Embedded Systems: PECEC701B

Practice Question Set for Concept Building

1. Briefly describe embedded systems based on the classification of generation.
--- First Generation: >Built around 8 bit microprocessor and 4 bit microcontroller.(8085 & Z80)
>Simple in hardware circuit & firmware developed.
>Examples: Digital telephone keypads,stepper motor control units.

Second Generation:>Built around 16 bit microprocessor and 8-16 bit microcontroller.

>They are complex and powerful than 1st generation microprocessor and microcontroller.
>EOS is used for their operation.
>Examples: SCADA systems,Data acquisition systems.

Third Generation: >Built around 32 bit microprocessor asnd 16 bit microcontroller.

>Concepts of application and domain specific processors/controllers like DSP,Application Specific
Integrated Circuits evolved.
>Instruction set complex and powerful,instruction pipelining came into the picture.
>Examples: Robotics,Media,industrial process control,networking etc.

Fourth Generation: >Built around 64 bit microprocessors and 32 bit microcontrollers.

>The concept of System on Chips(SoC),Multicore Processors evolved.
>Highly complex and very powerful.
>Examples: Smart phones,Mobile internet devices.

2. What is an actuator? Give a brief description of the working principle of the Microphone.
How it can convert sound energy to electrical energy?
----- An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and
controlling a mechanism or system

The working principle of micro phone is just opposite of speaker.

Speaker: It converts Electrical energy to sound energy

Microphone: It converts sound energy to electrical energy.

Working of general microphone:

It works on Faraday's law of Electo Magnetic Induction ie when electrical conductor

moves in Magnetic field,it produces electric current.
Mangnetic field is produced by permanent magnet and a Electrical conductor
coil(generally copper) is placed on a piston (generally plastic or aluminum). When we
speak, it creates vibration and conductor on circular membrane/piston moves little bit
and electrical current Flows. Speaker at other end again converts electrical current to
sound energy.
3. Explain the steps in building an embedded control system.
4. What are the challenges or risks associated with embedded systems?
 ---- Challenge #1: Stability. Stability is of paramount importance. ...
 Challenge #2: Safety. ...
 Challenge #3: Security. ...
 Challenge #4: Launch Phase. ...
 Challenge #5: Design Limitations. ...
 Challenge #6: Compatibility and Integrity. ...

5. Discuss commercial off-the-shelf(COTS) products in embedded-based systems.

---- > A Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product is one which is used „as-is‟
> COTS products are designed in such a way to provide easy integration and interoperability with
existing system components.
> Typical examples for the COTS hardware unit are Remote Controlled Toy Car control unit including
the RF Circuitry part, High performance, high frequency microwave electronics (2 to 200 GHz), High
bandwidth analog-to-digital converters, Devices and components for operation at very high
temperatures, Electro-optic IR imaging arrays, UV/IR Detectors etc.
>A COTS component in turn contains a General Purpose Processor (GPP) or Application Specific
Instruction Set Processor (ASIP) or Application Specific Integrated Chip (ASIC)/Application Specific
Standard Product (ASSP) or Programmable Logic Device (PLD)
>The major advantage of using COTS is that they are readily available in the market, cheap and a
developer can cut down his/her development time to a great extend.
>There is no need to design the module yourself and write the firmware . Everything will be readily
supplied by the COTs manufacturer.
6. Classify different embedded systems.

7. Briefly describe with examples small-scale, medium scale and large-scale embedded
systems.
➢ Small Scale: The embedded systems built around low performance and low cost 8 or 16 bit
microprocessors/ microcontrollers. It is suitable for simple applications and where performance is
not time critical. It may or may not contain OS.
➢ Medium Scale: Embedded Systems built around medium performance, low cost 16 or 32 bit
microprocessors / microcontrollers or DSPs. These are slightly complex in hardware and firmware. It
may contain GPOS/RTOS.
➢ Large Scale/Complex: Embedded Systems built around high performance 32 or 64 bit RISC
processors/controllers, RSoC or multi-core processors and PLD. It requires complex hardware and
software. These system may contain multiple processors/controllers and co-units/hardware
accelerators for offloading the processing requirements from the main processor. It contains RTOS
for scheduling, prioritization and management
8. Describe the different steps involved in designing an embedded control system.
9. What are the characteristics of an embedded system?
- Task specific
Time specific
 Low cost
 Highly efficient
 Highly reliable and stable
 Require less power

10. Describe the various hardware units of a typical embedded system.

----POWER SOURCE:
 Very imp part of embedded system
 May need 5V or 12 V
 Less power than may be 3.3 V or 1.8V
 Provided with the help of battery or wall adapter

CLOCK OSCILLATOR:
 A crystal( External to processor)
 A ceramic resonator( Internally associated with processor)
 An external oscillator IC attached to processor
REAL TIME CLOCK:
 Provides accurate date and time
Supports the daylight time operation
 DS12887 uses CMOS techmology
Low power consumption

RESET CIRCUIT AND WATCHDOG TIMER:

 Reset circuit that will be executed when you power up the circuit as well as when there
will be power down
 External and internal circuit
 Reset can be done when time out watchdog timer is happening

MEMORY:
 Memory is used to store the program as well as to store the execution of embedded
elements.
 There are various types of memory based on volatility , write ability,cost & speed we use
memory is embedded system.

I/O PORTS:
 Serial I/O Ports
#Synchronous Serial Input
# Synchronous Serial output
# ASynchronous Serial Input
# Asynchronous Serial output
Parallel I/O Ports
# Parallel port one bit Input
# parallel port one bit output
#parallel port multibit input
#parallel port multibit output

DAC USING PWM AND ADC:

 Known as Digital to analog converter and analog to digital converter
INPUT DEVICES:
 sesors,keyboard,mouse,microphone
OUTPUT DEVICES:
 Monitor,printer ,LCD Display

NETWORKING DEVICES:
 Bus network and Ethernet network is most efficient method
 A bus network is used for –connect different network devices,transfer a huge range of
data
 An Ethernet network is used for TCP/IP protocol

INTERRUPT HANDLER:
 Hardware siganal from a device to CPU
 An interrupt tells the CPU that device needs attention

11. Within the domain of an embedded system, they have many functionalities. Explain with
examples.
12. What are the different data communication methods used in embedded systems? Briefly
describe.
----- It is a 4-wire protocol namely MOSI (Master Out Slave In), MISO (Master In Slave Out, SS
(Slave Select), and SCLK (Serial Clock). As I2C protocol, SPI is also a master to slave
communication protocol. In SPI, the master device first configures the clock at a particular
frequency.

13. Explain the current trends and challenges in the field of

embedded systems.
16 . With a neat diagram explain the architecture of 8051.
----In the following diagram, the system bus connects all the support devices to the CPU.
The system bus consists of an 8-bit data bus, a 16-bit address bus and bus control signals.
All other devices like program memory, ports, data memory, serial interface, interrupt control,
timers, and the CPU are all interfaced together through the system bus.

17. 3. Write short notes on (any two)

a) Dual slope method of ADC
----The dual slope ADC mainly consists of 5 blocks: Integrator, Comparator, Clock
signal generator, Control logic and Counter. The control logic resets the counter and
enables the clock signal generator in order to send the clock pulses to the counter, when it is
received the start commanding signal.

b) CCD devices
---A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a semiconductor device capable of both photo-
detection and memory, which converts light to electronic impulses. One-and two-
dimensional CCD arrays are used in scanners to perform the first stage in converting an
image into digital data.
 c) Cache memory and Cache controller
---Cache memory is an extremely fast memory type that acts as a buffer between RAM
and the CPU. It holds frequently requested data and instructions so that they are
immediately available to the CPU when needed. Cache memory is used to reduce the
average time to access data from the Main memory.

Cache controller is a chip, such as the Intel 82385, that manages the retrieval, storage,
and delivery of data to and from cache memory or a hard disk. When data or
instructions are requested by the central processing unit (CPU), the intercept the request
and handles the delivery from random access memory (RAM).

d) FPGA
---FPGA stands for Field Programmable Gate Array which is an IC that can be
programmed to perform a customized operation for a specific application. They have
thousands of gates. In the field of VLSI FPGAs have been very popular. Languages such as
VHDL and Verilog are used to write the code for FPGA programming.

e)UART
---- Universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) is one of the simplest and oldest
forms of device-to-device digital communication. You can find UART devices as a part
of integrated circuits (ICs) or as individual components. UARTs communicate between two
separate nodes using a pair of wires and a common ground.

f) JTAG
---- JTAG (named after the Joint Test Action Group which codified it) is an industry
standard for verifying designs and testing printed circuit boards after manufacture.
JTAG implements standards for on-chip instrumentation in electronic design automation
(EDA) as a complementary tool to digital simulation.
18. What are the types of Embedded Systems?
 Real-time embedded systems.
 Standalone embedded systems.
 Network, or networked, embedded systems.
 Mobile embedded systems.

19. What is an actuator? Give a brief description of the working principle of the Microphone.
How it can convert sound energy to electrical energy?
20.Write short notes on RFID and RTC.
-----
21. How does DSP differ from a general processor?
22. How does a watchdog timer different from a normal timer?
A watchdog timer is a specialized timer module that helps a microprocessor to recover from
malfunctions. If a watchdog timer reaches the end of its counting period, it resets the
entire processor system. In order to prevent this, a processor must perform some type of
specific action that resets the watchdog.

23. Define embedded systems.

---- An embedded system is a combination of computer hardware and software
designed for a specific function

24. Compare Von-Neumann and Harvard architecture of the processor-based system.

---- Harvard Architecture:
> Separate buses for Instruction and Data fetching
> Easier to Pipeline, so high performance can be achieved
> Comparatively high cost
>No memory alignment problems

Von-Neumann Architecture:
> Single shared bus for Instruction and Data fetching
> Low performance Compared to Harvard Architecture
> Cheaper
> Allows self modifying codes
25. Explain FPGA architecture with a proper diagram.
---- FPGAs are prefabricated silicon chips that can be programmed electrically to implement
digital designs. The first static memory based FPGA called SRAM is used for configuring
both logic and interconnection using a stream of configuration bits. Today’s modern EPGA
contains approximately 3,30,000 logic blocks and around 1,100 inputs and outputs.
The FPGA Architecture consists of three major components

 Programmable Logic Blocks, which implement logic functions

 Programmable Routing (interconnects), which implements functions
 I/O blocks, which are used to make off-chip connections

Programmable Logic Blocks

The programmable logic block provides basic computation and storage elements
used in digital systems.

Programmable Routing

The programmable routing establishes a connection between logic blocks and

Input/Output blocks to complete a user-defined design unit.

It consists of multiplexers pass transistors and tri-state buffers. Pass transistors and
multiplexers are used in a logic cluster to connect the logic elements.

Programmable I/O

The programmable I/O pads are used to interface the logic blocks and routing
architecture to the external components. The I/O pad and the surrounding logic
circuit form as an I/O cell.

These cells consume a large portion of the FPGA’s area. And the design of I/O
programmable blocks is complex, as there are great differences in the supply voltage
and reference voltage.

26. Write short notes on USB and Flash memory.

A Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a common interface that enables communication
between devices and a host controller such as a personal computer (PC) or
smartphone. It connects peripheral devices such as digital cameras, mice,
keyboards, printers, scanners, media devices, external hard drives and flash
drives. Because of its wide variety of uses, including support for electrical power,
the USB has replaced a wide range of interfaces like the parallel and serial port.

Flash memory is a long-life and non-volatile storage chip that is widely used in
embedded systems. It can keep stored data and information even when the power is off. It
can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Flash memory was developed from EEPROM
(electronically erasable programmable read-only memory).

27. Explain the functionalities of RS232 and RS485 standard serial interfaces.
----- Generally, RS-232 is the simpler solution for connecting two devices over short
distances. RS-485, while allowing connection of several devices on the same bus over
greater distances, does require termination resistors. 

28. Explain sensors and actuators with examples.

29. Write short notes on USB and SOC ( System on chip).

----- A Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a common interface that enables
communication between devices and a host controller such as a personal
computer (PC) or smartphone. It connects peripheral devices such as digital
cameras, mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, media devices, external hard
drives and flash drives.

SoC is a complete electronic substrate system that may contain analog, digital, mixed-
signal or radio frequency functions. Its components usually include a graphical
processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU) that may be multi-core, and system
memory (RAM).

30. Write short notes on Bluetooth and RFID.

 Bluetooth technology allows devices to communicate with each other without cables
or wires. Bluetooth relies on short-range radio frequency, and any device that incorporates
the technology can communicate as long as it is within the required distance.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) refers to a wireless system comprised of two

components: tags and readers. The reader is a device that has one or more antennas that
emit radio waves and receive signals back from the RFID tag.

12. What are the specific features of an embedded system processor?

---- Processor is the heart of an embedded system. It is the basic unit that takes
inputs and produces an output after processing the data. For an embedded system
designer, it is necessary to have the knowledge of both microprocessors and
microcontrollers.

Processors in a System
A processor has two essential units −

 Program Flow Control Unit (CU)

 Execution Unit (EU)

13. How does a microprocessor differ from a microcontroller?

----
Microprocessor Microcontroller
Heart of the system. Heart of the embedded system.
Externally connected with input-output
input-output components are embedde
components.
The circuit may be large depending upon usage. The circuit is very small.
Not cost-effective. Cost-effective.
The total consumption of power is high. Total consumption of power is less.
Power saving mode is not generally available. Power saving mode is generally offere
Used in MP3 players, washing machin
Used in PC.
etc.
Memories like RAM and ROM are absent. Carries RAM, ROM, etc.
Runs at a very high speed. Runs at a relatively lower speed.
It is complex and costly. Simple and cheap.
Example: DEC Alpha 21164, IBM RS6000, etc Example:  Intel 8031/8051, PIC1x, etc

14. Write short notes on JTAG and Flash memory.

-----The Joint Test Action Group(JTAG) is an electronic industry association formed in 1985
for developing a method of verifying designs and testing printed circuit board after
manufacture.
Flash memory is a long-life and non-volatile storage chip that is widely used in
embedded systems. It can keep stored data and information even when the power is off. It
can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Flash memory was developed from EEPROM
(electronically erasable programmable read-only memory).
15.Compare CISC and RISC.

16. What do you mean by pipeline processing

Pipeline processing refers to overlapping operations by moving data or instructions into
a conceptual pipe with all stages of the pipe performing simultaneously.

17. Write short notes on IDE tools and the CCD sensor.
An integrated development environment (IDE) is software for
----
building applications that combines common developer tools into a
single graphical user interface (GUI).

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a light-sensitive integrated circuit that captures

images by converting photons to electrons. A CCD sensor breaks the image elements
into pixels. Each pixel is converted into an electrical charge whose intensity is related to the
intensity of light captured by that pixel.
18. Why embedded systems are termed real-time systems? Explain the concept with the
help of examples.
19. State the main function of RTOS.
--- RTOSes are designed to handle multiple processes at one time, ensuring that these
processes respond to events within a predictable time limit. 

20. Discuss different characteristics of DSP Processor.

---- Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are microprocessors with the following characteristics:
a) Real-time digital signal processing capabilities. DSPs typically have to process data in
real time, i.e., the correctness of the operation depends heavily on the time when the data
processing is completed. b) High throughput.

20. What is the watchdog timer?

21. What are the advantages offered by an FPGA for designing an embedded system?
---- >Better Performance
>Programmability
>Real time application
>SoC
>Cost efficiency

22. What do you mean by SoC?

--- A system-on-a-chip (SoC) is a microchip with all the necessary electronic circuits and
parts for a given system, such as a smartphone or wearable computer, on a single
integrated circuit (IC).

23. How will the definition of embedded system change with SoC?
----An SoC in an embedded system is a chip that includes all the components that allow the
chip to perform a specific function or action for the embedded system. Many embedded
systems use SoCs to do their computing work.

24. Real time video processing needs sophisticated embedded systems with hard real time
constraints. Why? Explain.
25. I2C bus stands for?
---I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit, eye-squared-C), alternatively known as I2C or IIC, is a
synchronous, multi-controller/multi-target (master/slave), packet switched, single-ended, serial
communication bus invented in 1982 by Philips Semiconductors

26. Cache is made of which type of memory?

--- high-speed static RAM (SRAM)

27. UART stands for what?

---- UART, or universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter, is one of the most used
device-to-device communication protocols.

28. Does a microphone diaphragm behave like an inductive or a capacitive device?

29. How an embedded system communicates with the outside world?
--- The system communicates with the outside world through peripherals.

30. Why embedded system is useful?

---- embedded computing systems are essential to the operation of electronic devices
and systems across a wide range of industries

31. Explain what are real-time embedded systems.

---- A real-time embedded system is a particular version of an embedded system that
works on the basis of real-time computing represented by a dedicated type of
operating system — RTOS.

32.What is a RISC architecture?

--- The microcontroller architecture that utilizes small and highly optimized
set of instructions is termed as the Reduced Instruction Set Computer or
simply called as RISC. It is also called as LOAD/STORE architecture.
33. What are some real-time applications of embedded processors?
---- The applications of embedded systems include home appliances, office
automation, security, telecommunication, instrumentation, entertainment,
aerospace, banking and finance, automobiles personal and in different
embedded systems projects.

34. There are different types of memory storage devices like EEPROM, Flash memory, SRAM,
and DRAM. Which memory storage is widely used in PCs and Embedded Systems?
35. Total power dissipation is reduced by (i) reducing operating voltages, (ii) operating at
lower clock frequency if processes meet the deadlines (iii) use of wait and stop instructions
when the system is inactive or idle (iv) use of cache disabling instructions (v) optimizing the
amount and type of hardware required for the system
(a) all except v (b) i, ii and iii (c) all except iv (d) all
36. Which is the heart of an embedded system?
a) Interrupt controller b) Processor c) I/O devices d) Power supply
37. What is the watchdog timer?
----- A watchdog timer (WDT) is a timer that monitors microcontroller (MCU) programs to
see if they are out of control or have stopped operating.

38. List two live examples of embedded systems use.

---- Digital cameras ,digital wristwatches.

39. List two Embedded Systems which Includes Medical Equipment.

---magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT)

40. Why embedded system is useful?

--- Embedded computing systems are essential to the operation of electronic devices
and systems across a wide range of industries. They consist of both computer hardware
and software components, which combined are designed to perform a specific task within a
larger mechanical or electrical system.

41. Explain what are real-time embedded systems?

--- Real-time embedded systems are those that incorporate a real-time operating
system, ensuring that the device can respond to sensory inputs within the time
constraints specified by the embedded software. Real-time embedded systems are
further classified based on the type of real-time response they provide.

42. Mention what is the difference between a microprocessor and a microcontroller.

----- The major difference between microprocessor and microcontroller is that the
microprocessor is used to perform the functions of the CPU and the microcontroller
is used as the brain of the circuit

43. Mention what are buses used for communication in embedded system.
 ----- A field bus is a part of a system which provides the communication between several
components in that system (for example an actuator or a sensor).

44. What is a Watchdog Timer?

45. Explain what is the need for an infinite loop in embedded systems.
--- Infinite loops are used to keep the embedded system fuctional.If infinite loops is not
used,after executing the task once , the embedded system will come to hault which is not
the desired function.

46. What are real-time embedded systems?

47. What are the major components of an embedded system?
 --- Power Supply. A power supply is a crucial component of the embedded system
design. ...
 Microcontroller. An embedded system is either a microcontroller-based or
microprocessor-based system. ...
 ROM/RAM. ...
 Timers / Counters. ...
 Communication Ports. ...
 Output and Input.

48. Discuss some options for wireless communication between embedded devices.
49. What is a digital signal controller?
--- A digital signal controller (DSC) is a hybrid of microcontrollers and digital signal
processors (DSPs).

50. What is a thread?

--- A thread is then a small program that has a specific function and purpose within the
overall application.

51. Define critical section of a task.

----Critical section is a piece of a program that requires mutual exclusion of access.

52. What is an exception?

---- Exceptions and interrupts are unexpected events which will disrupt the normal flow of
execution of instruction(that is currently executing by processor). An exception is an
unexpected event from within the processor

53. What is meant by a pipe?

--- A pipe is simply a set of storage locations, each big enough to hold a single data
item of user-defined byte length, access to which is controlled so that it may be safely
utilized by multiple tasks

54. What is a thread?

55. Define critical section of a task.
--- The critical section is a code segment where the shared variables can be accessed.
56. What is an exception?
----- An exception is an unexpected event from within the processor.
57. What is meant by a pipe?
58. How does a pipe differ from a queue?

59. What is the importance of device management in an OS for an embedded system?

-----There are various functions of device management in the operating system. Some of
them are as follows:

It keeps track of data, status, location, uses, etc. The file system is a term used to define a
group of facilities.
It enforces the pre-determined policies and decides which process receives the device when
and for how long.
It improves the performance of specific devices.
It monitors the status of every device, including printers, storage drivers, and other devices.
It allocates and effectively deallocates the device.

60. When is a message used and when does a system call for seeking access to system
resources?