subsystem that provides a standardized API to interact with underlying hardware, hiding device-specific registers so application code stays portable across different processor families.

Hardware Root of Trust (HRoT) — Immutable, tamper-resistant hardware foundation anchoring all cryptographic operations and security in a device.

Harmonised Standards are EU Official Journal-listed EN standards whose application gives a legal presumption of conformity with EU directive requirements.

Hardware Security Module (HSM) — Tamper-resistant device for cryptographic key management, digital signing, and encryption in secure environments.

Internet of Things (IoT) — Network of sensor-equipped devices exchanging data to enable intelligent automation and real-time monitoring.

JTAG and SWD are the primary hardware debug interfaces used by embedded engineers for boundary-scan testing, internal silicon debugging, and direct memory access to a processor's core, registers, and flash.

LoRaWAN — Low-power, long-range wireless protocol enabling IoT sensor networks spanning 5-15 km with multi-year battery life.

The Low Voltage Directive (LVD), Directive 2014/35/EU, is the EU regulatory framework ensuring that electrical equipment rated 50–1000 V AC or 75–1500 V DC provides a high level of safety before it can be CE marked and sold in the EEA.

EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 sets health and safety requirements for machinery — replacing Directive 2006/42/EC from January 2027.

EU system where national authorities verify CE marking compliance of products on the market via random testing, technical file reviews, and enforcement actions.

National authority investigation into CE-marked product compliance — covering technical file review, product testing, and enforcement including market withdrawal.

Matter — Universal smart home connectivity standard (CSA) enabling interoperability across Apple, Google, Amazon over Thread and Wi-Fi.

MCU vs. MPU vs. Crossover — the core embedded-architecture choice between Microcontroller Units (deterministic, on-chip memory, bare-metal/RTOS), Microprocessor Units (high-throughput, external RAM, MMU-based Linux), and Crossover processors that pair near-GHz speed with MCU-style real-time determinism.

MCUboot — Open-source secure bootloader for 32-bit MCUs with verified boot, encrypted OTA updates, and rollback protection.

MDR (EU 2017/745) governs medical devices: requires Notified Body certification for Class IIa+ and mandates strict post-market surveillance obligations.

MISRA C — Coding guidelines for safe, reliable C software in embedded and safety-critical systems. 2023 edition supports C11/C18.

EU assessment procedure where manufacturers self-verify and issue the Declaration of Conformity — the legal basis of CE marking for most hardware products.

NIS2 Directive (EU 2022/2555) — EU cybersecurity directive imposing strict security obligations on essential entities across critical infrastructure.

EU cybersecurity law for essential entities across 18 critical sectors — imposing risk management, 24-hour incident reporting, and personal C-level liability.

A Notified Body is an EU-designated body for third-party conformity assessment — required when a directive prohibits manufacturer self-declaration.

A Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is a specialized hardware accelerator built to run the massively parallel Multiply-Accumulate (MAC) operations of neural networks, enabling fast, energy-efficient AI inference at the edge.

EU publication where legislation acquires legal force — definitive source for harmonised standards conferring presumption of conformity with EU directives.

OTA Update (Over-the-Air) — Wireless firmware delivery enabling remote updates to embedded devices, now mandatory under the EU Cyber Resilience Act.

PCB Design — Engineering discipline of designing multi-layer circuit boards interconnecting electronic components in hardware products.

Post-market Surveillance is mandatory EU monitoring after product launch — CRA extends this with 5-year vulnerability management and SBOM requirements.

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) — Next-gen cryptographic algorithms resistant to quantum computer attacks, essential for long-lived embedded systems.

A RAG Report classifies every EU directive requirement as Green (met), Amber (at risk), or Red (non-compliant) — the standard compliance assessment format.

Radio Equipment Directive (RED) — EU regulation mandating cybersecurity and data protection for all wireless devices sold in Europe.

EU 2022/30 activates mandatory cybersecurity for internet-connected radio equipment under RED Art. 3(3)(d)(e)(f) — compulsory from 1 August 2025.

RISC-V — An open-standard instruction set architecture (ISA) enabling royalty-free, customisable processor design and a key strategic technology for European semiconductor sovereignty.

RoHS restricts specific hazardous materials in electronic products, while REACH governs the registration, evaluation, authorisation, and restriction of chemical substances across all goods placed on the EU market.

Register-Transfer Level (RTL) Design — Hardware abstraction layer describing digital logic as data flow between registers and operations.

RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) — Specialized OS guaranteeing deterministic task execution within strict timing constraints for embedded devices.

EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products — real-time risk sharing across 27 EU member states with coordinated enforcement against unsafe products.

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) — Machine-readable inventory of all software components and dependencies, required by the EU CRA for vulnerability tracking.

Secure Boot — A hardware-rooted security mechanism that ensures only authenticated and cryptographically verified firmware runs on a device from power-on.

Secure Element (SE) — Tamper-resistant microchip providing hardware-level protection for cryptographic keys and device identity in IoT systems.

Direct route to CE marking where manufacturers self-assess EU compliance without mandatory third parties and issue the EU Declaration of Conformity.

Sensor Fusion is the algorithmic process of combining data from multiple distinct sensors to compute a unified output that is more accurate and stable than any single sensor could provide on its own.

SIL (Safety Integrity Level, from IEC 61508) and ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level, from ISO 26262) are risk classification schemes that define how much engineering rigor a hardware or software function needs based on the harm its failure could cause.

System on Chip (SoC) — An integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or electronic system into a single chip.

The Technical File is the mandatory documentation package a manufacturer must compile and retain to support a CE marking Declaration of Conformity.

TinyML — ML inference on microcontrollers consuming milliwatts, enabling on-device AI for anomaly detection and predictive maintenance.

V-Model — Systems engineering methodology pairing each development phase with a verification phase for safety-critical hardware validation.

VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) — The industry-standard language for designing and modeling digital circuits used in FPGA and ASIC development.

The WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Directive 2012/19/EU) governs how electronics are treated at end-of-life, making producers responsible for the financing, collection and recycling of their products.

Zephyr RTOS — Modular open-source RTOS from the Linux Foundation supporting 450+ boards with BLE/Thread/LoRaWAN and MCUboot secure boot.