SUBJECT : EMBEDDED REAL-TIME OPERATING

SYSTEMS
UNIT – I

INTRODUCTION

KRISHNA PRASAD SATAMRAJU

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF CSE (IOT)
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
• Embedded systems

• An embedded system is an electronic/electro-mechanical system designed to perform a

specific function .
• It is a combination of specific-purpose hardware and software

• This hardware comprises of

• Analog electronic components

• Analog Circuitry

• Digital electronic components

• Integrated Circuits (ICs)

• PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) provides a means to interconnect these

components and make them function properly.

• PCB act as a backbone in building embedded system.
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS vs GENERAL PURPOSE
COMPUTING SYSTEM
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Generation
• First Generation
• Built around 8-bit microprocessor and 4-bit microcontroller.
• Made up of simple hardware and firmware developed using assembly code.
Examples: Digital telephone keypads, Stepper motor control units.
• Second Generation
• Built around 16-bit microprocessor and 8-bit microcontroller.
• Made up of complex hardware circuitry.
Examples: Data acquisition systems, SCADA systems.
• Third Generation
• Built around 32-bit microprocessor and 16-bit microcontroller.
• Uses 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.
Examples: Robotics, industrial process control, embedded networking.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Generation
• Uses new concepts such as
• System-on-Chip(SOC)
• reconfigurable processors
• multicore processors
• Coprocessors
• Provides more powerful performance in the embedded system.
• These systems also make use of the high-performance real-time
operating system for their operation.
Examples: Smart devices, digital cameras
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Complexity and Performance Requirements
• Small Scale Embedded Systems
• Small Scale Embedded Systems are built with a single 8 or 16-bit
microprocessor/controller.
• The main programming tools used are an editor, assembler, cross assembler and
integrated development environment (IDE).
• It may or may not contain an operating system for its functioning.
• An electronic toy is an example for a small-scale embedded system.
• Medium Scale Embedded Systems
• The Embedded system with medium performance 16-bit or 32-bit
microprocessor/controller,
• ASICs or DSPs fall under the medium scale embedded system.
• 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.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Complexity and Performance Requirements
• Large scale Embedded Systems
• The embedded systems 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-edge 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 operating system for task

scheduling, prioritization and management.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Functional Requirements
• Standalone Embedded Systems
• Standalone embedded systems are independent systems that do not depend on
other systems. They work by themselves.
• It takes the input either in analog or digital form, processes and produces the
output. It may either control or drive the connected devices.
Examples: MP3 players, digital cameras, video game consoles, microwave ovens
and temperature measurement systems.
• Real Time Embedded Systems
• A real-time embedded system is a system that gives a required output within a
particular time.
• These systems follow the time deadlines for the completion of a task. Real-time
embedded systems are classified into two types such as soft and hard real-time
systems.
Examples: Automotive airbag control system, flight control system.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Functional Requirements
• Networked Embedded Systems
• These 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 wired or wireless. It is also the fastest growing area in
embedded system applications.
Examples: Home security systems, ATM machines, card swipe machines are
examples for the networked embedded system.
• 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.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Deterministic Behavior
• Hard Real time system
• A hard real-time system must meet the timing deadlines without any delay.
Missing the deadline would cause serious failure to the system or user.
Examples: The airbag control system and antilock braking system of vehicles.
• Soft Real time system
• Missing deadlines for tasks are acceptable for soft real-time systems, but the
frequency of deadline missing should be within the compliance limit.
Example: ATM is a typical example of a soft real-time system.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Based on Triggering
• Time-triggered
• If a system is activated or triggered based on the pre-defined task or preset
time, then such system is said to be the time-triggered embedded system.

• Event-triggered
• On the other side, it 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.
APPLICATION AREAS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

• Daily Life Electronic appliances( Lift, Microwave Oven,

Refrigerator, Washing Machine)
• HealthCare( X-ray, ECG, Cardiograph, diseases diagnosis devices
etc)
• Education (Laptop or desktop, projector, printer, calculator, lab
equipments etc)
• Communication( Mobile phone, satellite, Modem, Network Hub,
Router, Telephone, Fax)
• Security System( CC Camera, X ray Scanner, RFID System,
Password protected door, Face detection)
• Entertainment(Television etc)
APPLICATION AREAS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
• Banking System(ATM etc)
• Automation
• Navigation
• Consumer Electronics: Camcorders, Cameras
• Automotive industry: Anti-lock breaking system(ABS), engine
control
• Home automation & security systems: Air conditioners, sprinklers,
fire alarms.
• Telecom: Cellular phones, telephone switches.
• Computer peripherals: Printers, scanners.
• Computer networking systems: Network routers and switches.
OVERVIEW OF AN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
DESIGN OF AN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

• Data Collection, Storage, Representation

• Data Communication

• Data Signal Processing

• Monitoring

• Control

• Application Specific User Interface

PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Data Collection, Storage, Representation
• Embedded system are designed for the purpose of data collection
and performs acquisition of data from the external world. Data
collection is usually done for storage, analysis, manipulation and
transmission.

• Data can be analog or digital. If the data is digital it can be directly

captured by digital embedded system.

• A digital camera is a typical example of an embedded System with

data collection/storage/representation of data. Images are captured
and the captured image may be stored within the memory of the
camera. The captured image can also be presented to the user
through a graphic LCD unit.
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Data Communication

• Embedded data communication systems are deployed in

applications from complex satellite communication to simple home
networking systems.
• The transmission of data is achieved either by a wire-line medium or
by a wire-less medium.
• Data can either be transmitted by analog means or by digital means.
• Wireless modules: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi.
• Wire-line modules: USB, TCP/IP.

• Network hubs, routers, switches are examples of dedicated data

transmission embedded systems.
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Data Signal Processing
• Embedded systems with signal processing functionalities
are employed in applications demanding signal processing
like speech coding, audio video codec, transmission
applications etc.

• A digital hearing aid is a typical example of an embedded

system employing data processing.

• Digital hearing aid improves the hearing capacity of

hearing impaired person
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Monitoring

• All embedded products coming under the medical domain

are with monitoring functions.

• Electro cardiogram machine is intended to do the

monitoring of the heartbeat of a patient but it cannot
impose control over the heartbeat.

• Other examples with monitoring function are digital CRO,

digital multi-meters, and logic analyzers.
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Control

• A system with control functionality contains both sensors and

actuators.

• Sensors are connected to the input port for capturing the changes in
environmental variable.

• The actuators connected to the output port are controlled according

to the changes in the input variable.

• Air conditioner system used to control the room temperature to a

specified limit is a typical example for CONTROL purpose.
PURPOSE OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Application Specific User Interface

• Buttons, switches, keypad, lights, bells, display units etc.

are application specific user interfaces.

• Mobile phone is an example of application specific user

interface.

• In mobile phone the user interface is provided through the

keypad, system speaker, vibration alert etc.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

• Core of the Embedded System

• Memory

• Sensors and Actuators

• Communication Interface

• Embedded Firmware

• Other System Components

TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Core of the Embedded System

• General Purpose and domain Specific Processors

• Application Specific ICs

• Programmable Logic Devices

• Commercial Off the Shelf Components (COTS)

TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Core of the Embedded System

• General Purpose and domain Specific Processors

• Microprocessors

• Microcontrollers

• Digital Signal Processors

TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Core of the Embedded System
• Application Specific Integrated Circuits
• ASICs is a microchip design to perform a specific and unique
applications.
• Most of the ASICs are proprietary (which having some trade
name) products, it is referred as Application Specific Standard
Products(ASSP).
• As a single chip ASIC consumes a very small area in the total
system and helps in the design of smaller system with high
capabilities or functionalities.
• The developers of such chips may not be interested in revealing
the internal detail of it .
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Core of the Embedded System
• Programmable Logic Devices
• They contain an array of AND gates & another array of OR gates. There are three
kinds of PLDs based on the type of arrays, which has programmable feature.
 Programmable Logic Array (PLA)
 Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM)
 Programmable Array Logic (PAL)
• The process of entering the information into these devices is known
as programming.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Core of the Embedded System
• Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components
• ASICs is a microchip design to perform a specific and unique applications.
• Most of the ASICs are proprietary (which having some trade name) products, it is
referred as Application Specific Standard Products(ASSP).
• As a single chip ASIC consumes a very small area in the total system and helps in
the design of smaller system with high capabilities or functionalities.
• The developers of such chips may not be interested in revealing the internal detail of
it .
• Advantages of COTS:
1. Ready to use
2. Easy to integrate
3. Reduces development time
• Disadvantages of COTS:
1. No operational or manufacturing .standard (all proprietary)
2. Vendor or manufacturer may discontinue production of a particular COTS product
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory
Three Main Types
• RAM (Random Access Memory) It is read write memory.
• Data at any memory location can be read or written.
• It is volatile memory, i.e. retains the contents as long as electricity is supplied.
• ROM (Read Only Memory) It is read only memory.
• Data at any memory location can be only read.
• It is non-volatile memory, i.e. the contents are retained even after electricity is
switched off and available after it is switched on. Data access to ROM is slow
compared to RAM.
• HYBRID It is combination of RAM as well as ROM
• It has certain features of RAM and some of ROM
• Like RAM the contents to hybrid memory can be read and written Like ROM
the contents of hybrid memory are non volatile.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory – Memory Shadowing
• Typically the ROM contains the start up code as well as the system
software. When the CPU is reset it will start executing this start-up code.
As part of the initialization, the contents of the ROM is copied into the
RAM area where it can be execute
• This is a technique that is probably best known from its implementation
with the BIOS ROMs used in a PC.
• The idea behind shadowing is to copy the contents of the slow ROM into
faster RAM and execute the code from the RAM. As a result the time
taken to execute the code is greatly reduced.
• The shadowing refers to the fact that the RAM contains a copy of the
original ROM contents.
• This mechanism can be implemented with
• Hardware Assisted
• Pure Software based
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory – Memory Shadowing
1. Hardware Assisted
• With a hardware assisted implementation, the address decode logic is used to
switch the address decode to select the RAM instead of the ROM. As a
result, any access to the ROM will be automatically switched to the RAM
and will execute faster and without any change in the software as the
addressing has not changed.
• Virtually all IBM PCs implement their shadowing for the BIOS ROMs using
this technique. It is also possible to use a MMU to perform the address
translation if needed.

2.  Pure Software based

• In the pure software-based system, the software that is copied is now in a
different memory location and providing the software was compiled and
linked to execute in this location, there is no need to use any memory
address translation.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Memory – Memory Selection for Embedded Systems
• Selection of suitable memory is very much essential step in high performance
applications, because the challenges and limitations of the system performance are
often decided upon the type of memory architecture.
• Systems memory requirement depend primarily on the nature of the application
that is planned to run on the system.
• The factors that are to be considered while selecting the memory devices are
• Speed
• Data storage size and capacity
• Bus width
• Latency
• Power consumption
• Cost
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Sensors and Actuators
• A sensor is a transducer device that converts energy from one form to
another for any measurement or control purpose.
• The changes in system environment or variables are detected by the sensors connected to
the input port of the embedded system.
• Actuator is a form of transducer device (mechanical or electrical)
which converts signals to corresponding physical action (motion).
• Actuator acts as an output device.

• The I/O subsystem of the embedded system facilitates the interaction

of the embedded system with the external world.
• The interaction happens through the sensors and actuators connected to the input
and output ports respectively of the embedded system.
• The sensors may not be directly interfaced to the input ports, instead they may
be interfaced through signal conditioning and translating systems like ADC,
optocouplers, etc.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Sensors and Actuators
• Light Emitting Diode (LED)

• 7-Segment LED Display

• Optocoupler

• Stepper Motor

• Relay

• Piezo Buzzer

• Push Button Switch

• Keyboard

• Programmable Peripheral Interface (PPI)

TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Communication Interface
• Communication interface is essential for data transfer between various modules
connected to the embedded system. It acts as an external interface between
embedded world and real-world.
• Different communication interfaces available in embedded world are
• On-board Communication Interfaces
• Inter Integrated Circuit (IIC/I2C/I2C) Bus
• Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
• Universal Asynchronous Receive Transmit (UART) Bus
• 1-Wire Bus
• Parallel Interface
• External Communication Interface
• RS-232 and RS-485
• USB
• IEEE 1394 (Firewire)
• Infrared (IRrDA)
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• Zigbee
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
• It is a serial communications protocol that uses a simple, bidirectional
two-wire synchronous serial bus and requires only two wires to transmit
information between devices connected to the bus.

• They are useful for projects that require many different parts working
together as they can connect up to 128 devices to the mainboard while
maintaining a clear communication pathway.

• This is because I2C uses an address (8-bit) system and a shared bus =
many different devices can be connected using the same wires and all data
are transmitted on a single wire and have a low pin count. Speed of I2C is
also dependent by data speed, wire quality and external noise
• The I2C protocol is also used as a two-wire interface to connect low-speed
devices like microcontrollers, EEPROMs, A/D and D/A converters, I/O
interfaces and other similar peripherals in embedded systems.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
• The master sends the transmitting signal to every connected slave by switching the
SDA line from a high voltage level to a low voltage level and SCL line from high
to low after switching the SDA line.
• The master sends each slave the 7 or 10-bit address of the slave and a read/write
bit to the slave it wants to communicate with.
• The slave will then compare the address with its own. If the address matches, the
slave returns an ACK bit which switches the SDA line low for one bit. If the
address does not match its address, the slave leaves the SDA line high
• The master will then send or receive the data frame. After each data frame has
been transferred, the receiving device returns another ACK bit to the sender
to acknowledge successful transmission.
• To stop the data transmission, the master sends a stop signal to the slave by
switching SCL high before switching SDA high
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Serial Peripheral Interface
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Serial Peripheral Interface
• Operates at full-duplex where data can be sent and received
simultaneously.
• Operate at faster data transmission rates = 8Mbps or more
• The SPI communicates via 4 ports which are:

• MOSI – Master Data Output, Slave Data Input

• MISO – master data input, slave data output

• SCLK – clock signal, generated by the master device, up to fPCLK/2,

slave mode frequency up to fCPU/2

• SS – Slave enabled signal, controlled by the master device, some ICs

will be labelled as CS (Chip select)

TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – Serial Peripheral Interface
• Communicate with 2 ways:
• Selecting each device with a Chip Select line. A separate Chip Select line is required for
each device. This is the most common way Raspberry Pi currently use SPI.
• Daisy chaining where each device is connected to the other through its data out to the
data in line of the next.
• There is no limit to the number of SPI device that can be connected.
• However, there are practical limits due to the number of hardware select
lines available on the main device with the chip select method or the
complexity of passing data through devices in the daisy-chaining method.
• In point-to-point communication, the SPI interface does not require
addressing operations and is full-duplex communication, which is simple
and efficient. 
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – UART
• A UART that is transmitting data will first receive data from a data
bus that is sent by another component (eg. CPU).
• After getting the data from the data bus, it will add a start bit, a
parity bit, and a stop bit to create the data packet.
• The data packet is then transmitted at the TX pin where the
receiving UART will read the data packet at its RX pin. Data is
sent until there is no data left in the transmitting UART.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
On-board Communication Interface – UART

• Once data is being transmitted by the transmit FIFO, the FIFO

‘BUSY’ flag will be asserted and active during the process.
• FIFO = First in, First out.
• It’s a UART buffer that that forces each byte to be passed in
sequence to the receiving UART.
• The ‘BUSY’ bit will only be inactive after data is finished
transmitting, the FIFO is emptied and every bit has been
transmitted including the stop bit.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
External Communication Interface – USB
• The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the most widely used interconnection standard.
• A large variety of devices are available with a USB connector, including mice,
memory keys, disk drives, printers, cameras, and many more.
• The commercial success of the USB is due to its simplicity and low cost.
• The original USB specification supports two speeds of operation, called low-speed
(1.5 Megabits/s) and full-speed (12 Megabits/s). Later, USB 2, called High-Speed
USB, was introduced. It enables data transfers at speeds up to 480 Megabits/s.
• As I/O devices continued to evolve with even higher speed requirements, USB 3
(called Superspeed) was developed. It supports data transfer rates up to 5
Gigabits/s.
• Objectives
• Provide a simple, low-cost, and easy to use interconnection system
• Accommodate a wide range of I/O devices and bit rates, including Internet connections, and
audio and video applications
• Enhance user convenience through a “plug-and-play” mode of operation
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
External Communication Interface – USB Architecture
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
External Communication Interface – RS-232
• RS-232, Recommended Standard 232 formally defines the signals
connecting between a DTE (data terminal equipment) such as a
computer terminal, and a DCE (data circuit terminating equipment or
data communication equipment), such as a modem. The RS-232
standard had been commonly used in computer serial ports.
TYPICAL EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
External Communication Interface – Wireless
• IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
• Communicates over a line of sight Phototransistor receiver for infrared rays

• Bluetooth 2.4 GHz

• Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances
(using short wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz)
from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks(PANs).
• 802.11 WLAN and 802.11b Wi-Fi
• Technology for wireless local area networking with devices based on the IEEE
802.11standards. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which restricts the use of
the term Wi-Fi Certified to products that successfully complete interoperability
certification testing.
• Devices that can use Wi-Fi technology include personal computers, video-game
consoles, phones and tablets, digital cameras, smart TVs, digital audio players and
modern printers. Wi-Fi compatible devices can connect to the Internet via a WLAN
and a wireless access point. Such an access point (or hotspot) has a range of about 20
meters
• ZigBee 900 MHz
OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Reset Circuit
OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Brown-Out Protection Circuit
Three major factors that can damage the connected embedded
system are:
1. An unregulated direct current supply will produce a lower
output voltage for electronic circuits. The output ripple
voltage will decrease in line with the usually reduced load
current.
2. A linear direct current regulated supply will maintain the
output voltage unless the brownout is severe and the input
voltage drops below the drop out voltage for the regulator,
at which point the output voltage will fall and high levels
of ripple from the rectifier/reservoir capacitor will appear
on the output.
3. A switched-mode power supply which has a regulated
output will be affected. As the input voltage falls, the
current draw will increase to maintain the same output
voltage and current, until such a point that the power
supply malfunctions.
OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Oscillator Circuit
OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Real-Time Clock (RTC)
• Real-time clock is a clock function used by systems that measure time even when
the main device (such as MCU) is powered off. For example, even when the main
battery or power supply is removed from a camera or gaming device, system can
measure time by powering the real-time clock from a sub-battery or super
capacitor built into that system.
OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Watchdog Timer
• Watchdog timer (sometimes called a computer operating properly or
COP timer, or simply a watchdog) is an electronic or software timer
that is used to detect and recover from computer malfunctions.
• During normal operation, the computer regularly restarts the watchdog
timer to prevent it from elapsing, or "timing out".
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
• Application and Domain specific
• An embedded system is designed for a specific purpose only. It will not do any
other task.
• A washing machine can only wash, it cannot cook.
• Reactive and Real time
• Certain Embedded systems are designed to react to the events that occur in the
nearby environment. These events also occur real-time.
•  An air conditioner adjusts its mechanical parts as soon as it gets a signal from its sensors
to increase or decrease the temperature when the user operates it using a remote control.
• Operation in harsh environment
• Certain embedded systems are designed to operate in harsh environments like very
high temperature of the deserts or very low temperature of the mountains or
extreme rains.
• These embedded systems have to be capable of sustaining the environmental
conditions it is designed to operate in.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
•  Distributed
• Certain embedded systems are part of a larger system and thus form components of a
distributed system.
•  These components are independent of each other but have to work together for the larger
system to function properly.
• A car has many embedded systems controlled to its dash board. Each one is an independent
embedded system yet the entire car can be said to function properly only if all the systems work
together.

• Small size and weight

• An embedded system that is compact in size and has light weight will be desirable or more
popular than one that is bulky and heavy.
•  Currently available cell phones.

• Power concerns
• It is desirable that the power utilization and heat dissipation of any embedded system be
low. If more heat is dissipated then additional units like heat sinks or cooling fans need to
be added to the circuit.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
There are two types of quality attributes.

•  Operational Quality Attributes.

• These are attributes related to operation or functioning of an
embedded system. The way an embedded system operates affects
its overall quality.

• Non-Operational Quality Attributes.

• These attributes are not related to operation or functioning of an
embedded system. The way an embedded system operates affects
its overall quality.
• These are the attributes that are associated with the embedded
system before it can be put in operation.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Operational
Response
• Response is a measure of quickness of the system. It gives you an idea about how
fast your system is tracking the input variables.

• Most of the embedded system demand fast response which should be real-time.

Throughput
• Throughput deals with the efficiency of system. It can be defined as rate of
production or process of a defined process over a stated period of time.

• In case of card reader like the ones used in buses, throughput means how much
transaction the reader can perform in a minute or hour or day.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Operational
Reliability
• Reliability is a measure of how much percentage you rely upon the proper
functioning of the system. Mean Time between failures and Mean Time To Repair
are terms used in defining system reliability.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
• Mean Time between failures can be defined as the average time the system is
functioning before a failure occurs.
• Mean time to repair can be defined as the average time the system has spent in
repairs.
Security
• Confidentiality,  Integrity and Availability are three  corner stones of information
security.
• Confidentiality deals with protection data from unauthorized disclosure.
• Integrity gives protection from unauthorized modification.
• Availability gives protection from unauthorized user
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Operational
Maintainability
• Maintainability deals with support and maintenance to the end user or a client in case of technical
issues and product failures or on the basis of a routine system checkup
• It can be classified into two types :-
• Scheduled or Periodic Maintenance : This is the maintenance that is required regularly after
a periodic time interval.
Example : Periodic Cleaning of Air Conditioners, Refilling of printer cartridges.
• Maintenance to unexpected failure: This involves the maintenance due to a sudden
breakdown in the functioning of the system.
Example: Air conditioner not powering on, Printer not taking paper in spite of a full paper
stack
Safety
• Safety deals with the possible damage that can happen to the operating person and environment
due to the breakdown of an embedded system or due to the emission of hazardous materials from
the embedded products.
• A safety analysis is a must in product engineering to evaluate the anticipated damage and
determine the best course of action to bring down the consequence of damages to an acceptable
level.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Non-Operational

Testability and Debug-ability

• It deals with how easily one can test his/her design, application and by which mean he/she
can test it.
• In hardware testing the peripherals and total hardware function in designed manner
• Firmware testing is functioning in expected way
• Debug-ability is means of debugging the product as such for figuring out the probable
sources that create unexpected behavior in the total system

Evolvability
• “Evolvability” refer to ease with which the embedded product can be modified to take
advantage of new firmware or hardware technology.

Portability
• Portability is measured of “system Independence”. An embedded product can be called
portable if it is capable of performing its operation as it is intended to do in various
environments irrespective of different processor and or controller and embedded operating
systems.
QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Non-Operational

Time to prototype and market

• Time to Market is the time elapsed between the conceptualization of a product and time at
which the product is ready for selling or use
• Product prototyping help in reducing time to market.
• Prototyping is an informal kind of rapid product development in which important feature of
the under consider are develop.
• In order to shorten the time to prototype, make use of all possible option like use of reuse,
off the self component etc.

Per unit and total cost

• Cost is an important factor which needs to be carefully monitored. Proper market study and
cost benefit analysis should be carried out before taking decision on the per unit cost of the
embedded product. 
• When the product is introduced in the market, for the initial period the sales and revenue
will be low
• During the maturing phase, the growth will be steady and revenue reaches highest point and
at retirement time there will be a drop in sales volume.
APPLICATION-SPECIFIC EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Washing Machine
DOMAIN-SPECIFIC EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Automotive
 Assignment Questions
• Differences between
• Microprocessor and Microcontroller
• Von-Nuemann and Harvard Architectures
• RISC vs. CISC
• Little-Endian vs. Big-Endian
• Firmware vs Software.
• Few points related to Sensors and Actuators listed in the classroom.

To be submitted by before 12.00 pm.

END OF UNIT - I