EMBEDDED SYSTEMS(CT655)

Er. Suwarna Lingden

Assistant Professor
NEC Regd. No. 8632 'A'
B.E , MSInE

TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
THAPATHALI CAMPUS
DHARAN-8

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Embedded Systems (CT655)

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Embedded Systems (CT655)

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Embedded Systems (CT655)

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References

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Marks Distribution

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 Chapter 1 Introduction to Embedded System
• Embedded Systems Overview
• Classification of Embedded Systems
• Hardware and Software in a System
• Purpose and Application of Embedded Systems
Lecture Hours : 3
Marks Weightage : 4

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

– Hard to define. Nearly any

and even here...
computing system other than a
desktop computer
– Billions of units produced yearly,
versus millions of desktop units
– Perhaps 50 per household and Lots more of these,
though they cost a lot
per automobile 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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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 eg. Pacemaker, Car's Cruise Controller,etc

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An embedded system example -- a digital camera
CCD/ Digital camera chip
CMOS
CCD preprocessor Pixel coprocessor D2A
A2D

lens

JPEG codec Microcontroller Multiplier/Accum

DMA controller Display ctrl

Memory controller ISA bus interface UART LCD ctrl

CCD : Charge Coupled Device

• Single-functioned -- always a digital camera A2D : Analog to Digital Converter
D2A : Digital to Analog Converter
JPEG : Joint Photographic Experts Group
• Tightly-constrained -- Low cost, low power, small, fast Codec : Coder-Decoder
DMA : Direct Memory Access
• Reactive and real-time -- only to a small extent ISA : Industry Standard Architecture
UART : Universal Asynchronous Reciver/Transmitter
LCD : Liquid Crystal Display

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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
– It's 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
– NRE cost (Non-Recurring Engineering cost): The one-time
monetary cost of designing the system

– Unit cost: the monetary cost of manufacturing each copy of the system,
excluding NRE cost

– 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

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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,especially by designers who did not originally design the system

– Correctness: implemented the system's functionality correctly

– 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
technologies in order to choose
Digital camera chip the best for a given application
CCD
A2D
CCD preprocessor Pixel coprocessor D2A and constraints
lens
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

Peak revenue • Simplified revenue model

Peak revenue from delayed
– Product life = 2W, peak at W
Revenues ($)

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

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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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 NRE and unit cost metrics
• Compare technologies by costs -- best depends on quantity
– Technology A: NRE=$2,000, unit=$100
– Technology B: NRE=$30,000, unit=$30
– Technology C: NRE=$100,000, unit=$2

$200,000 $200
A A
B B
$160,000 $160
C C
tota l c ost (x1000)

p er p rod uc t c ost
$120,000 $120

$80,000 $80

$40,000 $40

$0 $0
0 800 1600 2400 0 800 1600 2400
Numb er of units (volume) Numb er of units (volume)

• But, must also consider time-to-market

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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
The two main measures of performance are :
• 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 but we can think of
many other ,non-programmable,digital systems as being processors also.
– Each such processor differs in its specialization towards a particular
function(eg. Image compression)

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 Processor technology

• Processors vary in their customization for the problem at hand

Array summing functionality

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

General-purpose Application-specific Single-purpose

processor processor processor

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 Processor Technology
Controller Datapath Controller Datapath Controller Datapath
Control index
Control Register Control Registers logic
logic and file logic and total
State State
Custom State
register register +
ALU register
General
ALU IR PC
IR PC
Data Data
memory memory

Program Data Program

memory memory memory
Assembly code
Assembly for:
code for:
total = 0 total = 0
for i =1 to … for i =1 to …

General-purpose (“software”) Application-specific Single-purpose (“hardware”)

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 General-purpose processors
• Programmable device used in a variety of
applications
Controller Datapath
– Also known as “microprocessor”
Control
• Features logic and
Register
file
State
– Program memory register
– General datapath with large register file and General
general ALU IR PC ALU

• User benefits
– Low time-to-market and NRE costs Program Data
memory
– High flexibility memory

• Drawbacks Assembly code

for:
– Unit cost high for large quantities total = 0
– Slow performance for certain applications for i =1 to …

– Size and power may be large due to

unnecessary processor hardware
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 General-purpose processors
• A simple architecture of a general
purpose processor implementing the Controller Datapath
array-summing functionality
Control Register
• Functionality is stored in a program logic and file
State
memory register
• Controller fetches the current General
ALU
IR PC
instruction,as indicated by the program
counter(PC),into the instruction
register(IR). Program
memory
Data
memory
• Configures the datapath for this Assembly code
instruction and executes the instruction for:

• Determines the next instruction total = 0

for i =1 to …
address,sets the PC to this address, and
fetches again.

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 Single-purpose processors

• It is a digital circuit designed to execute

exactly one program
Controller Datapath
– Example of a digital camera components
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
• It is a programmable processor
optimized for a particular class of Controller Datapath

applications having common Control Registers

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

• Features Data
memory
– Program memory Program
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
– ICs consist of numerous layers (perhaps 10 or more)
• IC technologies differ with respect to who builds each
layer and when

gate
oxide
IC package IC
source channel drain

Silicon substrate

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 IC technology

• Three types of IC technologies

1. Full-custom/VLSI
2. Semi-custom ASIC (gate array and standard cell)
3. 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 per 100

chip 10
(in millions)
1

0.1
Note:
logarithmic scale 0.01

0.001

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 Moore’s law
• Wow
– This growth rate is hard to imagine, most people
underestimate
– How many ancestors do you have from 20 generations ago
• i.e., roughly how many people alive in the 1500’s did it
take to make you?
• 220 = more than 1 million people
– (This underestimation is the key to pyramid schemes!)

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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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 Design productivity exponential increase

100,000

10,000

(K) Trans./Staff – Mo.

1,000

Productivity
100

10

0.1

0.01

2005
1993

2001

2003
1983

1987
1985

1991
1989

1999
1997
1995

2007

2009
• Exponential increase over the past few decades

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 The co-design ladder

• In the past: Sequential program code (e.g., C, VHDL)

– Hardware and software Compilers

Behavioral synthesis
(1990's)
(1960's,1970's)
design technologies were
Register transfers
very different Assembly instructions RT synthesis
– Recent maturation of Assemblers, linkers
(1980's, 1990's)

synthesis enables a unified (1950's, 1960's) Logic equations / FSM's

Logic synthesis
view of hardware and (1970's, 1980's)
Machine instructions
software Logic gates

• Hardware/software
“codesign”
Implementation
Microprocessor plus VLSI, ASIC, or PLD
program bits: “software” implementation: “hardware”

The choice of hardware versus software for a particular function is simply a tradeoff among various
design metrics, like performance, power, size, NRE cost, and especially flexibility; there is no
fundamental difference between what hardware or software can implement.

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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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 Classification of Embedded Systems
1. Based on Generation
2. Based on Complexity
3. Based on Performance and Functional Requirements
4. Based on Deterministic Behavior
5. Based on Triggering

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Generation
a) First Generation
➢ Built around 8-bit microprocessors(8085) and 4-bit
microcontrollers.
➢ Simple hardware and firmware developed using
assembly code.
➢ Examples : Digital telephone keypads, stepper motor
control, etc.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Generation
b) Second Generation
➢ After the evolution of the second generation embedded
systems, the 8-bit microprocessor and 4-bit controllers
are replaced by 16-bit microprocessors and 8-bit or 16-bit
microcontrollers.
➢ They are more powerful and complex compared to
previous generation processors, may contain OS
➢ Examples: Data acquisition systems, SCADA(Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition) ICS(Industrial Control System)

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Generation
c) Third Generation
➢ The embedded system of this period has powerful 32-bit
microprocessors and 16-bit microcontrollers.
➢ During this period, domain-specific processors/controllers
like Digital Signal Processors (DSP), Application-Specific
Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and the concept of instruction
pipelining, embedded real-time operating system evolved into
the embedded system industry.
➢ Eg : Robotics, industrial process control, networking

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Generation
d) Fourth Generation
➢ New concepts like System-on-Chip(SOC), reconfigurable
processors, multicore processors, coprocessors also
emerged into the embedded market to add more powerful
performance in the embedded system.
➢ These systems also make use of the high-performance
real-time operating system for their operation.
➢ Smart devices, digital cameras, etc are examples of fourth
generation embedded systems.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Complexity
a) Small Scale Embedded Systems:
➢ Built with a single 8 or 16-bit microprocessor or
microcontroller.
➢ Main programming tools used are an editor,
assembler, cross assembler and integrated development
environment (IDE).
➢ The hardware and software complexities are very low.
➢ May or may not contain an OS for its functioning.
➢ Example : An electronic toy

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Complexity
b) Medium Scale Embedded Systems:
➢ The Embedded system with medium performance 16-bit
or 32-bit microprocessor or controller, ASICs or DSPs
fall under the medium scale embedded systems.
➢ They have both hardware and software complexities.
➢ The main programming tools used are C, C++, JAVA,
Visual C++, RTOS, debugger, source code engineering
tool, simulator and IDE.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on Complexity
c) Large Scale/Sophisticated Embedded Systems:
➢ They have highly complex hardware and software, built
around 32-bit or 64-bit processors/controllers, RISC
processors, SoC, scalable and configurable processors.
➢ They are used for cutting-edges applications that need
hardware and software co-design, where components
have to be assembled into the final system.
➢ They also contain a high-performance real-time OS for
task scheduling, prioritization and management.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on performance and functional requirements
a) Standalone Embedded Systems
➢ Standalone embedded systems are independent systems
that do not depend on other systems. They work by
themselves.
➢ Examples of stand-alone embedded systems are mp3
players, digital cameras, video game consoles,
microwave ovens and temperature measurement systems.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on performance and functional requirements
b) Real Time Embedded Systems
➢ A real-time embedded system is a system that gives a
required output within a specified time.
➢ They follow the time deadlines for completion of a task.
➢ Classified into two types : soft real-time embedded
systems and hard real-time embedded systems.
➢ Automotive airbag control systems, flight control
systems are examples of realtime embedded systems.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on performance and functional requirements
c) Networked Embedded Systems:
➢ These types of embedded systems are related to a
network to access the resources from one place.
➢ The connected network can be LAN, WAN or the
internet.
➢ Home security system, ATM machines, card swipe
machines are examples of networked embedded systems.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on performance and functional requirements
d) Mobile Embedded Systems:
➢ Mobile embedded systems are compact, easy to use and
require fewer resources.
➢ They are used in portable embedded devices like mobile
phones, digital cameras, mp3 players and personal digital
assistants, etc.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on deterministic behavior
a) Hard Real time system:
➢ The system should strictly adhere to the timing constraints for
a task.
➢ A hard real-time system must meet the timing deadlines
without any delay.
➢ Missing the deadline would cause failure to the system or
user.
➢ Examples : Airbag control system and antilock braking
system of vehicles
➢ For a hard real-time system, “A late answer is always a
wrong answer”.
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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on deterministic behavior
b) Soft Real time system:
➢ In these types of embedded systems deadline is not
strictly followed.
➢ Missing deadlines for tasks are acceptable for soft real-
time systems, but the frequency of deadlines missing
should be within the compliance limit.
➢ Eg. ATM In this case, “A late answer is an acceptable
answer”, but it could have been done a bit faster.

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
Based on triggering
➢ The embedded systems are classified into two types
based on the triggering of the systems: time-triggered
and event-triggered.
➢ If a system is activated or triggered based on the pre-
defined task or preset time, then such a system is said
to be the time-triggered embedded system.
➢ On the other hand, if the system is triggered based on
some activity like change in temperature or change in
pressure, such system is said to be an event triggered
embedded system.
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 Application of Embedded Systems
Automotive Industry Household Appliances Biomedical And Healthcare Communications
• Gateways
• Active Suspension • Answering Machines • Ambulance
• Hubs
• Antilock Brakes • Battery Chargers • Blood Pressure Monitor
• Modems
• Cruise Control • Clothes Dryer • Cardiac Monitors
• Network Bridges
• Fuel Injection • Coffee Maker • Dialysis Machines
• Network Switches
• Navigation • Cooker • Electric Wheelchair
• Routers
• Transmission Control • Lighting Systems • Electronic Stethoscopes
• Satellites
• Microwave Ovens • Hearing Aid
Consumer Electronics • MP3 Player • Infusion Pumps
Computer Peripherals
• • Remote Controls • Medical Imaging
Calculators • Hard Disk Drives
• • Smart Phones • Pacemaker
Camcorders • Network Adapters
• • Smart Refrigerator • Patient Monitoring System
Cell Phones • Printers
• Digital Cameras • Smart Speakers • Prosthetic Devices
• Games • Thermostats • Smart Bed
• Personal Digital Assistants • Trash Compactor
• Smart Briefcase • TV Set-Top Boxes Defense Special
• • Washing Machines
Smart Watch • Missiles • Avionic Systems
• Toys • Signal Tracking Systems • Elevators
Business Equipment •
• Wearable Computer Fire Control
Office Automation • Alarm Systems • Life Support Systems
• Automated Teller Machines Industrial Control • Police Vehicle
• Fax Machines
• Automatic Toll Systems • Robotics • Robots
• Monitors
• Card Readers • Factory Control • Satellite Phones
• Multifunction Device
• Card Registers • Teleconferencing Systems
• Photocopiers
• Electronic Instruments Entertainment • Traffic Light Controller
• Printers
• Point Of Sales Terminals • Multimedia Systems • Video Conferencing
• Scanners
• Product Scanners

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 Classification of Embedded Systems
1.Data Collection/ Storage/ Representation
2.Data Communication
3.Data (signal) Processing
4. Monitoring
5. Control
6.Application Specific User Interface

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 Design productivity gap

• While designer productivity has grown at an impressive rate

over the past decades, the rate of improvement has not kept
pace with chip capacity
10,000 100,000
1,000 10,000

Logic transistors 100 1000

per chip 10 Gap 100 Productivity
IC capacity (K) Trans./Staff-Mo.
(in millions) 1 10
0.1 1
productivity
0.01 0.1
0.001 0.01

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 Design productivity gap

• 1981 leading edge chip required 100 designer months

– 10,000 transistors / 100 transistors/month
• 2002 leading edge chip requires 30,000 designer months
– 150,000,000 / 5000 transistors/month
• Designer cost increase from $1M to $300M
10,000 100,000
1,000 10,000
Logic transistors 100 1000
10 Gap 100 Productivity
per chip IC capacity
(in millions) 1 10 (K) Trans./Staff-Mo.
0.1 1
productivity
0.01 0.1
0.001 0.01

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 The mythical man-month

• The situation is even worse than the productivity gap indicates

• In theory, adding designers to team reduces project completion time
• In reality, productivity per designer decreases due to complexities of team management
and communication
• In the software community, known as “the mythical man-month” (Brooks 1975)
• At some point, can actually lengthen project completion time! (“Too many cooks”)
Team
60000 15
• 1M transistors, 1 16 16
50000 19 18
designer=5000 trans/month
40000 23
• Each additional designer 24
reduces for 100 trans/month 30000
Months until completion
20000 43
• So 2 designers produce 4900 Individual
10000
trans/month each
0 10 20 30 40
Number of designers

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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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For further references,please scan me:

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