What is an Embedded System? - IoT Agenda

An embedded system is a combination of computer hardware and software designed for a specific function. Embedded systems may also function within a larger ... Home IndustryandVerticals Programming embeddedsystem Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By BenLutkevich, TechnicalWriter Anembeddedsystemisacombinationofcomputerhardwareandsoftwaredesignedforaspecificfunction.Embeddedsystemsmayalsofunctionwithinalargersystem.Thesystemscanbeprogrammableorhaveafixedfunctionality.Industrialmachines,consumerelectronics,agriculturalandprocessingindustrydevices,automobiles,medicalequipment,cameras,digitalwatches,householdappliances,airplanes,vendingmachinesandtoys,aswellasmobiledevices,arepossiblelocationsforanembeddedsystem. Whileembeddedsystemsarecomputingsystems,theycanrangefromhavingnouserinterface(UI)--forexample,ondevicesdesignedtoperformasingletask--tocomplexgraphicaluserinterfaces(GUIs),suchasinmobiledevices. Userinterfacescaninclude buttons,LEDs(light-emittingdiodes)andtouchscreensensing.Somesystemsuseremoteuserinterfacesaswell. MarketsandMarkets,abusiness-to-business(B2B)researchfirm,predictedthattheembeddedmarketwillbeworth$116.2billionby2025.Chipmanufacturersforembeddedsystemsincludemanywell-knowntechnologycompanies,suchasApple,IBM,IntelandTexasInstruments.Theexpectedgrowthispartiallyduetothecontinuedinvestment inartificialintelligence(AI),mobilecomputingandtheneedforchipsdesignedforhigh-levelprocessing. Examplesofembeddedsystems Embeddedsystemsareusedinawiderangeoftechnologiesacrossanarrayofindustries.Someexamplesinclude: Automobiles.Moderncarscommonlyconsistofmanycomputers(sometimesasmanyas100),orembeddedsystems,designedtoperformdifferenttaskswithinthevehicle.Someofthesesystemsperformbasicutilityfunctionsandothersprovideentertainmentoruser-facingfunctions.Someembeddedsystemsinconsumervehiclesincludecruisecontrol,backupsensors,suspensioncontrol,navigationsystemsandairbagsystems. Mobilephones.Theseconsistofmanyembeddedsystems,includingGUIsoftwareandhardware,operatingsystems(OSes),cameras,microphones,andUSB(UniversalSerialBus)I/O(input/output)modules. Industrialmachines.Theycancontainembeddedsystems,likesensors,andcanbeembeddedsystemsthemselves.Industrialmachinesoftenhaveembeddedautomationsystemsthatperformspecificmonitoringandcontrolfunctions. Medicalequipment.Thesemaycontainembeddedsystemslikesensorsandcontrolmechanisms.Medicalequipment,suchasindustrialmachines,alsomustbeveryuser-friendlysothathumanhealthisn'tjeopardizedbypreventablemachinemistakes.Thismeansthey'lloftenincludeamorecomplexOSandGUIdesignedforanappropriateUI. Howdoesanembeddedsystemwork? Embeddedsystemsalwaysfunctionaspartofacompletedevice--that'swhat'smeantbythetermembedded.Theyarelow-cost,low-power-consuming,smallcomputersthatareembeddedinothermechanicalorelectricalsystems.Generally,theycompriseaprocessor,powersupply,andmemoryandcommunicationports.Embeddedsystemsusethecommunicationportstotransmitdatabetweentheprocessorandperipheraldevices--often,otherembeddedsystems--usingacommunicationprotocol.Theprocessorinterpretsthisdatawiththehelpofminimalsoftwarestoredonthememory.Thesoftwareisusuallyhighlyspecifictothefunctionthattheembeddedsystemserves. Aphotoofanembeddedsystemmotherboardwithattachedcables. Theprocessormaybeamicroprocessorormicrocontroller.Microcontrollersaresimplymicroprocessorswithperipheralinterfacesandintegratedmemoryincluded.Microprocessorsuseseparateintegratedcircuitsformemoryandperipheralsinsteadofincludingthemonthechip.Bothcanbeused,butmicroprocessorstypicallyrequiremoresupportcircuitrythanmicrocontrollersbecausethereislessintegratedintothemicroprocessor.Thetermsystemonachip(SoC)isoftenused.SoCsincludemultipleprocessorsandinterfacesonasinglechip.Theyareoftenusedforhigh-volumeembeddedsystems.SomeexampleSoCtypesaretheapplication-specificintegratedcircuit(ASIC)andthefield-programmablegatearray(FPGA). Often,embeddedsystemsareusedinreal-timeoperatingenvironmentsanduseareal-timeoperatingsystem(RTOS)tocommunicatewiththehardware.Near-real-timeapproachesaresuitableathigherlevelsofchipcapability,definedbydesignerswhohaveincreasinglydecidedthesystemsaregenerallyfastenoughandthetaskstolerantofslightvariationsinreaction.Intheseinstances,stripped-downversionsoftheLinuxoperatingsystemarecommonlydeployed,althoughotherOSeshavebeenpareddowntorunonembeddedsystems,includingEmbeddedJavaandWindowsIoT(formerlyWindowsEmbedded). Characteristicsofembeddedsystems Themaincharacteristicofembeddedsystemsisthattheyaretask-specific. Additionally,embeddedsystemscanincludethefollowingcharacteristics: typically,consistofhardware,softwareandfirmware; canbeembeddedinalargersystemtoperformaspecificfunction,astheyarebuiltforspecializedtaskswithinthesystem,notvarioustasks; canbeeithermicroprocessor-basedormicrocontroller-based--bothareintegratedcircuitsthatgivethesystemcomputepower; areoftenusedforsensingandreal-timecomputingininternetofthings(IoT)devices,whicharedevicesthatareinternet-connectedanddonotrequireausertooperate; canvaryincomplexityandinfunction,whichaffectsthetypeofsoftware,firmwareandhardwaretheyuse;and areoftenrequiredtoperformtheirfunctionunderatimeconstrainttokeepthelargersystemfunctioningproperly. Structureofembeddedsystems Embeddedsystemsvaryincomplexitybut,generally,consistofthreemainelements: Hardware.Thehardwareofembeddedsystemsisbasedaroundmicroprocessorsandmicrocontrollers.Microprocessorsareverysimilartomicrocontrollersand,typically,refertoaCPU(centralprocessingunit)thatisintegratedwithotherbasiccomputingcomponentssuchasmemorychipsanddigitalsignalprocessors(DSPs).Microcontrollershavethosecomponentsbuiltintoonechip. Softwareandfirmware.Softwareforembeddedsystemscanvaryincomplexity.However,industrial-grademicrocontrollersandembeddedIoTsystemsusuallyrunverysimplesoftwarethatrequireslittlememory. Real-timeoperatingsystem.Thesearenotalwaysincludedinembeddedsystems,especiallysmaller-scalesystems.RTOSesdefinehowthesystemworksbysupervisingthesoftwareandsettingrulesduringprogramexecution. Intermsofhardware,abasicembeddedsystemwouldconsistofthefollowingelements: Sensorsconvertphysicalsensedataintoanelectricalsignal. Analog-to-digital(A-D)converterschangeananalogelectricalsignalintoadigitalone. Processorsprocessdigitalsignalsandstoretheminmemory. Digital-to-analog(D-A)converterschangethedigitaldatafromtheprocessorintoanalogdata. Actuatorscompareactualoutputtomemory-storedoutputandchoosethecorrectone. Thesensorreadsexternalinputs,theconvertersmakethatinputreadabletotheprocessor,andtheprocessorturnsthatinformationintousefuloutputfortheembeddedsystem. Adiagramofthebasicstructureandflowofinformationinembeddedsystems. Typesofembeddedsystems Thereareafewbasicembeddedsystemtypes,whichdifferintheirfunctionalrequirements.Theyare: Mobileembeddedsystemsaresmall-sizedsystemsthataredesignedtobeportable.Digitalcamerasareanexampleofthis. Networkedembeddedsystemsareconnectedtoanetworktoprovideoutputtoothersystems.Examplesincludehomesecuritysystemsandpointofsale(POS)systems. Standaloneembeddedsystemsarenotreliantonahostsystem.Likeanyembeddedsystem,theyperformaspecializedtask.However,theydonotnecessarilybelongtoahostsystem,unlikeotherembeddedsystems.AcalculatororMP3playerisanexampleofthis. Real-timeembeddedsystemsgivetherequiredoutputinadefinedtimeinterval.Theyareoftenusedinmedical,industrialandmilitarysectorsbecausetheyareresponsiblefortime-criticaltasks.Atrafficcontrolsystemisanexampleofthis. Embeddedsystemscanalsobecategorizedbytheirperformancerequirements: Small-scaleembeddedsystemsoftenusenomorethanan8-bitmicrocontroller. Medium-scaleembeddedsystemsusealargermicrocontroller(16-32bit)andoftenlinkmicrocontrollerstogether. Sophisticated-scaleembeddedsystemsoftenuseseveralalgorithmsthatresultinsoftwareandhardwarecomplexitiesandmayrequiremorecomplexsoftware,aconfigurableprocessorand/oraprogrammablelogicarray. Thereareseveralcommonembeddedsystemsoftwarearchitectures,whichbecomenecessaryasembeddedsystemsgrowandbecomemorecomplexinscale.Theseinclude: Simplecontrolloopscallsubroutines,whichmanageaspecificpartofthehardwareorembeddedprogramming. Interruptcontrolledsystemshavetwoloops:amainoneandasecondaryone.Interruptionsintheloopstriggertasks. Cooperativemultitaskingisessentiallyasimplecontrollooplocatedinanapplicationprogramminginterface(API). PreemptivemultitaskingormultithreadingisoftenusedwithanRTOSandfeaturessynchronizationandtaskswitchingstrategies. Verylarge-scaleintegration,orVLSI,isatermthatdescribesthecomplexityofanintegratedcircuit(IC).VLSIistheprocessofembeddinghundredsofthousandsoftransistorsintoachip,whereasLSI(large-scaleintegration)microchipscontainthousandsoftransistors,MSI(medium-scaleintegration)containshundredsoftransistors,andSSI(small-scaleintegration)containstensoftransistors.ULSI,orultra-large-scaleintegration,referstoplacingmillionsoftransistorsonachip. VLSIcircuitsarecommonfeaturesofembeddedsystems.ManyICsinembeddedsystemsareVLSIs,andtheuseoftheVLSIacronymhaslargelyfallenoutoffavor. Debuggingembeddedsystems Oneareawhereembeddedsystemspartwayswiththeoperatingsystemsanddevelopmentenvironmentsofotherlarger-scalecomputersisintheareaofdebugging.Usually,developersworkingwithdesktopcomputerenvironmentshavesystemsthatcanrunboththecodebeingdevelopedandseparatedebuggerapplicationsthatcanmonitortheembeddedsystemprogrammersgenerallycannot,however. Macrophotoofalittleembeddedsystemmotherboardwithattachedcables. Someprogramminglanguagesrunonmicrocontrollerswithenoughefficiencythatrudimentaryinteractivedebuggingisavailabledirectlyonthechip.Additionally,processorsoftenhaveCPUdebuggersthatcanbecontrolled--and,thus,controlprogramexecution--viaaJTAGorsimilardebuggingport. Inmanyinstances,however,programmersneedtoolsthatattachaseparatedebuggingsystemtothetargetsystemviaaserialorotherport.Inthisscenario,theprogrammercanseethesourcecodeonthescreenofageneral-purposecomputer,justaswouldbethecaseinthedebuggingofsoftwareonadesktopcomputer.Aseparate,frequentlyusedapproachistorunsoftwareonaPCthatemulatesthephysicalchipinsoftware.Thisisessentiallymakingitpossibletodebugtheperformanceofthesoftwareasifitwererunningonanactualphysicalchip. Broadlyspeaking,embeddedsystemshavereceivedmoreattentiontotestinganddebuggingbecauseagreatnumberofdevicesusingembeddedcontrolsaredesignedforuse,especiallyinsituationswheresafetyandreliabilityaretoppriorities. Historyofembeddedsystems Embeddedsystemsdatebacktothe1960s.CharlesStarkDraperdevelopedanintegratedcircuitin1961toreducethesizeandweightoftheApolloGuidanceComputer,thedigitalsysteminstalledontheApolloCommandModuleandLunarModule.ThefirstcomputertouseICs,ithelpedastronautscollectreal-timeflightdata. In1965,Autonetics,nowapartofBoeing,developedtheD-17B,thecomputerusedintheMinutemanImissileguidancesystem.Itiswidelyrecognizedasthefirstmass-producedembeddedsystem.WhentheMinutemanIIwentintoproductionin1966,theD-17BwasreplacedwiththeNS-17missileguidancesystem,knownforitshigh-volumeuseofintegratedcircuits.In1968,thefirstembeddedsystemforavehiclewasreleased;theVolkswagen1600usedamicroprocessortocontrolitselectronicfuelinjectionsystem. Bythelate1960sandearly1970s,thepriceofintegratedcircuitsdroppedandusagesurged.ThefirstmicrocontrollerwasdevelopedbyTexasInstrumentsin1971.TheTMS1000series,whichbecamecommerciallyavailablein1974,containeda4-bitprocessor,read-onlymemory(ROM)andrandom-accessmemory(RAM),anditcostaround$2apieceinbulkorders. Also,in1971,Intelreleasedwhatiswidelyrecognizedasthefirstcommerciallyavailableprocessor,the4004.The4-bitmicroprocessorwasdesignedforuseincalculatorsandsmallelectronics,thoughitrequiredeternalmemoryandsupportchips.The8-bitIntel8008,releasedin1972,had16KBofmemory;theIntel8080followedin1974with64KBofmemory.The8080'ssuccessor,thex86series,wasreleasedin1978andisstilllargelyinusetoday. In1987,thefirstembeddedoperatingsystem,thereal-timeVxWorks,wasreleasedbyWindRiver,followedbyMicrosoft'sWindowsEmbeddedCEin1996.Bythelate1990s,thefirstembeddedLinuxproductsbegantoappear.Today,Linuxisusedinalmostallembeddeddevices. Embeddedsystemtrends Whilesomeembeddedsystemscanberelativelysimple,theyarebecomingmorecomplex,andmoreandmoreofthemarenowabletoeithersupplanthumandecision-makingoroffercapabilitiesbeyondwhatahumancouldprovide.Forinstance,someaviationsystems,includingthoseusedindrones,areabletointegratesensordataandactuponthatinformationfasterthanahumancould,permittingnewkindsofoperatingfeatures. Theembeddedsystemisexpectedtocontinuegrowingrapidly,driveninlargepartbytheinternetofthings.ExpandingIoTapplications,suchaswearables,drones,smarthomes,smartbuildings,videosurveillance,3Dprintersandsmarttransportation,areexpectedtofuelembeddedsystemgrowth. ThiswaslastupdatedinDecember2020 ContinueReadingAboutembeddedsystem Mobileembeddedapplications:Seventestingchallenges Embeddedhypervisorusecasesandbenefitsexplained Whatstrategiesarebesttoensureasecureembeddedsystem? Embeddedsystemapplicationspresentnewchallenges EmbeddedsystemssecurityagrowingconcernamidriseofIoT RelatedTerms smarthardhat Asmarthardhatispersonalprotectiveequipment(PPE)designedtoenhanceworkerperformanceandsafetyinconstructionand... See complete definition smartstreetlight Asmartstreetlightisapubliclightingfixturethatincorporatestechnology,suchascameras,light-sensingphotocellsand... See complete definition spatialdata Spatialdataisanytypeofdatathatdirectlyorindirectlyreferencesaspecificgeographicalareaorlocation. 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