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Processor classification - general purpose, customized,

application specific processors, Microcontroller
architectures (RISC, CISC), Embedded Memory, Strategic
selection of processor and memory, Power Supply Design
Considerations for Embedded Systems.
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 GENERAL PURPOSE PROCESSOR (GPP)
 GPP are designed to perform multiple tasks and used in a variety of applications

 The system designer only needs to program the processor’s memory to carry out the
required functionality

 Biggest advantage of such system is the flexibility but lack in performance in certain task

 Advantages:  Disadvantages:
 Easy to design and use × Performance is not very good
 Design time & cost is low × Large in size
 Reprogrammability × They consume much power

 Example: intel “i” series processors

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 APPLICATION SPECIFIC PROCESSORS (ASP)
 ASPs emerged as a solution for high performance and cost effective processors.

 Designed to execute exactly one program and contains only the components needed to
execute a single program

 Designer creates a single-purpose processor by designing a custom digital circuit.

 Advantages:  Disadvantages:
 Performance is very good × Difficult to design hence design time is high
 Small size × Design cost is higher
 Consume less power × reprogramming is difficult and limited flexibility
 Types of ASPs: Digital Signal Processor (DSP), Application Specific Instruction Set
Processors (ASIP), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).
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 APPLICATION SPECIFIC PROCESSORS (ASP)

 Digital Signal Processor (DSP): Programmable microprocessor for extensive

real-time mathematical computations.

 Application Specific Instruction Set Processors (ASIP): Programmable

microprocessor where hardware and instruction set are designed together for
one special application.

 Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC): Algorithm completely

implemented in hardware.

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 DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS (DSP)
 DSPs are specialized Μp optimized for the need of performing digital signal processing.

 DSP gained their importance with the increased demand on data intensive applications
such as video and internet browsing on mobile devices.

 DSP satisfy the need for powerful processor while maintaining low cost and low power
consumption.

 DSP Architecture Features:

 Memory architecture designed for streaming data, using DMA extensively
 Deliberate exclusion of a Memory Management Unit (MMU)
 Bit-reversed addressing, a special addressing mode useful for calculating FFTs
 Special arithmetic operations, such as fast Multiply–Accumulates (MACs)
 Separate program and data memories (Harvard architecture)
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 APPLICATION-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION SET PROCESSORS (ASIP)
 ASIP is typically a programmable architecture that is designed in a specific way to
perform certain tasks more efficiently

 As the name suggests, the Instruction set seems to be the core characteristic of any ASIP
based platform; but this is entirely not true.

 Considering a whole platform, other very important attributes like interfaces and micro-
architecture do contribute a lot to the overall system performance.

 The term “Application” in ASIP is not necessarily related to software applications, it

actually describe the class of tasks the ASIP platform was designed to efficiently
accomplish.

 This extra efficiency is not exclusively associated with faster performance.

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 APPLICATION-SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (ASIC)
 ASIC is basically an IC designed and used by a single company in a specific system.

 Example: An IC designed for a specific line of cellular phones of a company, whereby no

other company can use it.

 They are incredibly expensive, time-consuming, and resource-intensive to develop but

extremely high performance coupled with low power consumption.

 Types of ASIC ICs:

 Full-custom: entirely tailor-fitted to a particular application from the very start
 Semi-custom: designed to allow a certain degree of modification during the manufacturing process.
 Structured: built from a group of 'platform slices', with a 'platform slice' being defined as a pre-
manufactured device, system, or logic for that platform.
 Gate-array: ASIC are transistors which are predefined on the silicon wafer.
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 APPLICATION-SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (ASIC) - EXAMPLES

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 GPP vs ASIP vs ASIC

Key factors GPP ASIP ASIC

Performance Low High Very High
Flexibility Excellent Good Poor
HW Design None Large Very Large
SW Design Small Large None
Power Large Medium Small
Reuse Excellent Good Poor
Market Very Large Relatively Large Small
Cost Mainly on SW SOC Volume sensitive

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 SYSTEM ON CHIP (SoC)

 SoC is an integrated circuit (IC) that takes a single platform and integrates an entire
electronic system onto it.

 It is, exactly as its name suggests, an entire system on a single chip.

 SoC contains one or more processor cores — microprocessors (MPs) and/or

microcontrollers (MCs) and/or digital signal processors (DSPs) — along with on-chip
memory, hardware accelerator functions, peripheral functions etc.,

 SoC can perform a variety of functions including signal processing, wireless communication,
artificial intelligence etc.

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 SYSTEM ON CHIP (SoC) - EXAMPLE

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 SYSTEM ON CHIP (SoC) – EXAMPLE REDMI NOTE 4 (CPU-Z APP)

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 INSTRUCTION SET – CISC & RISC

 CISC - Complex Instruction Set Computer: Allow single (complex) instructions to perform
numerous low-level (simple) operations like a load from memory, arithmetic operation,
store into memory with multiple clock cycle. Ex: Motorola 68K, 8051, x86 processors

MUL A, B : Get the value of A and B from registers, compute multiplication by

repeated addition and store results back to registers

 RISC - Reduced Instruction set Computer: Reduce the instruction execution complexity by
having several simple instructions which achieve low-level operation within a single clock
cycle. Ex: AVR, PIC, ARM

LDR for loading, ADD with loop count for multiplication then STR for storing operations

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 INSTRUCTION SET – CISC & RISC

 Example:
− Let's say we want to find the product of two
numbers - one stored in location 2:3 and another
stored in location 5:2 - and then store the product
back in the location 2:3.

RISC Approach:
CISC Approach: LOAD A, 2:3
LOAD B, 5:2
MULT 2:3, 5:2 PROD A, B
STORE 2:3, A
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 INSTRUCTION SET – CISC APPROACH
 The primary goal of CISC is to complete a task in as few lines of assembly as possible.
This is achieved by building processor hardware that is capable of understanding and
executing a series of operations.

 When MULT 2:3, 5:2 executed, this instruction loads the two values into registers, multiplies
the operands in the execution unit, and stores the product in the appropriate register.

 Thus, entire task of multiplying two numbers can be completed with one instruction.

 MULT is what is known as a "complex instruction”. It operates directly on the memory and
does not require the programmer to call any loading or storing functions.

 The main advantage of this system is that the compiler has to do very little work to
translate a high-level language statement into assembly. Because the length of the code is
relatively short, very little RAM is required to store instructions.
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 INSTRUCTION SET – RISC APPROACH
 RISC only use simple instructions that can be executed within one clock cycle. Thus, the
"MULT" command could be divided into three separate commands:
 "LOAD," which moves data from the memory bank to a register,
 "PROD," which finds the product of two operands located within the registers,
 "STORE," which moves data from a register to the memory banks.

 In order to perform the steps described in the CISC, 4 lines of code required in RISC. At
first, this may seem like a less efficient way of completing the operation because there are
more lines of code, more RAM is needed to store instructions.
 However, each instruction in RISC requires only one clock cycle, the entire program will
execute in approximately the same amount of time as the multi-cycle “MULT”.
 RISC require less transistors of hardware space, leaving more room for general purpose
registers. Because all of the instructions execute in a uniform amount of time (i.e. one
clock), pipelining is possible.
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 CISC vs RISC

Key parameters CISC RISC

Program unit microprogramming unit hard-wired unit of programming
Performance optimization Hardware based Software based
Number of instructions Large Small
Type of instruction Complex Simple
Instruction cycle One or More than one One
Instruction length Variable Fixed
Instruction decoding Complex Simple
Instruction execution Less Pipelined Highly Pipelined
Execution time More Less

low-end applications such as high-end applications such as video

Applications
security systems, home automation processing, telecommunication

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MEMORY ORGANISATION
• Memory (both RAM and ROM) divided into a set of storage locations, each of
which can hold 1 byte(8 bits) of data.
• The storage locations are numbered, and the number of a storage location
called its address, is used to tell the memory system which location the
processor refers.
• Important characteristics of a computer system is the width of the addresses
it uses, which limits the amount of memory that the processor can address.
• Most current computers use either 32-bit or 64-bit addresses, allowing them
to access either 232 or 264bytes of memory.
ADDRESS
STORE AND LOAD INSTRUCTION

• Most high performance organisations allows more than 1- byte of

memory to be loaded or stored at a time.
• Load – Store operation operates on a quantity of data equal to
system bus width.
 EMBEDDED MEMORY
MEMEORY ORGANISATION

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 EMBEDDED MEMORY
MEMEORY ORGANISATION
 System Space – Exception Vectors

 Code Space – Stores the Instruction

 ROM Data Space – Stores the constants e.g. error messages

 Stack – Context Switching, grows downwards

 Free Memory – All Statically allocated variables

 Heap – All dynamically allocated variables

 I/O Space – Memory mapped I/O devices
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 EMBEDDED MEMORY DEVICES - CLASSIFICATION

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - RAM
 Static RAM (SRAM):
 Retains its contents as long as electrical power is applied
 Uses bi-stable latching circuitry to store each bit
 Offer extremely fast access time
 Complicated storage process
 High production cost
 Limited Storage capacity
 Used in applications where access speed is extremely important
 Used as instruction and Data caches in a processor system

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - RAM
 Dynamic RAM (DRAM):
 Stores each bit in a storage cell consisting of capacitor and transistors
 Extremely short data lifetime (typically few ms)
 Each bit in the DRAM refreshed periodically to maintain its contents
 Specialized controller required to take care of refreshing
 Lower cost-per-byte compared to SRAM due to higher density
 Less access speed
 High power consumption
 Used in applications whenever large amounts of RAM are required

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - ROM
 MASKED ROM:
 Data stored in ROM remains unchanged even power is turned off
 Contains a pre-programmed set of data/inst. and it cannot be modified
 Allow only read and cannot perform write operation
 Produced by arranging transistors before manufacturing actually begin
 Cost is low when large quantities of the same ROM are produced
 IC area per bit for masked ROMs is generally lower
 Common application is the BIOS in the computer

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - ROM
 PROM (Programmable ROM):
 Also known as one-time programmable (OTP) devices
 Generally comes in an unprogrammed state
 Once programmed, contents can never be changed
 Programming require special equipment called device programmer
 Writes data to the device one word at a time
 Apply an electrical charge to input pins of the chip for writing data
 PROMs are inexpensive
 Used for prototyping the data for a ROM before costly ROM fabrication

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - ROM
 EPROM (Erasable and Programmable ROM):
 A single field effect transistor constitutes a storage location
 Programmed in exactly the same manner as a PROM
 Supports erasing and reprogramming multiple times
 To erase expose the device to a strong source of ultraviolet light
 More expensive than PROMs
 Not possible to erase a particular byte of data and take more time
 Static power consumption is quite high.
 Used in software development and testing process

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - ROM
 EEPROM(Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM):
 Memory cell will comprise two FET - storage & access transistor
 Uses the same basic principle used by EPROM memory technology
 Erase operation is performed electrically instead of ultraviolet light
 Since no equipment required, chip need not to remove for reprogram
 Individual bytes of data can be erased and reprogrammed but slow
 Number of times it can be reprogrammed is limited (10-1000 cycles)
 Used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amount of data that must
be saved when the power supply is removed

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 MEMORY CLASSIFICATION - ROM
 FLASH:
 Similar to EEPROM except flash erases one sector at a time
 Typical sector sizes are in the range 256 bytes to 16KB
 High density hence smaller in size
 Operates with very low power consumption
 Low cost and fast (to read, but not to write)
 Designed for about 10,000 – 100,000 write cycles
 Susceptible to bit disturbance, so it require error detection algorithm
 Mostly used in µCs and other electronics device to store the firmware

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS EMBEDDED MEMORY DEVICES

Type Volatile? Writeable? Erase Size Max Erase Cycles Cost Speed
SRAM Yes Yes Byte Unlimited Expensive Fast

DRAM Yes Yes Byte Unlimited Moderate Moderate

Masked ROM No No n/a n/a Inexpensive Fast

PROM No Once n/a n/a Moderate Fast

EPROM No Yes Entire Chip Limited Moderate Fast

EEPROM No Yes Byte Limited Expensive Fast to read, slow to erase/write

Flash No Yes Sector Limited Moderate Fast to read, slow to erase/write

NVRAM No Yes Byte Unlimited Expensive Fast

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 APPLICATIONS

 Embedded microcontrollers usually have both SRAMs (a few kB for critical data
path) and DRAMs (in MB for everything else)

 Masked ROM serve the function of storing the bootloaders in microcontrollers and
to store microcode on microprocessors.

 PROM used to store firmware and constants in the source code of applications like
TV, washing machine and microwave ovens

 Similar to PROM, EPROM are also used to store firmware and constants in the
source code especially in development phase.

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 APPLICATIONS

 EEPROM used for storing updatable firmware and runtime constants after
production also for storing current date & time, port status

 Microcontrollers uses flash memory for storing firmware of large size, constant data
and large lookup tables as needed by application

 Flash also used for storing user data like picture in a digital camera, voice data in
a voice recorder, messages and contacts in mobile

 NVRAM is used in RTOS applications where start-up time is extremely important,

and we cannot afford to lose even µs of time

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  To design an efficient embedded system, selection of right processor is very important and
challenging task

 Types of processors: µP, µC, Digital signal processor (DSP)

 µP are offered in 4 to 64-bit size with distinct features like cost, speed, no. of CPU core,
address & data line are used in simple toys to network router

 µC plays an important role in embedded system design and majorly used in low-end to
high-end control applications

 DSP are majorly used for high computation intensive applications such as image
processing, communication devices, voice to text converter etc.,

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  Sequence of analysis to be made selecting an appropriate processor for embedded
system applications as follows,

 Application requirement analysis: understand the purpose of application and arrive

specific requirement

 Processor Architecture analysis: MCS51, ARM, PIC, PowerPC, MIPS etc.,

 Peripheral set analysis: Includes on-chip (RAM, ROM ,I/O Ports, ADC) and specialized
processing units (FPU, MMU, DMA)

 Technical analysis: Execution speed, operating voltage, power consumption, and data
& address bus size etc.,

 Non-technical analysis: Cost, software tools, package type, vendor reputation,

support etc.,
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 Case study-1: Home security system
This application consists of three main modules (1) Intruder detection (2) password
based door lock system (3) Send SMS to owner using GSM module. The intruder
detection system consists of IR and PIR sensor interfaced with processing unit to detect
and alert under human presence condition. In password based door lock system numeric
keypad to accept the password from user and LCD to display the message whether
permission is granted or not. Upon receiving correct password signal, enable motor to
open the door. In case of password mismatch or intruder detection condition activate the
buzzer and send a SMS to owners’ mobile to alert the house owner. All these actions are
expected to carried with execution speed of approximately 1µS per instruction. Since
no complex time-constraint action need to be performed a simple 8-bit microcontroller
of CISC architecture is sufficient. Also, special peripherals or processing units like ADC,
FPU, DMA are not required since on-chip peripheral and memory is sufficient for
implementation. Hence, low-range 8-bit microcontrollers are suitable choice.
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 Case study-1: Home security system

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 Case study-2: Smartwatch
Smartwatch require moderate processing power to manage complex algorithms and
perform sensor fusion to provide better information for the user. This require a pipelined
super scalar RISC architecture based processing unit. Also, the processor consume low
power with ‘always-on, always-aware’ feature for continuous monitoring of sensors.
Necessary ADC modules need to process analog signals from various sensors. But
floating-point unit is not required since complex mathematical computations are not
involved. Running a simple RTOS at an operating frequency of between 20MHz and
150MHz, the design can provide months of battery life. In addition, necessary memory
unit to store user information and peripherals to support small LCD/OLED display. To
interact with user necessary communication module such as Bluetooth, NFC and GPS
module the processor should have necessary capability. Any of the ARM Cortex (M0,
M0+, M3, M4) ultra-low-power processor cores can be used for ‘always-on’ sensor
fusion processing and other modules can be interface external to this processor.
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 Case study-2: Smartwatch

Image source: ti.com Ref. URL: https://www.ti.com/solution/smartwatch?variantid=34352&subsystemid=27272#technicaldocuments

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 Case study-3: Digital Camera
In digital camera, high computation capability based processor required for real-time
image/video processing. Also the host processor should control various complicated
operations such as image rotation, shadow correction, adjusting brightness, contrast, colour
and hue, image stabilization, image sharping, filter function, lens adjustment etc., Battery
recharging after 400 pictures. Shooting a 4M pixels still picture in 0.5s with 25 pictures per
minutes. Allow to save image/video in standard format (.JPEG) on memory card. Allow to
transfer files to PC or other device through USB port or Bluetooth connectivity. Display the
picture on the screen after capturing along with details of the picture such as date, time,
size and serial number. A multiprocessor based processing unit of ARM processor with DSP
deliver a best performance for this application. The camera DSP processes the images
taken by CCD camera after it is converted to digital form. ARM processor perform various
control operation including displaying the images and videos on the LCD panel through the
LCD controller interface. The JPEG co-processor is mainly meant to compress and
decompose image into JPEG format.
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 Case study-3: Digital Camera

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 REQUIRED FEATURES HOME SECURITY SYSTEM SMARTWATCH DIGITAL CAMERA
Processor required Microcontroller Microprocessor Multiprocessor(µP+DSP)
Processor

Processor architecture CISC RISC RISC

Pipelined execution No Yes Yes
Performance level Low Moderate Very high
On-chip ROM Sufficient Not sufficient Not sufficient
On-chip peripherals

On-chip RAM Sufficient Not sufficient Not sufficient

GPIO pins 20 or more 40 or more 40 or more
ADC No External Yes
Timers 2 5 5
Interrupts 2 10-15 16-32
Real-time clock No Yes Yes
Communication protocol UART BT, USB, UART UART, BT, USB
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 REQUIRED FEATURES HOME SECURITY SYSTEM SMARTWATCH DIGITAL CAMERA
MMU No No Yes
Specialized

FPU No No Yes
processor

DMA No No Optional
External ROM No Yes Yes
External RAM No Yes Yes
Data bus width 8 32 32 or 64
Address bus width 16 32 32 or 64
Technical

Clock frequency 10 -50MHz 20-150MHz 66-40 0MHz

Execution speed (in mips) 1 µS < 1 µS 1 to 5 ns
Operating voltage 3.3 – 5V 1.8 – 3.3V 1.8 – 5V
Low power mode support No Yes No
RTOS support No Yes Yes
Suitable processor family 8051, PIC16F Series, ARM Cortex-M ARM Cortex-A with TMS
ATmega (M0,M3,M4) family series DSP, Power PC

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  Other than processor, memory device play a major role in deciding the performance of
the embedded device

 Systems memory requirement depend primarily on the nature of the application that is
planned to run on the system

 Memory performance and capacity requirement for low cost systems are small hence
memory within the microcontroller meet the requirements

 While larger/complex system demand external memory and small access time to achieve
high performance level

 In addition to many technical factor, few non-technical factors also plays important role in
memory selection process

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  Technical factors
 Data capacity : KB, MB, GB
 Access time : Read/write operation
 Data & address bus width : 8/16, 16/32, 32/32, 32/64
 Data storage size : Byte, Page, Block, Sector
 Erase/write cycles : 1 to 1,00,000 cycles
 Power consumption : 1.8 to 5.5V

 Non-technical factors
 Cost : High (volatile), low (non-volatile)
 Battery life : For DRAM, NVRAM
 Tools for rewrite operation : Programmer device
 Data retention period : 0 – 10 years

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 Case study-1: Home security system
In this application, the system is not performing any high computational
operation like image or video processing. Therefore small amount of on-
chip RAM memory (128 – 512 Bytes) is sufficient. However, to store the
status of sensors, GSM module related information an EEPROM/FLASH is
needed. Since this information consume few bytes of memory an on-chip
EEPROM of size 1 to 2KB more appropriate. In addition, 4 – 8 KB of on-
chip ROM memory required to store program. Therefore, no external
memory devices are required since all memory requirements are fulfilled
by on-chip memory of the microcontroller unit.

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 Case study-2: Smartwatch
Smartwatch require moderate processing power to manage complex
algorithms and perform sensor fusion to provide better information for the
user. This require a microprocessor based control unit hence all necessary
memory devices needs to be connected externally. To processor information
from sensor, power unit, communication module and user interface external
RAM of 128-512 MB required. To handle multi-functional operation
complex algorithm and embedded software storage require ROM of 8-64
MB. Additional flash memory of 1-4 GB need to recording information
from all modules.

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 Case study-3: Digital Camera
In digital camera, high computation capability based processor required for
real-time image/video processing. Also the host ARM processor should control
various complicated operations such as image rotation, shadow correction,
adjusting brightness, contrast, colour and hue, image stabilization, image
sharping, filter function, lens adjustment etc., To manage all these operation
sufficient amount of RAM size 128 – 512MB for storing temporary variables and
stack. And, ROM size of 64 – 512 MB for application codes and RTOS codes
for scheduling the tasks. To store pictures a memory stick size of 16 – 64 GB of
flash based memory stick is required. The camera DSP processes the images
taken by CCD camera after it is converted to digital form. To carry out this
operation on-chip RAM of 256-4096 KB and ROM of 512-4096 KB required.

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 MEMORY TYPE HOME SECURITY SYSTEM SMARTWATCH DIGITAL CAMERA

Processor used Microcontroller Microprocessor Multiprocessor (µP+DSP)

INTERNAL

RAM 128 – 512 bytes - 256 – 4096 KB

ROM 4 – 8 KB - 512 – 4096 KB

EEPROM or FLASH 1 – 2 KB -

RAM - 128 - 512 MB 128 - 512 MB

EXTERNAL

ROM - 8 – 64 MB 64 – 512 MB

EEPROM or FLASH - 1 – 4 GB 16 – 64 GB

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  The power supply provides the necessary electrical energy to the embedded components,
ensuring their proper functioning.

 Designing the power supply for embedded systems is a critical aspect of the overall
system design, also it influence some of the product's capabilities and functions.

 Some key considerations when designing power supplies for embedded systems are:

1. Power Requirements Analysis: Understand the power requirements of each component in

the embedded system. Consider both active (during operation) and standby (during idle
or sleep mode) power requirements.

2. Power Source Selection: Select an appropriate power source based on the specific
application. Common sources include batteries, AC mains, or a combination of both.

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 3. Voltage Regulation: Use voltage regulators to ensure a stable and reliable power
supply. This avoid damage to sensitive components due to voltage fluctuations.

4. Efficiency: Choose power supply components with high efficiency to minimize energy
waste and maximize battery life in portable embedded systems.

5. Battery Management: If using batteries, implement effective battery management

techniques, such as charging control, over-discharge protection to extend battery life.

6. Temperature Considerations: Ensure that the power supply components can operate
within the specified temperature limits.

7. Fault Tolerance: Design the power supply with built-in fault tolerance mechanisms to
handle issues such as overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, and short circuits.

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 8. EMI/RFI Mitigation: Implement filtering techniques to reduce electromagnetic
interference (EMI) and radio-frequency interference (RFI) generated by the power supply,
ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

9. Size and Form Factor: Choose power supply components that meet the size and form
factor constraints of the embedded system, especially in space-constrained applications.

10. Low Power Modes: Implement low-power modes for components during idle periods to
conserve energy, especially in battery-powered embedded systems.

 By carefully addressing these considerations, you can design a robust and efficient power
supply for your embedded system, ensuring reliable and optimal performance.

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