EMBEDDED SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL

CONTROL
Department of Electromechanical Engineering (Mechatronics)
 Content I

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

COMPONENTS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

TYPES OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

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CHARACTERISTICS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Computer

▪ General-purpose computers are those that we use every day

like our desktops, laptops, and Macs which provides various
function- alities to the user.
▪ Even our smartphones stand in the general- purpose end of the
spectrum which means they have more than one specific task to
perform.

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 Computer
▪ Special purpose computers are very specific to serve a
particular function.

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 EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
▪ A system is an arrangement in which all its unit assemble to
work together according to a set of rules.
▪ It is a group of units, joined together to work in a specific
routine and perform some fixed operation. example, a watch
is a time displaying system.
▪ Its components follow a set of rules to show time. If one of its
parts fails, the watch will stop working.
▪ Embedded means something that is attached to another
thing.

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 EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
▪ An embedded system is a custom-built special purpose
computer used for a specific purpose.
▪ An embedded system can be an inde- pendent system or it can
be a part of a large system.
▪ It is a system that combines both hardware and software to
perform a certain task and which can operate without human
interaction.
▪ An embedded system is a microcontroller or microprocessor
based system which is designed to perform one or a few specific
task.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Embedded system components

1. Hardware.

2. Application software.

3. Real Time Operating system (RTOS)

▪ RTOS supervises the application software and provide

mechanism to let the processor run a process as per scheduling
by following a plan to control the latencies.

▪ RTOS defines the way the system works. It sets the rules
during the execution of application program.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Embedded system components

▪ A small scale embedded system may not have RTOS.

▪ So we can define an embedded system as a Microcontroller

based, software driven, reliable, real-time control system

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Hardware components

1. Power Supply mainly used to power up the electrical load, both

adopter and battery can be used as a power supply.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
2. Microcontroller
▪ An embedded system is either a microcontroller-based or
microproces based system.
▪ The embedded hardware performance is mainly dependent on the
processor which is normally called the brain of the embedded
system.
▪ Pick from a range of processors including 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit
processors. They are different in terms of processing speed.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
▪ For example, a 32-bit processor comes with more processing
speed and can manipulate 32-bits at a time while an 8-bit
processor comes with less processing speed and can ma- nipulate
8-bits at a time.
▪ For simple applications, an 8-bit processor would suffice while for
complex and advanced applications, pro- cessors with more bits
are used. The 8-bit processor is normally clocked to 8MHz while
the 32-bit processor can run up to hundreds of MHz.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
3. ROM/RAM Memory
▪ Memory is essential to store important information in the
embedded computer system.
▪ ROM (read-only-memory) is called the code memory that stores
the program code and is non-volatile which means it stays
stored in the system when the power supply is removed.
▪ RAM (random access memory) is called the data memory and
is a volatile memory which means it is used for temporally storing
the information and is removed from the system when the power
supply is turned off.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
4. Timers / Counters
▪ Sometimes you need to create a delay before a specific
function. Timers are used in such cases.
▪ While at times you want to count the number of times a
particular event occurs. Counters are used in such cases.
▪ If an up counter is used in the system, it will count up from the
initial value to 0xFF and if it is down counter, it will count down
to 0x00. The counters are integrated using register type
circuits like a flip-flop.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
5. Communication Ports
▪ Communication ports are used in embedded systems to
establish communication with other embedded systems.
▪ There are several communication ports including USB, UART,
I2C, SPI, and RS-485.
▪ For simple applications, communications ports are utilized from
the microcontroller, and for complex and advanced applications
these ports are externally installed inside the embedded
systems.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
6. Output and Input
▪ Input is required to interact with the embedded system. A
sensor can be used to provide input to the system.
▪ The microcontroller used in the system can be configured as
an input or output port. In the microcontroller, there are a fixed
number of input and output ports that you can utilize as per your
requirement.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
7. Electrical component and Circuit
▪ PCB (printed circuit board), Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes, Inte-
grated Circuits, LED, Inductors, Transistors:-Transistors are used
in the electrical circuit for amplification and switching purposes.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Software component of ES

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Software component of ES
▪ Computer software and embedded system software are dif-
ferent in terms of their purposes.
▪ The computer software can be installed on many devices to
achieve the required goals while embedded system software,
on the other hand, is specifically written for a certain device to
meet a certain goal.
▪ software components of embedded system:- Editor,
Compiler, Assembler, Emulator, Linker, Debugger.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
a. Editor
▪ The editor is the first tool you required for embedded system
soft- ware.
▪ The code you write in C, C++ or in Python, programming
languages will be saved in a text file in the editor.
b. Compiler
▪ is used to turn written code into low-level machine language
that the machine can comprehend.
▪ The main purpose of this tool is to develop an executable
program.
▪ The name compiler is mainly used for the written programs
that convert high-level programming language source code into
a low-level programming language.
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C. Assembler
▪ converts the written code into a machine language. It is slightly
different than a compiler.
▪ The compiler directly converts the written code into machine
language while the assembler, on the other hand, first converts
source code to object code and then to the language that the
machine can understand.
d. Emulator
▪ The main task of the emulator is to make the embedded
system act like a real system in a simulation environment.
▪ Using an emulator, you'll get an idea of how the code will
function in real-time.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
▪ It is used to simulate software performance, and it helps in
achieving the ideal performance of the written code.
▪ With an emulator, you can run one operating system into
another device. For example, using an emulator you can run
Mac operating system into your windows operating system.
d. Linker
▪ Typically, software code is written in small modules and pieces.
▪ A linker, also called a link editor, is a tool that takes one or more
object files and combines them to develop a single executable
code.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
d. Debugger
▪ A debugger is a tool used for testing and debugging purposes.
▪ It scans the code thoroughly and removes the errors and bugs,
and identifies the places where they occur.
▪ Programmers can quickly address the errors and fix them.

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THE CONSTRAINT OF EMBEDDED DESIGN

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 The Construction of Embedded Design
Single-functioned
▪ An embedded system usually performs a spe- cialized operation
and does the same repeatedly.
Tightly constrained

▪ All computing systems have constraints on design metrics, but

those on an embedded system can be especially tight.

▪ Design metrics is a measure of an implementation’s features

such as its cost, size, power, and performance.

▪ It must be of a size to fit on a single chip, must perform fast enough

to process data in real time and consume minimum power to
extend battery life.
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HW-SW systems
▪ Software is used for more features and flexibility. Hardware is
used for performance and security.
Reactive and Real time
▪ Many embedded systems must continually react to changes in
the system’s environment and must compute certain results in
real time without any delay.
▪ Consider an example of a car cruise controller; it continually
monitors and reacts to speed and brake sensors.
▪ It must compute acceleration or de-accelerations repeatedly
within a limited time; a delayed compu- tation can result in failure
to control of the car.
EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Memory
▪ It must have a memory, as its software usually embeds in ROM.
It does not need any secondary memories in the computer.
Connected
▪ It must have connected peripherals to connect input and output
devices.
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Basic Structure of an Embedded System

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Basic Structure of an Embedded System
Sensor
It measures the physical quantity and converts it to an electrical signal
which can be read by any electronic instrument like an A2D converter.
A-D Converter An analog-to-digital converter converts the analog
signal sent by the sensor into a digital signal.
Processor & ASICs Processors process the data to measure the
output and store it to the memory.
D-A Converter A digital-to-analog converter converts the digital data
fed by the processor to analog data
Actuator
An actuator compares the output given by the D-A Converter to the
actual (expected) output stored in it and stores the approved output.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS OF EMBEDDED
SYSTEMS

-consumer electronics industrial machinery

-automobiles agriculture
-processing industrial devices airplanes (Avionics)
-digital watches vending machines
- air-conditioners mobile devices
- Robotics Banking
-Security systems Smart Cards
-Safety-Critical Systems Telecommunication
-Medical fields Motes(sensor node, wireless comm

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Microprocessors & Microcontrollers

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Microprocessors & Microcontrollers
Microcontroller (also called microcomputer, MCU)
▪ Is a small computer on a single integrated circuit consisting
internally a relatively simple CPU, clock, timers, I/O ports, and
memory.
▪ Integrated circuit is semiconductor chip that performs the bulk of
the processing and controls the parts of a system; ”a
microprocessor functions as the central processing unit of a
microcomputer”;
▪ Eg. A disk drive contains a microprocessor to handle the
internal functions of the drive

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
 Microprocessors & Microcontrollers
Microprocessors generally requires

1. external components to implement program memory,

2. ram memory and

3. Input/output. Intel’s 80186, 80188, and 80386 are examples of

microprocessors.

Microcontrollers incorporate
i. program memory,
ii. RAM memory and
iii. input/output resources internal to the chip

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
▪ Everything that requires in a Microprocessor based system ex-
ternally are built inside a single chip called micro controller that
is why they are also known as SYSTEM ON CHIP.

▪ Microchip’s pic series and Atmel’s AVR series are examples of

microcontrollers.

▪ One of the main differences is that micro controllers are

usually designed to perform a small set of specific functions,
for example as in the case of a Digital Signal Processor which
performs a small set of signal processing functions, whereas
microprocessors tend to be designed to perform a wider set of
general purpose functions.

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▪ For example, microcontrollers are widely used in modern cars
where they will each perform a dedicated task, i.e. a
microcontroller to regulate the brakes on all four wheels, or a
microcontroller to regulate the car air conditioning, or a
microcontroller responsible for the cruise control.

▪ Compare this on the other hand to a microprocessor in a PC which

performs a wide range of tasks related to the general requirements
of a PC, i.e. performing the necessary calculations for a very wide
set of software applications, performing I/O for the main sub-
systems, peripheral control etc.

EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Peripherals = Ports + Clock + Timers + UARTS + ADC Converters
+LCD Drivers + DAC + other stuff
Memory = EEPROM + SRAM + EPROM + flash
A microcontroller has a combination of all this stuff.
A microprocessor is just a CPU .

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