Automated Code Generation and Validation for Software Components of Microcontrollers

TL;DR

This work presents an end-to-end pipeline for autonomous HAL code generation for embedded microcontrollers by combining AST-based code analysis with Retrieval-Augmented Generation. Targeting STM32F407 GPIO operations, it automatically detects and fills missing HAL elements and validates them through compile-time checks and hardware emulation in Renode. Results show accurate, context-aware code generation that integrates into existing projects, with robustness across regeneration scenarios and iterative testing. The approach offers a path toward reducing manual low-level firmware development and enabling scalable, hardware-aware software generation for embedded systems.

Abstract

This paper proposes a method for generating software components for embedded systems, integrating seamlessly into existing implementations without developer intervention. We demonstrate this by automatically generating hardware abstraction layer (HAL) code for GPIO operations on the STM32F407 microcontroller. Using Abstract Syntax Trees (AST) for code analysis and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for component generation, our approach enables autonomous code completion for embedded applications.

Figures (5)

• Figure 1: Abstract Syntax Tree of software layers. Visualization of the layers involved in code generation, showcasing the Application Layer and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) interactions.
• Figure 2: AST Implementation Process. This figure illustrates the process of using an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) to identify and implement missing functions within a codebase.
• Figure 3: Code Generation Process. Starting with an incomplete code base, the AST is traversed to analyze the structure and identify missing pieces. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is then used to generate each missing segment, resulting in a fully complete code base.
• Figure 4: Code Validation Process. After generating the code, the build version is run in a Renode environment. The application logs are sent over USART and saved for further analysis.
• Figure 5: ReACC Framework Illustration ReACC. This figure illustrates the ReACC framework, which retrieves similar code snippets from a database to use as external input for code completion.