INTRODUCTION TO

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Engr. Earl Edrene G. Dilla, CCpE

What is an Embedded
system?
 An embedded system is one that has computer hardware
with software embedded in it as one of its components.
Or
 We can define an embedded system as “A
microprocessor based system that does not look like
a computer”.
Or
 we can say that it is “A combination of computer
hardware and software, and perhaps additional
mechanical or other parts, designed to perform a
dedicated function. In some cases, embedded
systems are part of a larger system or product, as is
the case of an antilock braking system in a car ”.
 An embedded system is a special-purpose computer
system designed to perform certain dedicated functions.
It is usually embedded as part of a complete device
including hardware and mechanical parts. (Wikipedia)
Significance

Due to their compact size, low cost and simple design

aspects made embedded systems very popular and
encroached into human lives and have become
indispensable. They are found everywhere from kitchen
ware to space craft. To emphasize this idea here are some
illustrations.
 Embedded systems everywhere?

Embedded systems span all aspects of modern life and there are many
examples of their use.

a) Biomedical Instrumentation – ECG Recorder, Blood cell recorder,

patient monitor system

b) Communication systems – pagers, cellular phones, cable TV

terminals, fax and transreceivers, video games and so on.

c) Peripheral controllers of a computer – Keyboard controller, DRAM

controller, DMA controller, Printer controller, LAN controller, disk
drive controller.
d) Industrial Instrumentation – Process controller, DC
motor controller, robotic systems, CNC machine
controller, close loop engine controller, industrial
moisture recorder cum controller.

e) Scientific – digital storage system, CRT display

controller, spectrum analyser.
Were the embedded systems
existing earlier ?
Yes, We have been enjoying the grace of embedded system
quite a long time. But they were not so popular because
in those days most of the embedded systems were
designed around a microprocessor unlike today’s
systems which were built around a microcontroller.

As we know a microprocessor by itself do not possess any

memory, ports etc. So everything must be connected
externally by using peripherals like 8255, 8257, 8259 etc.
So the embedded system designed using
microprocessor was not only complicated in design but
also large in size. At the same time the speed of
microprocessor is also a limitation for high end
applications.
Why a microcontroller ?

A microcontroller is a single silicon chip with memory and

all Input/Output peripherals on it. Hence a
microcontroller is also popularly known as a single chip
computer. Normally, a single microcomputer has the
following features :
 Arithmetic and logic unit
 Memory for storing program
 EEPROM for nonvolatile data storage
 RAM for storing variables and special function registers
 Input/output ports
 Timers and counters
 Analog to digital converter
 Circuits for reset, power up, serial programming,
debugging
 Instruction decoder and a timing and control unit
 Serial communication port
So, its no wonder to say that the microcontroller is the
most sought after device for designing an efficient
embedded system.
What is inside an embedded
system ?
Every embedded system consists of custom-built
hardware built around a Central Processing Unit (CPU).
This hardware also contains memory chips onto which
the software is loaded. The software residing on the
memory chip is also called the ‘firmware’.

The operating system runs above the hardware, and the

application software runs above the operating system.
The same architecture is applicable to any computer
including a desktop computer. However, there are
significant differences. It is not compulsory to have an
operating system in every embedded system.
For small appliances such as remote control units, air-
conditioners, toys etc., there is no need fir an operating
system and we can write only the software specific to that
application. For applications involving complex
processing, it is advisable to have an operating system.

In such a case, you need to integrate the application

software with the operating system and then transfer the
entire software on to the memory chip. Once the
software is transferred to the memory chip, the software
will continue to run for a long time and you don’t need to
reload new software .

The next slide shows the layered architecture of an

embedded system.
Layered architecture of an Embedded System
Now let us see the details of the various building blocks of
the hardware of an embedded system.

 Central Processing Unit (CPU)

 Memory (Read only memory and Random access
memory)
 Input Devices

 Output Devices
 Communication interfaces
 Application specific circuitry
This slide shows the Hardware architecture of an
embedded system
Features of an embedded
system
Embedded systems do a very specific task, they cannot be
programmed to do different things.

 Embedded systems have very limited resources,

particularlystorage
secondary the memory. Generally,
devices theyCDROM
such as the do not have
or the
floppy disk.

 Embedded systems have to work against some

deadlines.
specific A specific
time. In somejob has to besystems,
embedded completed within
called a
real-
time systems, the deadlines are stringent. Missing a
dead line may cause a catastrophe – loss of life or
damage to property.
 Embedded systems are constrained for power, As many
embedded systems operate through a battery, the power
consumption has to be very low.

 Embedded systems need to be highly reliable. Once in a

while, pressing ALT-CTRL-DEL is OK on your desktop,
but you cannot afford to reset your embedded system.

 Some embedded systems have to operate in extreme

environmental conditions such as very high temperatures
and humidity.
 Embedded systems that address the consumer market
(for example electronic toys) are very cost-effective.
Even a reduction of Rs.10 is lot of cost saving, because
thousands or millions systems may be sold.

 Unlike desktop computers in which the hardware platform

is dominated by Intel and the operating system is
dominated by Microsoft, there is a wide variety of
processors and operating systems for the embedded
systems. So, choosing the right platform is the most
complex task .
Classification of Embedded
Systems

Based on functionality and performance

requirements, embedded systems are
classified as :

 Stand-alone Embedded Systems

 Real-time Embedded Systems
 Networked Information Appliances
 Mobile Devices
Stand-alone Embedded Systems

As the name implies, stand-alone systems work in

stand-alone mode. They take inputs, process them
and produce the desired output. The input can be
electrical signals from transducers or commands
from a human being such as the pressing of a button.
The output can be electrical signals to drive another
system, an LED display or LCD display for displaying
of information to the users. Embedded systems used
in process control, automobiles, consumer electronic
items etc. fall into this category.
Real-time Systems

Embedded systems in which some specific work has to

be done in a specific time period are called real-time
systems. For example, consider a system that has to
open a valve within 30 milliseconds when the humidity
crosses a particular threshold. If the valve is not opened
within 30 milliseconds, a catastrophe may occur. Such
systems with strict deadlines are called hard real-time
systems.
In some embedded systems, deadlines are imposed, but
not adhering to them once in a while may not lead to a
catastrophe. For example, consider a DVD player.
Suppose, you give a command to the DVD player from a
remote control, and there is a delay of a few milliseconds
in executing that command. But, this delay won’t lead to
a serious implication. Such systems are called soft real-
time systems .
Hard Real-Time Embedded System
Networked Information Appliances

Embedded systems that are provided with network

interfaces and accessed by networks such as Local Area
Network or the Internet are called networked information
appliances. Such embedded systems are connected to a
network, typically a network running TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
protocol suite, such as the Internet or a company’s
Intranet.

These systems have emerged in recent years. These

systems run the protocol TCP/IP stack and get
connected through PPP or Ethernet to an network and
communicate with other nodes in the network.
Here are some examples of such systems

 A networked process control system consistsas

of a
a local area
number of embedded systems connected
network. Each embedded system can send real-time
data to a central location from where the entire process
control system can be monitored. The monitoring can be
done using a web browser such as the Internet Explorer.


webAcamera
web camera
cancan be pictures
send connectedintoreal-time
the Internet. The
to any
computer connected to the Internet. In such a case, the
web camera has to run the HTTP server software in
addition to the TCP/IP protocol stack.
 The door lock of your home can be a small embedded
system with TCP/IP and HTTP server software running
on it. When your children stand in front of the door lock
after they return from school, the web camera in the
door-lock will send an alert to your desktop over the
Internet and then you can open the door-lock through a
click of the mouse.
This slide shows a weather monitoring system connected to the
Internet. TCP/IP protocol suite and HTTP web server software
will be running on this system. Any computer connected to the
Internet can access this system to obtain real-time weather
information.
The networked information appliances need to run the
complete TCP/IP protocol stack including the application
layer protocols. If the appliance has to provide
information over the Internet, HTTP web server software
also needs to run on the system.
Mobile Devices

Mobile devices such as mobile phones, Personal Digital

Assistants (PDAs), smart phones etc. are a special
category of embedded systems. Though the PDAs do
many general purpose tasks, they need to be designed
just like the ‘conventional’ embedded systems.
The limitations of the mobile devices – memory constraints,
small size, lack of good user interfaces such as full
fledged keyboard and display etc. are same as those
found in the embedded systems discussed above.
Hence, mobile devices are considered as embedded
systems.

However, the PDAs are now capable of supporting general

purpose application software such as word processors,
games, etc.
Languages for Programming
Embedded Systems

Assembly language was the pioneer for programming

embedded systems till recently. Nowadays there are
many more languages to program these systems. Some
of the languages are C, C++, Ada, Forth, and Java
together with its new enhancement J2ME.

The presence of tools to model the software in UML, SDL is

sufficient to indicate the maturity of embedded software
programming
The majority of software for embedded systems is still done
in C language. Recent survey indicates that
approximately 45% of the embedded software is still
being done in C language.

C++ is also increasing its presence in embedded systems.

As C++ is based on C language, thus providing
programmer the object oriented methodologies to reap
the benefits of such an approach.
C is very close to assembly programming and it allows very
easy access to underlying hardware. A huge number of
high quality compilers and debugging tools are available
for the C language.

Though C++ is theoretically more efficient than C, but some

of its compilers have bugs due to the huge size of the
language. These compilers may cause a buggy
execution.
C language can definitely claim to have more mature
compilers C++. Now in order to avail the extra benefits of
C++ and plus to avoid buggy execution, experts are
doing efforts to identify a subset of C++ that can be used
in embedded systems and this subset is called
Embedded C++ .
Communication Interfaces

For embedded systems to interact with the external world, a

number of communication interfaces are available. They
are

 Serial Communication Interfaces (SCI):

RS-232, RS-422, RS-485 etc

 Synchronous Serial Communication Interface:

I2C, JTAG, SPI, SSC and ESSI

 Universal Serial Bus (USB)

 Networks:
Ethernet, Controller Area Network, LonWorks, etc

 Timers:
PLL(s), Capture/Compare and Time Processing Units

 Discrete IO:
General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO)

 Analog to Digital/Digital to Analog (ADC/DAC)

Which is the best suited
microcontroller for design of
embedded system?

There is always a trade off between efficiency and power

dissipation. To know this, let us review the various types
of microcontrollers and their specifications and the
vendors.
From the previous slide we can find that
the ARM processor is a strong option for
better performance. But when we
consider the power consumption, in the
case of ARM it is around 400mW and
the ATmega1031, AVR microcontroller
consumes low power around 16.5mW,
but provides low performance.
But the Texas instruments MSP430 with
wide range of operation modes
consumes only 1.2mW with reasonably
good performance. So it is always left to
the designer to choose a suitable device
according to the requirement.
Design of an embedded system – a
Case study

To understand the design of a simple

embedded system let us first consider
the idea of a data acquisition system.
The data acquisition system is shown in
the next slide.
Data acquisition system
For example let me consider a simple case
of temperature measurement embedded
system.
 First we must select a temperature
sensor like thermistor or AD590 or LM35
or LM335 or LM75 etc.
 After this the analog data is converted
into digital data and at the same time
proper signal conditioning is done.
 This digital input is fed to the
microcontroller through its ports.
 By developing a suitable program
(Embedded C or Assembly) the data is
processed and controlled.
 For this purpose keil or Ride or IAR ARM
Embedded workbench C compilers can
be used.
 Once the program is debugged, and
found error free it can be dumped into
the microcontroller flash memory using
ISP (Philips - Flash magic or any ISP).
 Now, your microcontroller chip acts as
an embedded chip.
For the sake of clarity I present the block diagram of a
simple embedded system.