It sounds like when you say "user code" you are looking at opening up your embedded system to the customer. If your aim is to try to support this "user added code" scheme on a commercial product then you better be prepared to assume a huge amount of risk. You will have to prepare to support each customer with hand holding at every step of the way as you train them to become embedded system programmers without their destroying the reliability of your core product.

Unless your embedded '51 MCU product sells for much much much money the ability to offer user code add-in feature will suck your company blood till there is none left.

If this requirement is being driven by management you will be best to make sure they fully understand what they are getting into.

It is one thing to become an OS company and supply an operating environment to the customer where they assume all end product risk and quite another to try to open a back door into a proprietary embedded product where you assume all the risk.

In the end I may suggest that it may be more cost effective to offer to customers that want to customize your product the option to buy a full source code license and turn the whole risk over to them.

I do not think I would ever venture off into the realm of trying to implement the scheme of what you have been suggesting in this thread. I just cannot really see a viable business model that could make it work for the risk. I think I would be better off turning into a hardware supplier and offer all my code as free open source.


Michael Karas