Introduction to

Embedded Systems
 Outline
• Overview of Embedded System
• Architecture
• Application areas
• Categories of embedded systems
• Specialties of embedded systems.
• Recent trends in embedded systems.
• Brief introduction to embedded microcontroller
cores CISC, RISC, ARM, DSP and SoC.
 Embedded System
• An embedded system can be thought of as a
computer hardware system having software
embedded in it. An embedded system can be an
independent system or it can be a part of a large
system. An embedded system is a microcontroller or
microprocessor based system which is designed to
perform a specific task.
• E.g. Electronic Toys, Mobile Handsets, Washing
Machines, Air Conditioners, Automotive Control
Units, Set Top Box, DVD Player etc…
• An embedded system has three components:
• It has hardware.
• It has application software.
• It has 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 have RTOS.

• So we can define an embedded system as a Microcontroller

based, software driven, reliable, real-time control system.
Architecture
• 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.
 History of Embedded Systems:
• First Recognized Modern Embedded System:
Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) developed
by Charles Stark Draper at the MIT
Instrumentation Laboratory.
• First Mass Produced Embedded System:
Autonetics D-17 Guidance computer for
Minuteman-I missile
 Application areas
• Consumer Electronics: Camcorders, Cameras etc.
• Household Appliances: Television, DVD players, washing machine, Fridge,
Microwave Oven etc.
• Home Automation and Security Systems: Air conditioners, sprinklers, Intruder
detection alarms, Closed Circuit Television Cameras, Fire alarms etc.
• Automotive Industry: Anti-lock breaking systems (ABS), Engine Control, Ignition
Systems, Automatic Navigation Systems etc.
• Telecom: Cellular Telephones, Telephone switches, Handset Multimedia
Applications etc.
• Computer Peripherals: Printers, Scanners, Fax machines etc.
• Computer Networking Systems: Network Routers, Switches, Hubs, Firewalls etc.
• Health Care: Different Kinds of Scanners, EEG, ECG Machines etc.
• Measurement & Instrumentation: Digital multi meters, Digital CROs, Logic
Analyzers PLC systems etc.
• Banking & Retail: Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) and Currency counters, Point of
Sales (POS)
• Card Readers: Barcode, Smart Card Readers, Hand held Devices etc.
 Categories of embedded systems
• Embedded system can be classified into
various categories based on their
performance, Functional Requirement and
Performance of Microcontroller.
• Real Time: It is defined as a system that gives a
required o/p in a particular time. These type of
system follows deadline for completion of tasks.
They are classified as soft and hard real time
systems.
• Stand Alone: It doesn't require a host system like
computer it works by itself. It takes input from input
port either analog or digital and processes,
calculates and converts data and gives result via
connected devices.
• Networked : These types of Embedded systems are related to
a network to access the resources. The connected network
can be LAN, WAN or the internet. The connection can be
either wired or wireless. This type of embedded system is the
fastest growing area in all the embedded system application.
The embedded web server is a type of system wherein all the
embedded devices are connected to a web server and
accessed and controlled by a web browser. Example for LAN
network embedded system is a home security system wherein
all systems are connected and run on the protocol TCP/IP.
• Mobile : They are used in portable embedded devices like
cellphones, mobiles, digital cameras MP3 players and
personal digital assistants, etc. The basic limitation of this
device is the other resources and limitation of memory.
• Small Scale : Systems that are designed using 8~blt
microcontrollers like 8051 or 16-bit microcontrollers like
80196 fall under this category of embedded systems i.e.
small scale embedded systems. The hardware and software
complexities in these systems is very low. The power
consumption is also not an issue and they are mostly battery
operated. The coding can be done in simple embedded 'C'.
Also the memory may be small and hence care has to be
taken that the software It not very huge. An example of such
a system could be a simple temperature measurement
embedded system, a robotic arm controller, etc.
• Medium Scale : Systems that are designed using 16-bit
to 32-bit microcontrollers fall under this category. They
may also have multiple such microcontrollers or DSPs.
The hardware as well as software complexity of such
systems is very high. They mostly have an operating
system besides the applications required. The RTOS
(Real Time Operating System) is used in such systems.
Various examples of medium scale embedded systems
are routers for networking, ATM (is. Automated Teller
Machine for bank transactional machines etc.
• Sophisticated : These systems also have high end
microcontrollers. The hardware and software
complexes are also very high. The design tools
required are also complicated and costly. The
systems also use the RTOS and complicated time
bound applications. The time bounding on the
computations is a big task in such systems. These
systems are used for cutting edge applications
like smart phones, multimedia systems etc.
 Purpose of Embedded Systems
• Each Embedded Systems is designed to serve
the purpose of any one or a combination of
the following tasks.
– Data Collection/Storage/Representation
– Data Communication
– Data (Signal) Processing
– Monitoring
– Control
– Application Specific User Interface
 Design Metrics of Embedded System
• Power Dissipation: Power dissipation is a major constraint in battery
operated systems or systems power using non-conventional sources of
energy. Thus to maximize the available power, low power and ultra-
low power components must be incorporated in the design.
• Performance: The performance of an embedded system is measured
by its speed of operation. This speed of operation is related to the
instruction execution time of system. Different parallel execution
techniques can be used to maximize speed when serial execution is
not required.
• Process deadlines: Embedded systems generally have different blocks
dedicated for acquiring, processing and releasing the outputs and
there is a time deadline associated with such operations known as the
process deadlines.
• Size: The size of an embedded system is measured in terms of the
• (i) Physical space required
• (ii) Memory requirements specified in bytes for storing the data
and results and also for running the firmware
• (iii) Number of million logic gates used in the hardware.
• Engineering cost: The cost of developing, designing, debugging
and testing an embedded system is called the engineering cost or
the Non-recurring-cost.
• Manufacturing cost: Cost of manufacturing each unit.
• Prototype development time: It includes the prototype making
time and in-house testing time.
• Time to market: Time in days or months for the product to be
released in the market.
• System and user safety: The system must be absolutely safe for
the user. It must also contain redundant blocks to address the
safety concerns arising due to system failure.
• Maintenance: This metric represents the changeability and
additions for the system. This includes upgrading the existing
hardware and firmware as and when new versions are released.
The system should be designed in such a way that maintenance
can be done easily.
• User Interface: This includes the keypads, GUIs and other human
interfacing features present in the system