Headline

SVT Manager | Zephyr RTOS & FreeRTOS | Wireless MCU | Matter-over-Thread | Secure Boot | HIL Automation | Synaptics

About

15 years in embedded systems. Led a 4-engineer SVT team: Hands-on RTOS & silicon validation engineer. At Synaptics, I lead our Systems Validation & Test (SVT) team, validating complex wireless MCUs from pre-silicon FPGA emulation through to production silicon — ensuring next-gen MCU wireless SoCs running Zephyr RTOS and FreeRTOS perform reliably under real-world conditions. My core domain spans hardware-in-the-loop validation across the full firmware stack — Boot ROM, Secure Boot, bootloaders, and peripheral drivers (UART, I2C, SPI, XSPI, I2S/PCM, SDIO) — validated on physical target hardware via automated HIL rigs rather than simulation alone. What I do: • SVT Leadership & Release Gating — Direct a 4-engineer team driving validation roadmaps, cross-functional dev/QA alignment, and release gating. • Silicon & Board Bring-Up — Debug early firmware via JTAG/OpenOCD, Trace32-Lauterbach, and Saleae logic analyzers before UART console initialization. • Wireless & Edge AI Validation — End-to-end testing of Wi-Fi (iPerf), Bluetooth Low Energy, OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) commissioning, and on-chip Ethos-U55 NPU applications. • Test Automation & HIL Engineering — Architected custom Python serial-CLI test harnesses and multithreaded log monitors integrated with physical HIL relay rigs (FTDI FT4232H, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, Arduino) for extended stress and soak testing. • Deep Defect Root-Causing — Root-cause RTOS-level concurrency bugs: stack overflows, memory leaks, priority inversion, and queue overflow non-recovery. Prior to Synaptics, I led DECT/ULE SoC validation and voice quality (MOS, PESQ, POLQA) testing at DSP Group.

Location

Greater Bengaluru Area

AI stack

antigravity

claude code

codex

githubcopilot

Microsoft Copilot

Work experience

SVT team manager at Synaptics Incorporated, Dec 2021 - Present · 4 yrs 10 mos, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, Lead a cross-functional validation team of 4 (development & QA) building and validating Zephyr/FreeRTOS-based wireless MCU platforms (ARM Cortex-M3 and M52, SRW1500). Validate MCU SoC firmware including Boot ROM, secure boot, bootloader, and drivers, plus apps on an MCU combining Wi-Fi and BT wireless connectivity — Wi-Fi iPerf test app, Wi-Fi sensing using the MCU's inbuilt NPU (U55), and OpenThread mesh connectivity including OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) commissioning flows. Validated the MCU chip's ability to operate as a standalone SoC, RCP (Radio Co-Processor), and NCP (Network Co-Processor) module. Lead pre-silicon validation using FPGA and Veloce, and post-silicon validation on target hardware. Own the hybrid validation strategy pairing native Zephyr Twister build verification with an in-house Python/serial-CLI test framework, including Zephyr VFS and FATFS storage subsystems. Direct hardware debug and bring-up using JTAG/OpenOCD, Trace32-Lauterbach, Saleae logic analyzers, signal generators, and Nordic power analyzers. Built hardware-in-the-loop automation rigs (FTDI, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32) validating UART, I2C, SPI, XSPI, I2S/PCM, and SDIO peripherals, and integrated them into a CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions) automating firmware flash, power-cycle, and boot validation. Root-caused RTOS-level failures across the stack — task stack overflows, priority-inversion/starvation, and secure-boot signature mismatches halting boot before console init.

Senior Technical Specialist at DSP Group, Jan 2019 - Jan 2022 · 3 yrs 1 mo, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Technical lead for DCX & DHX DECT ULE SoC platforms, supporting IoT and security OEMs; validated DECT protocols end-to-end. Owned requirement gathering, test case design, and customer discussions for validation. Directed functional, sanity, regression, integration, system-level, and release validation across DECT, ULE, VoIP, and embedded communication product lines. Extended customer support to include ADT, Polycom, ASKEY, MitraStar, and Sagemcom (in addition to Vivint, VTech, Cisco, DT, BT, Crow, Crestron, Grandstream), covering firmware validation, regression testing, and release verification. Directed VoIP/SIP validation (SIP registration, call setup/teardown, bidirectional audio, call stability) and DECT/CAT-iq interoperability validation on CMBS EVB (DCX81) platforms. Enhanced an in-house DECT automation framework — including Python-based regression scripts, Jenkins/GitLab CI/CD pipelines, and Jira-based defect tracking — triggered automatically on every release.

Technical Specialist at DSP Group, Jul 2016 - Jan 2019 · 2 yrs 7 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Built an in-house automation framework for validating generic use cases and customer-specific test suites — RF range, power, and crowded-environment test setup bring-up and data analysis for specific customer specifications (DECT phones for call-center environments). Led voice performance and quality validation of AVS SDKs, including Far Field/Near Field validation on single- and dual-mic solutions (noise reduction, barge-in, low-power features) and IoT smart-voice certifications. Performed testing and automation development on various test beds, and audio quality testing (noise reduction, echo cancellation) using MOS, PESQ, and POLQA metrics. Oversaw development of Python automation scripts and Jenkins/GitLab CI workflows to support QA validation activities. Led development of a video quality comparison tool for video telephony solutions, alongside customer-facing software release validation on evaluation boards and customer hardware.

Senior Software Engineer at DSP Group, Jul 2011 - Jun 2016 · 5 yrs, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Directed functional, sanity, and regression testing for VoIP and embedded communication software releases, including CMBS base station and ULE device validation. Performed DECT/CAT-iq validation on CMBS EVB (DCX81) platforms using DECT handsets, verifying handset registration, interoperability, and end-to-end audio functionality across ULE device firmware releases.

Education

MS, Embedded Systems, Manipal Academy of Higher Education