Embedded Systems - Overview - Tutorialspoint

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 ... EmbeddedSystemsBasicTutorial ES-Home ES-Overview ES-Processors ES-Architectures ES-ToolsandPeripherals ES-8051Microcontroller ES-I/OProgramming ES-Terms ES-AssemblyLanguage ES-Registers ES-RegistersBank/Stack ES-Instructions ES-AddressingModes ES-SpecialFunctionRegisters ES-Timer/Counter ES-Interrupts EmbeddedSystemsResources ES-QuickGuide ES-UsefulResources ES-Discussion SelectedReading UPSCIASExamsNotes Developer'sBestPractices QuestionsandAnswers EffectiveResumeWriting HRInterviewQuestions ComputerGlossary WhoisWho EmbeddedSystems-Overview Advertisements PreviousPage NextPage  System Asystemisanarrangementinwhichallitsunitassembleworktogetheraccordingtoasetofrules.Itcanalsobedefinedasawayofworking,organizingordoingoneormanytasksaccordingtoafixedplan.Forexample,awatchisatimedisplayingsystem.Itscomponentsfollowasetofrulestoshowtime.Ifoneofitspartsfails,thewatchwillstopworking.Sowecansay,inasystem,allitssubcomponentsdependoneachother. EmbeddedSystem Asitsnamesuggests,Embeddedmeanssomethingthatisattachedtoanotherthing.Anembeddedsystemcanbethoughtofasacomputerhardwaresystemhavingsoftwareembeddedinit.Anembeddedsystemcanbeanindependentsystemoritcanbeapartofalargesystem.Anembeddedsystemisamicrocontrollerormicroprocessorbasedsystemwhichisdesignedtoperformaspecifictask.Forexample,afirealarmisanembeddedsystem;itwillsenseonlysmoke. Anembeddedsystemhasthreecomponents− Ithashardware. Ithasapplicationsoftware. IthasRealTimeOperatingsystem(RTOS)thatsupervisestheapplicationsoftwareandprovidemechanismtolettheprocessorrunaprocessasperschedulingbyfollowingaplantocontrolthelatencies.RTOSdefinesthewaythesystemworks.Itsetstherulesduringtheexecutionofapplicationprogram.AsmallscaleembeddedsystemmaynothaveRTOS. SowecandefineanembeddedsystemasaMicrocontrollerbased,softwaredriven,reliable,real-timecontrolsystem. CharacteristicsofanEmbeddedSystem Single-functioned−Anembeddedsystemusuallyperformsaspecializedoperationanddoesthesamerepeatedly.Forexample:Apageralwaysfunctionsasapager. Tightlyconstrained−Allcomputingsystemshaveconstraintsondesignmetrics,butthoseonanembeddedsystemcanbeespeciallytight.Designmetricsisameasureofanimplementation'sfeaturessuchasitscost,size,power,andperformance.Itmustbeofasizetofitonasinglechip,mustperformfastenoughtoprocessdatainrealtimeandconsumeminimumpowertoextendbatterylife. ReactiveandRealtime−Manyembeddedsystemsmustcontinuallyreacttochangesinthesystem'senvironmentandmustcomputecertainresultsinrealtimewithoutanydelay.Consideranexampleofacarcruisecontroller;itcontinuallymonitorsandreactstospeedandbrakesensors.Itmustcomputeaccelerationorde-accelerationsrepeatedlywithinalimitedtime;adelayedcomputationcanresultinfailuretocontrolofthecar. Microprocessorsbased−Itmustbemicroprocessorormicrocontrollerbased. Memory−Itmusthaveamemory,asitssoftwareusuallyembedsinROM.Itdoesnotneedanysecondarymemoriesinthecomputer. Connected−Itmusthaveconnectedperipheralstoconnectinputandoutputdevices. HW-SWsystems−Softwareisusedformorefeaturesandflexibility.Hardwareisusedforperformanceandsecurity. Advantages EasilyCustomizable Lowpowerconsumption Lowcost Enhancedperformance Disadvantages Highdevelopmenteffort Largertimetomarket BasicStructureofanEmbeddedSystem Thefollowingillustrationshowsthebasicstructureofanembeddedsystem− Sensor−ItmeasuresthephysicalquantityandconvertsittoanelectricalsignalwhichcanbereadbyanobserverorbyanyelectronicinstrumentlikeanA2Dconverter.Asensorstoresthemeasuredquantitytothememory. A-DConverter−Ananalog-to-digitalconverterconvertstheanalogsignalsentbythesensorintoadigitalsignal. Processor&ASICs−Processorsprocessthedatatomeasuretheoutputandstoreittothememory. D-AConverter−Adigital-to-analogconverterconvertsthedigitaldatafedbytheprocessortoanalogdata Actuator−AnactuatorcomparestheoutputgivenbytheD-AConvertertotheactual(expected)outputstoredinitandstorestheapprovedoutput. UsefulVideoCourses Video LearntoBuildAdvancedEmbeddedSystemsusingArduino 65Lectures 6.5hours AmitRana MoreDetail Video EmbeddedSystemswith8051MicroControllerusingEmbeddedC 36Lectures 4.5hours AmitRana MoreDetail Video CProgrammingBasicsForMicrocontrollers&EmbeddedSystem Featured 33Lectures 3hours AshrafSaid MoreDetail Video BasicsofEmbeddedCProgrammingforBeginners 23Lectures 2hours SmartLogicAcademy MoreDetail Video MasterCandEmbeddedCProgramming-Learnasyougo 66Lectures 5.5hours NerdyElectronics MoreDetail Video DevelopEmbeddedSystemsusingEmbeddedConAVR 49Lectures 8.5hours RahulShrivastava MoreDetail PreviousPage PrintPage NextPage  Advertisements Print  AddNotes  Bookmarkthispage  ReportError  Suggestions Save Close Dashboard Logout