Embedded Systems Design

Lecture: 02
Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:
Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

1) Sensor:
Sensor helps you to measures the physical quantity and converts it to an electrical signal. It
also stores the measured quantity to the memory. This signal can be ready by an observer or
by any electronic instrument such as A2D converter.
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

2) A-D Converter:
A-D converter (analog-to-digital converter) allows you to convert an analog signal sent
by the sensor into a digital signal.
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

3) Memory:
Memory is used to store information. Embedded System majorly contains two memory
cells
i) Volatile
ii) Non volatile memory.
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

4) Processor & ASICs:

This component processes the data to measure the output and store it to the memory.
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

5) D-A Converter:
D-A converter (A digital-to-analog converter) helps you to convert the digital data fed
by the processor to analog data.
 Basic Structures of Embedded Systems:

6) Actuator:
An actuator allows you to compare the output given by the D-A converter to the actual
output stored in it and stores the approved output in the memory.
Features of Embedded Systems:
Features of Embedded Systems:

1) Single functioned System:

Most of the embedded system usually executes a single job repetitively.
Example:
a) A washing machine has an embedded controller that can take user inputs
in terms of knob settings and perform the job of washing.
b) A pager is used to send messages.
c) A cell-phone is used to establish communication between two persons.
Features of Embedded Systems:

2) Interaction with the physical environment:

a) Most of the embedded system interact with the physical environment
around them.
b) Data are collected from the environment using sensors while actuators are
used to control some of the parameters of the environment.
Features of Embedded Systems:

3) User interface:
a) Unlike the common user interfaces like keyboard, mouse, screen, etc. in
the general computing systems, embedded systems often contain dedicated
user interfaces consisting of Push Buttons, LEDs, Steering Wheels, etc.
Features of Embedded Systems:

4) Dependable Systems:
a) Embedded Systems are often used in safety-critical applications, like
nuclear power plants, medical instruments, etc. This demands a high
degree of dependability on such systems.
b) Embedded systems often work in autonomous mode, interacting with the
environment and impacting upon it directly.

Apart from system reliability, a dependable system must ensure easy

maintainability, good availability, high degree of safety to the environment
and security of information it processes.
Features of Embedded Systems:

5) Tightly Constrained System:

a) All computing systems have constraints on design metrics, but those on
embedded systems can be especially tight. A design metric is a measure of
an implementation’s features, such as cost, size, performance, and power.
b) Embedded systems should be low-cost solution to the problem so that the
overall system is cheap, must be sized to fit on a single chip, must perform
fast enough to process data in real-time, and must consume minimum
power to extend battery life or prevent the necessity of a cooling fan.
Features of Embedded Systems:
5) Real-time System:
a) Most embedded systems are real-time in nature. They must respond to a
request from the environment within a finite and fixed amount of time.
Failure to do so may lead to a catastrophic situation.

Example: Failure to activate fire extinguishers immediately after getting a fire

alarm through sensors, may destroy the entire plant.

Based on the above fact, Real-time systems are classified into two categories
i. Hard Real-Time Systems
ii. Soft Real-Time Sytems
Features of Embedded Systems:
5) Real-time System:
Hard Real-Time Systems Soft Real-Time Systems
a) A hard-real time system is a system in which a a) A soft real time system is a system in which one or
failure to meet even a single deadline may lead to more failures to meet the deadline is not considered
complete or catastrophic system failure. as complete system failure but that performance is
considered to be degraded.
b) A Hard-real time system is very restrictive. b) A Soft real time system is not very restrictive.
c) A Hard-real time system should not miss the c) A Soft real time system can miss the deadline
deadline. Missing the deadline cause complete or occasionally. Missing the deadline is not considered
catastrophic system failure. as a complete system failure but degrades the
performance.
d) A hard-real time system has more utility. d) A soft real time system has less utility.
e) Air traffic control systems, missile, and nuclear e) Multimedia streaming, advanced scientific
reactor control systems, Satellite launch, Railway projects, electronic games, and virtual reality are
signaling systems are some examples of hard real some examples of soft real time systems.
time systems.
Features of Embedded Systems:
6) Reactive System:
a) Reactive systems have continual interaction with the environment.
b) The behavior of the system is very much dependent on the events
occurring in the environment.
c) This type of systems normally have a set of states. Depending upon the
occurrence of events, state transitions the system take place.
Features of Embedded Systems:
6) Hybrid System:
a) Many of the real-time systems are hybrid in nature, as they include both
analog and digital components.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
1) Processing Power: Selection of processor is based on the amount of
processing power to get the job done and also on the basis of register
width required.

2) Throughput or Performance : the execution time or throughput of the

system. Instruction execution time in the system measures performance.
Smaller execution time means higher performance.
For eg. in mobile phone, voice signals are processed between antenna and
speaker in 0.1s shows phone performance. The system may need to handle a
lot of data in a short time.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
3) Response: The system has to react to the changing events quickly.

4) Memory: Hardware design must make the best estimate of the memory
requirement and must make the provision for expansion.

5) Power consumption: Systems generally work on battery and design of

both software and hardware must take care of power saving techniques.

6) Number of units: The number of units expected to be produced and sold

will dictate the trade-off between production cost and development cost.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
7) Expected life-time: Design decisions like selection of components to system
development cost will depend upon on how long the system is expected to run.

8) Program Installation: Installation of software on to the embedded system needs

special development tools.

9) Testability and Debug ability: Setting up test conditions and equipment will be
difficult and determining what is wrong with the software will become a difficult
task without a keyboard and usual display.

10) Reliability: It is always required that the system designed must give the output
for which it is designed.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
11) Power Dissipation: For battery operated system this is important feature.
Examples are mobile phone or digital camera where if power dissipation is
small battery needs to be recharge less frequently.

12) Unit cost: The monetary cost of manufacturing each copy of the system,
excluding NRE cost.

13) NRE cost (Non-Recurring Engineering cost): The monetary cost of

designing the system. Once the system is designed, any number of units can
be manufactured without incurring any additional design cost (hence the term
“nonrecurring”).
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
14) Size: The physical space required by the system, often measured in bytes for
software, and gates or transistors for hardware.

15) Flexibility: The ability to change the functionality of the system without
incurring heavy NRE cost. Software is typically considered very flexible. Flexibility
in design enables, without significant engineering cost, development of different
versions or product or to develop advanced version later on. For example software
enhancement by adding extra functions.

16) Maintainability: Deals with support and maintenance to the end user or client
in case of technical issues and product failure. A more reliable system means with
less maintainability. As reliability of the system increases chances of failure and
non-functioning also reduces.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
17) Time-to-market: The amount of time required to design and manufacture
the system to the point the system can be sold to customers. The main
contributors are design time, manufacturing time and testing time. There may
be multiple players in the embedded industry who develop products of the
same category (like mobile phones, portable media players etc.). If you come
with new product and time to market is high competitor may take advantage
of it with their product.

18) Time-to-prototype: The amount of time to build a working version of the

system, which may be bigger or more expensive than the final system
implementation, but can be used to verify the system’s usefulness and
correctness and to refine the system's functionality. If the prototype is
developed faster, the actual estimated development time can be bought down.
Design Metrics of Embedded Systems:
19) Correctness: Our confidence that we have implemented the system’s
functionality correctly. We can check the functionality throughout the process
of designing the system, and we can insert test circuitry to check that
manufacturing was correct.

20) Safety: The probability that the system will not cause harm. It deals with
possible damages that can happen to the operators, public and the
environment due to breakdown of embedded system, or due to the emission of
radioactive or hazardous materials from embedded products. Safety analysis
is a must in product engineering to evaluate the anticipated damages and
determine best course of action.
Thank You