Embedded Systems Design: A Unified

Hardware/Software Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction

Dr. Bassam Jamil

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 Acknowledgement

• Source of Course Slides

– The textbook publisher
– Notes/Slides from JUST University
• However, I strongly recommend reading our textbook.

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 Embedded systems overview

• Computing systems are everywhere

• Most of us think of “desktop” computers
– PC’s
– Laptops
– Mainframes
– Servers
• But there’s another type of computing system
– Far more common...

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 Embedded systems overview

• Embedded computing systems

Computers are in here...
– Computing systems embedded within
electronic devices and here...

– Hard to define. Nearly any computing and even here...

system other than a desktop computer
– Billions of units produced yearly, versus
millions of desktop units
– Perhaps 50 per household and per
automobile Lots more of these,
though they cost a lot
less each.

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 A “short list” of embedded systems
Anti-lock brakes Modems
Auto-focus cameras MPEG decoders
Automatic teller machines Network cards
Automatic toll systems Network switches/routers
Automatic transmission On-board navigation
Avionic systems Pagers
Battery chargers Photocopiers
Camcorders Point-of-sale systems
Cell phones Portable video games
Cell-phone base stations Printers
Cordless phones Satellite phones
Cruise control Scanners
Curbside check-in systems Smart ovens/dishwashers
Digital cameras Speech recognizers
Disk drives Stereo systems
Electronic card readers Teleconferencing systems
Electronic instruments Televisions
Electronic toys/games Temperature controllers
Factory control Theft tracking systems
Fax machines TV set-top boxes
Fingerprint identifiers VCR’s, DVD players
Home security systems Video game consoles
Life-support systems Video phones
Medical testing systems Washers and dryers

And the list goes on and on

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 Embedded Systems

• An embedded system is a special-purpose system in which the

computer is completely encapsulated by the device it controls.
• Unlike a general general-purpose computer, such as a personal
computer, an embedded system performs pre-defined tasks,
usually with very specific requirements.
• Since the system is dedicated to a specific task, design
engineers can optimize it, reducing the size and cost of the
product.
• Embedded systems are often mass-produced, so the cost savings
may be multiplied by millions of items.

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 Embedded System Main Components

• It is divided into 4 segments namely: embedded processors,

embedded software, embedded boards and embedded memory.
– Embedded processors is divided into microcontroller (MCU),
microprocessor (MPU), and digital signal processor (DSP) segments.
– Embedded Memory includes various types of random access memory
(RAM) and programmable read read-only memory (PROM) memory, as
well as flash memory.
– Software for embedded applications which includes real real-time
operating systems (RTOS) and portable operating systems

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Some common characteristics of embedded
systems
• Single-functioned
– Executes a single program, repeatedly
• Tightly-constrained
– Low cost, low power, small, fast, etc.
• Reactive and real-time
– Continually reacts to changes in the system’s environment
– Must compute certain results in real-time without delay

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 An embedded system example -- a digital
camera
Digital camera chip
CCD

CCD preprocessor Pixel coprocessor D2A

A2D

lens

JPEG codec Microcontroller Multiplier/Accum

DMA controller Display ctrl

Memory controller ISA bus interface UART LCD ctrl

• Single-functioned -- always a digital camera

• Tightly-constrained -- Low cost, low power, small, fast
• Reactive and real-time -- only to a small extent

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Design challenge – optimizing design metrics

• Obvious design goal:

– Construct an implementation with desired functionality
• Key design challenge:
– Simultaneously optimize numerous design metrics
• Design metric
– A measurable feature of a system’s implementation
– Optimizing design metrics is a key challenge

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Design challenge – optimizing design metrics

• Common metrics
– Unit cost: the monetary cost of manufacturing each copy of the system,
excluding NRE cost
– NRE cost (Non-Recurring Engineering cost): The one-time monetary
cost of designing the system
– Size: the physical space required by the system
– Performance: the execution time or throughput of the system
– Power: the amount of power consumed by the system
– Flexibility: the ability to change the functionality of the system without
incurring heavy NRE cost
– User interface

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Design challenge – optimizing design metrics

• Common metrics (continued)

– Time-to-prototype: the time needed to build a working version of the
system
– Time-to-market: the time required to develop a system to the point that it
can be released and sold to customers
– Maintainability: the ability to modify the system after its initial release
– Correctness, safety, many more

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 Design metric competition -- improving one
may worsen others
Power • Expertise with both software
and hardware is needed to
Performance Size
optimize design metrics
– Not just a hardware or
software expert, as is common
NRE cost – A designer must be
comfortable with various
CCD
Digital camera chip technologies in order to choose
A2D
CCD preprocessor Pixel coprocessor D2A the best for a given application
lens
and constraints
JPEG codec Microcontroller Multiplier/Accum

DMA controller Display ctrl Hardware

Memory controller ISA bus interface UART LCD ctrl

Software

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Time-to-market: a demanding design metric

• Time required to develop a

product to the point it can be
sold to customers
• Market window
Revenues ($)

– Period during which the

product would have highest
sales
• Average time-to-market
Time (months) constraint is about 8 months
• Delays can be costly

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 Losses due to delayed market entry

• Simplified revenue model

Peak revenue
– Product life = 2W, peak at W
Peak revenue from
– Time of market entry defines a
Revenues ($)

delayed entry
On-time triangle, representing market
Market rise Market fall penetration
Delayed – Triangle area equals revenue
• Loss
D W 2W – The difference between the on-
On-time Delayed Time time and delayed triangle areas
entry entry

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 Losses due to delayed market entry (cont.)

• Area = 1/2 * base * height

Peak revenue – On-time = 1/2 * 2W * W
Peak revenue from
– Delayed = 1/2 * (W-D+W)*(W-D)
Revenues ($)

On-time
delayed entry
• Percentage revenue loss =
Market rise Market fall (D(3W-D)/2W2)*100%
Delayed • Try some examples
– Lifetime 2W=52 wks, delay D=4 wks
D W 2W
– (4*(3*26 –4)/2*26^2) = 22%
On-time Delayed Time – Lifetime 2W=52 wks, delay D=10 wks
entry entry – (10*(3*26 –10)/2*26^2) = 50%
– Delays are costly!

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 NRE and unit cost metrics

• Costs:
– Unit cost: the monetary cost of manufacturing each copy of the system,
excluding NRE cost
– NRE cost (Non-Recurring Engineering cost): The one-time monetary cost of
designing the system
– total cost = NRE cost + unit cost * # of units
– per-product cost = total cost / # of units
= (NRE cost / # of units) + unit cost
• Example
– NRE=$2000, unit=$100
– For 10 units
– total cost = $2000 + 10*$100 = $3000
– per-product cost = $2000/10 + $100 = $300
Amortizing NRE cost over the units results in an
additional $200 per unit

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 The performance design metric

• Widely-used measure of system, widely-abused

– Clock frequency, instructions per second – not good measures
– Digital camera example – a user cares about how fast it processes images, not
clock speed or instructions per second
• Latency (response time)
– Time between task start and end
– e.g., Camera’s A and B process images in 0.25 seconds
• Throughput
– Tasks per second, e.g. Camera A processes 4 images per second
– Throughput can be more than latency seems to imply due to concurrency, e.g.
Camera B may process 8 images per second (by capturing a new image while
previous image is being stored).
• Speedup of B over A = B’s performance / A’s performance
– Throughput speedup = 8/4 = 2

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 Three key embedded system technologies

• Technology
– A manner of accomplishing a task, especially using technical
processes, methods, or knowledge
• Three key technologies for embedded systems
– Processor technology
– IC technology
– Design technology

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 Processor technology

• The architecture of the computation engine used to implement a

system’s desired functionality
• Processor does not have to be programmable
– “Processor” not equal to general-purpose processor
Controller Datapath Controller Datapath Controller Datapath
Control index
Control Register Control logic Registers
logic
logic and file and State total
State register register State
Custom +
ALU register
General
IR PC ALU IR PC
Data Data
memory memory
Program Data Program memory
memory memory
Assembly code Assembly code
for: for:

total = 0 total = 0
for i =1 to … for i =1 to …
Application-specific
General-purpose (“software”) (e.g., micro-controllers, DSPs) Single-purpose (“hardware”)

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 Processor technology

• Processors vary in their customization for the problem at hand

total = 0
for i = 1 to N loop
total += M[i]
end loop
Desired
functionality

General-purpose Application-specific Single-purpose

processor processor processor

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 General-purpose processors
• Programmable device used in a variety of
Controller Datapath
applications
Control
– Also known as “microprocessor” logic and
Register
file
• Features State register

– Program memory General

– General datapath with large register file and IR PC ALU

general ALU
• User benefits Program
memory
Data
memory
– Low time-to-market and NRE costs
Assembly code
– High flexibility for:

• Examples: intel i3 processor total = 0

for i =1 to …

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 Single-purpose processors

• Digital circuit designed to execute exactly Controller Datapath

one program Control index
– a.k.a. coprocessor, accelerator or peripheral logic
total
• Features State
register +
– Contains only the components needed to
execute a single program Data
– No program memory memory

• Benefits
– Fast
– Low power
– Small size

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 Application-specific processors

• Programmable processor optimized for a Controller Datapath

particular class of applications having Control Registers

logic and
common characteristics State register
– Compromise between general-purpose and Custom
ALU
single-purpose processors IR PC

• Features Data
Program memory
– Program memory memory
– Optimized datapath Assembly code
– Special functional units for:

• Benefits total = 0
for i =1 to …

– Some flexibility, good performance, size and

power

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 IC technology

• The manner in which a digital (gate-level) implementation

is mapped onto an IC
– IC: Integrated circuit, or “chip”
– IC technologies differ in their customization to a design
– IC’s consist of numerous layers (perhaps 10 or more)
• IC technologies differ with respect to who builds each layer and when

gate
IC package IC oxide
source channel drain
Silicon substrate

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 IC technology

• Three types of IC technologies

– Full-custom/VLSI
– Semi-custom ASIC (gate array and standard cell)
– PLD (Programmable Logic Device)

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 Full-custom/VLSI

• All layers are optimized for an embedded system’s

particular digital implementation
– Placing transistors
– Sizing transistors
– Routing wires
• Benefits
– Excellent performance, small size, low power
• Drawbacks
– High NRE cost (e.g., $300k), long time-to-market

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 Semi-custom

• Lower layers are fully or partially built

– Designers are left with routing of wires and maybe placing
some blocks
• Benefits
– Good performance, good size, less NRE cost than a full-
custom implementation (perhaps $10k to $100k)
• Drawbacks
– Still require weeks to months to develop

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 PLD (Programmable Logic Device)

• All layers already exist

– Designers can purchase an IC
– Connections on the IC are either created or destroyed to
implement desired functionality
– Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) very popular
• Benefits
– Low NRE costs, almost instant IC availability
• Drawbacks
– Bigger, expensive (perhaps $30 per unit), power hungry,
slower
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 Moore’s law

• The most important trend in embedded systems

– Predicted in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore
IC transistor capacity has doubled roughly every 18 months
for the past several decades
10,000
1,000

Logic transistors 100

per chip 10
(in millions) 1
0.1
Note:
0.01
logarithmic scale
0.001

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 Graphical illustration of Moore’s law

1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002

10,000 150,000,000
transistors transistors

Leading edge Leading edge

chip in 1981 chip in 2002

• Something that doubles frequently grows more quickly

than most people realize!
– A 2002 chip can hold about 15,000 1981 chips inside itself

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 Design Technology

• The manner in which we convert our concept of

desired system functionality into an implementation
Compilation/ Libraries/ Test/
Synthesis IP Verification

System System Hw/Sw/ Model simulat./

Compilation/Synthesis: specification synthesis OS checkers
Automates exploration and
insertion of implementation
details for lower level.
Behavioral Behavior Cores Hw-Sw
specification synthesis cosimulators
Libraries/IP: Incorporates pre-
designed implementation from
lower abstraction level into
higher level. RT RT RT HDL simulators
specification synthesis components

Test/Verification: Ensures correct

functionality at each level, thus
reducing costly iterations Logic Logic Gates/ Gate
between levels. specification synthesis Cells simulators

To final implementation

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 Independence of processor and IC
technologies
• Basic tradeoff
– General vs. custom
– With respect to processor technology or IC technology
– The two technologies are independent

General- Single-
purpose ASIP purpose
General, processor processor Customized,
providing improved: providing improved:

Flexibility Power efficiency

Maintainability Performance
NRE cost Size
Time- to-prototype Cost (high volume)
Time-to-market
Cost (low volume)

PLD Semi-custom Full-custom

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 Summary

• Embedded systems are everywhere

• Key challenge: optimization of design metrics
– Design metrics compete with one another
• A unified view of hardware and software is necessary to
improve productivity
• Three key technologies
– Processor: general-purpose, application-specific, single-purpose
– IC: Full-custom, semi-custom, PLD
– Design: Compilation/synthesis, libraries/IP, test/verification

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