EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING FOCUS AREA
COURSE CODE- ECEG4202
CHAPTER ONE
Outlines
Introduction to Embedded System
What is a system?
A system is a way of working, organizing or doing one or many tasks according to a
fixed plan, program or set of rules.
A system is also an arrangement in which all its units assemble and work together
according to the plan or program.
System Examples:
WATCH It is a time display SYSTEM
• Parts: Hardware, Needles, Battery, Dial, Chassis and Strap
• Rules
1.All needles move clockwise only
2.A thin needle rotates every second
3.A long needle rotates every minute
4.A short needle rotates every hour
5.All needles return to the original position after 12 hours
What is Embedded System?
It is a system that has computer hardware with software embedded in it as one of
its important components.
It is a dedicated system which performs the desired function upon power up,
repeatedly
It is a microcontroller or microprocessor based system which is designed to
perform a specific task
An embedded system can be an independent system or it can be a part of a large
system
It is a system built to perform its duty, completely or partially independent of
human intervention
An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system designed to perform one or a
few dedicated functions often with real-time
Look the diagram given below
Examples of Embedded System
Drones
Calculators
Cell phones
digital cameras
VCD/DVD players
washing machines
printers
Scanners
automated teller machines
alarm systems
Networking routers
Embedded System Components
An embedded system has the following components:
• It has hardware
Like Processor, Timers, Interrupt controller, I/O Devices, Memories,
Ports, etc.
• It has software
i. Application software
it refers to a set of programs that makes system hardware perform a
particular set of tasks in particular order
it is the non-tangible part that tells the system how to do its job
ii. Real Time Operating System(RTOS)
That supervises the application software and provide mechanism to let the processor
run a process as per scheduling by following a plan to control the latencies
RTOS defines the way the system works
It sets the rules during the execution of application program
A small scale embedded system may not need an RTOS
Applications Area of Embedded Systems
Industrial Application Elevator controls, surveillance systems, robots, CNC machines,
Programmable Logic Controllers, industrial automation,
Industrial robots and control systems.
office automation fax machines, copiers, printers, and scanners
home appliances microwave ovens, thermostat, home security, washing
machines, refrigerators and lighting systems
Networking cable modems, network routers, switches, Hubs, Gateways
consumer electronics cell phones, pagers, digital cameras, camcorders, videocassette
recorders, portable video games, calculators
Medical applications Blood pressure and glucose test device , Fetal heart monitoring
machine, etc..
What makes embedded systems different?
Real-time operation
size
cost
time
reliability
safety
energy
security
CLASSIFICATIONS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Embedded Systems are classified into three types based on the performance of the
microcontroller such as:
Small scale embedded systems
Medium scale embedded systems
Sophisticated embedded systems
Small scale embedded systems
designed with a single 8 or 16-bit microcontroller
Little hardware and software complexity
that may even be activated by a battery
Medium Scale Embedded Systems
design with a single or 16 or 32 bit microcontroller, or Digital Signal
Processors (DSP) or Reduced Instructions Set Computers (RISC).
have both hardware and software complexities
Sophisticated Embedded System
have enormous hardware and software complexities
Which may need scalable processor or configurable processor and
programming logic arrays.
Constrained by the processing speed available in their hardware units.
Characteristics of an Embedded System
Single-functioned
An embedded system usually performs a specialized operation and does the same
repeatedly
Tightly-constrained
All computing systems have constraints on design metrics, but those on an
embedded system can be especially tight
Design metrics is a measure of an implementation's features such as its cost,
size, power, and performance
It must be of a size to fit on a single chip, must perform fast enough to process
data in real time and consume minimum power to extend battery life
Reactive and real-time
Many embedded systems must continually react to changes in the system's environment
and must compute certain results in real time without any delay
A real time embedded system is defined as, a system which gives a required o/p in a
particular time
Microprocessors based – It must be microprocessor or microcontroller based
Memory – It must have a memory, as its software usually embeds in ROM. It does not
need any secondary memories in the computer.
Connected – It must have connected peripherals to connect input and output devices.
HW-SW systems – Software is used for more features and flexibility. Hardware is used
for performance and security.
Advantages
Easily Customizable
Low power consumption
Low cost
Enhanced performance
Disadvantages
High development effort
Larger time to market
Basic Structure of an Embedded System
Sensor – It measures the physical quantity and converts it to an electrical signal which can
be read by an observer or by any electronic instrument like an A2D converter. A sensor
stores the measured quantity to the memory.
A-D Converter – An analog-to-digital converter converts the analog signal sent by the
sensor into a digital signal.
Processor & ASICs– Processors process the data to measure the output and store it to the
memory.
D-A Converter – A digital-to-analog converter converts the digital data fed by the processor
to analog data.
Actuator – An actuator compares the output given by the D-A Converter to the actual
(expected) output stored in it and stores the approved output.
General Purpose Computer System(GPC)
A GPC system is what you think of when someone says the word "computer."
The defining feature of a GPC is that it can be reconfigured for a new purpose.
It is a computer that is built to be customizable in software, like desktop PCs and
laptops, you can make it do many thing, sometimes together, with low or no
constraints on power, performance or cost, also a general computing system is
contained in itself, it’s not a part of a larger system.. it is the system itself.
Embedded System and General purpose computer system
THANK YOU!!!!
