HMS Thesis Projects – Solving Real-Life Industrial Challenges in Embedded Systems

We want to invest in you and your talent and prepare you for your future work life. HMS was founded from following a thesis project from the University of Halmstad, Sweden and we haven't forgotten our roots! We highly value the fresh ideas, can-do attitude and collaborative input students and young talents give us. Are you eager to apply your skills to real-world challenges in industrial automation and communication technologies? Join our development teams and contribute to innovative projects that bridge devices, protocols, and systems. You will be part of an environment where creativity and collaboration drive solutions with real industrial impact. About The Thesis Projects For spring semester 2027, we offer three exciting Bachelor Thesis projects (15 ECTS) within our software development department. In addition to these projects, we also welcome students who wish to propose their own thesis ideas within our areas of expertise.

• Exploring Next-Generation Web Protocols (HTTP/2 & HTTP/3)

Our products currently use HTTP/1.1, but newer technologies such as HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 (QUIC) offer potential advantages in performance, scalability, and resource efficiency. In this thesis project, you will investigate the feasibility of adopting HTTP/2 and/or HTTP/3 in embedded communication products. The work will include evaluating open-source implementations, analyzing implementation complexity, and benchmarking protocol versions with respect to memory usage, throughput, latency, and connection performance. The outcome will provide valuable insights into whether these technologies can improve the efficiency and future capabilities of our products. If you're interested in networking, embedded systems, performance optimization, and modern internet technologies, this is an opportunity to work with technology that powers the next generation of connected devices.

• Bringing Embedded Software to Linux

At HMS Networks, we're building the next generation of industrial communication products. A key part of this platform is PAPI (Platform Abstraction Programming Interface), a software framework that enables networking, security, peripherals, firmware updates, and communication protocols to run independently of the underlying hardware and operating system. Today, PAPI runs on embedded microcontrollers using a real-time operating system (RTOS). In this thesis project, you will port key parts of the platform to embedded Linux. The work includes adapting operating system services such as threading and synchronization, implementing hardware communication interfaces, and bringing the software up on a Linux-based embedded device. You will also verify the solution and evaluate how Linux compares to an RTOS in terms of performance and timing behavior. The outcome will be a proof of concept demonstrating how a software platform originally designed for embedded microcontrollers can run on Linux. If you're interested in embedded Linux, operating systems, low-level C programming, hardware-software interaction, and performance analysis, this is an opportunity to work with industrial communication technology used worldwide.

• Evaluating Hardware Portability with a Second Microcontroller Platform

Our next-generation communication platform is designed to run independently of the underlying hardware. While this abstraction has been proven on a single microcontroller family, it has never been tested on a significantly different hardware platform from another vendor. In this thesis project, you will port the platform to a Texas Instruments AM26x microcontroller, adapting the lowest hardware-dependent layers and bringing up a selected set of peripherals. You will investigate how well the platform abstraction works in practice and identify any hidden dependencies on the original hardware architecture. The outcome will be a proof of concept on a second microcontroller platform, together with an analysis of what ported seamlessly, what required modifications, and the effort needed to support alternative hardware vendors in future products. If you're interested in embedded systems, low-level C programming, microcontrollers, RTOS concepts, and hardware bring-up, this is an opportunity to explore the challenges of building portable software platforms for industrial communication products. About You We are looking for motivated Bachelor’s students in Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems, Industrial Automation, Computer Science, or related fields. As we value close collaboration and knowledge sharing, we see great benefit in students being geographically close and spending time on-site with our teams. About Us At HMS, we believe that connecting matters in everything, from making machines talk to engaging with our customers. Our state-of-the-art technology provides a fast and easy way to network millions of industrial devices all over the world. From factory automation and connected buildings to remote solutions and future technologies, we provide innovative solutions that save you time and money while creating a more productive and sustainable world. HMS stands for Hardware Meets Software™. HMS is a truly international company, and we like to think that we share a common culture. Heart, Mind and Soul is a summary of how we do things – and it makes for a pretty good abbreviation too. As we value close collaboration and knowledge sharing, we see great benefit in having students work closely with our teams and spend time on-site in Halmstad. Welcome to HMS!