MODULE – 1

Embedded
System
Components
Introduction
What is an Embedded System?
●An embedded system is an
electronic/electro-
mechanical system designed
to perform a specific function
and is a combination of both
hardware and firmware
(software).
●Every embedded system is
unique and the hardware as
well as the firmware is highly
Embedded Systems vs.
General Computing
●The computing revolution began with the general
Systems
purpose computing requirements. Later it was
realised that the general computing requirements are
not sufficient for the embedded computing
requirements.
●The embedded computing requirements demand
‘something special’ in terms of response to stimuli,
meeting the computational deadlines, power
efficiency, limited memory capability, etc.
General Purpose Computing System Embedded System
A system which is a combination of a generic A system which is a combination of special purpose
hardware and a General Purpose Operating System hardware and embedded OS for executing a specific
for executing a variety of applications set of applications
Contains a General Purpose Operating System (GPOS) May or may not contain an operating
system for functioning
Applications are alterable (programmable) by the The firmware of the embedded system is pre-
user (It is possible for the end user to re-install the programmed and it is non-alterable by the end-user
operating system, and also add or remove user (There may be exceptions for system supporting OS
applications) kernel image flashing through special hardware
Performance is the key deciding factor in the settings)
Application-specific requirements (like
selection of the system. Always, ‘Faster is Better’ performance, power requirements, memory
usage, etc.) are the key deciding factors
Less/not at all tailored towards reduced operating Highly tailored to take advantage of the power
power requirements, options for different levels of saving modes supported by the hardware and
power management the operating system
Response requirements are not time-critical For certain category of embedded systems like
mission critical systems, the response time
requirement is highly critical
Need not be deterministic in execution behaviour Execution behaviour is deterministic for certain
types of embedded systems like ‘Hard Real Time’
systems
 History of Embedded
Systems
● Embedded systems were in existence even before the IT revolution.
● Built around the old vacuum tube and transistor technologies.
● Advances in semiconductor and nanotechnology and IT revolution gave
way to the development of miniature embedded systems.
● The first recognised modern embedded system is the Apollo Guidance Computer
(AGC) developed by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory for the lunar expedition.
● It had 36K words of fixed memory and 2K words of erasable memory.
● The clock frequency of was 1.024 MHz and it was derived from a 2.048 MHz
crystal clock.
● The first mass-produced embedded system was the Autonetics D-17
guidance computer for the Minuteman-I missile in 1961.
● It was built using discrete transistor logic and a hard-disk for main memory.
● The first integrated circuit was produced in September 1958 and computers
using them began to appear in 1963.
Classification of Embedded
Systems
●Some of the criteria used in the classification of
embedded systems are:
1. Based on generation
2. Complexity and performance requirements
3. Based on deterministic behaviour
4. Based on triggering
Classification Based on Generation
●First Generation
●Second
Generation
●Third Generation
●Fourth
Generation
●Next Generation
Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
●First Generation
●Early embedded systems were built around 8-bit
microprocessors like 8085 and Z80 and 4-bit
microcontrollers.
●Simple in hardware circuits with firmware developed in
assembly code.
●E.g.: Digital telephone keypads, stepper motor control units,
etc.
Classification Based on Generation
●Second Generation
(continued)
● Embedded systems built around 16-bit microprocessors and 8-bit or
16-bit microcontrollers.
● Instruction set were much more complex and powerful than the
first generation.
● Some of the second generation embedded systems contained
embedded operating systems for their operation.
● E.g.: Data acquisition systems, SCADA systems, etc.
Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
●Third Generation
● Embedded systems built around 32-bit
microprocessors and 16-bit
microcontrollers.
● Application and domain specific processors/
controllers like Digital Signal Processors
(DSP) and Application Specific Integrated
Circuits (ASICs) came into picture.
● The instruction set of processors became more
complex and powerful and the concept of
instruction pipelining also evolved.
● Dedicated embedded real time and general
purpose operating systems entered into the
embedded market.
● Embedded systems spread its ground to
areas like robotics, media, industrial process
control, networking, etc.
Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
●Fourth Generation
● The advent of System on Chips (SoC),
reconfigurable processors and multicore
processors are bringing high performance,
tight integration and miniaturisation into the
embedded device market.
● The SoC technique implements a total system
on a chip by implementing different
functionalities with a processor core on an
integrated circuit.
● They make use of high performance
real time embedded operating
systems for their functioning.
● E.g.: Smart phone devices, Mobile Internet
Devices (MIDs), etc.
Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
●Next Generation
●The processor and embedded market is highly
dynamic and demanding.
●The next generation embedded systems are expected to
meet growing demands in the market.
Classification Based on Complexity
and Performance
●Small-Scale Embedded
Systems
●Medium-Scale Embedded
Systems
●Large-Scale Embedded
Systems
Classification Based on Complexity
and Performance (continued)
●Small-Scale Embedded Systems
●Simple in application needs and the performance
requirements are not time critical.
●E.g.: An electronic toy
●Usually built around low performance and low cost 8-bit or
16-bit microprocessors/microcontrollers.
●May or may not contain an operating system for its
functioning.
Classification Based on Complexity
and Performance (continued)
●Medium-Scale Embedded Systems
●Slightly complex in hardware and firmware
(software) requirements.
●Usually built around medium performance, low cost 16-bit
or 32- bit microprocessors/microcontrollers or digital
signal processors.
●Usually contain an embedded operating system (either
general purpose or real time operating system) for
functioning.
Classification Based on Complexity
and Performance (continued)
● Large-Scale Embedded Systems
● Highly complex in hardware and firmware (software) requirements.
● They are employed in mission critical applications
demanding high performance.
● Usually built around high performance 32-bit or 64-bit RISC
processors/controllers or Reconfigurable System on Chip (RSoC)
or multi- core processors and programmable logic devices.
● May contain multiple processors/controllers and co-units/
hardware accelerators for offloading the processing
requirements from the main processor of the system.
● Decoding/encoding of media, cryptographic function
implementation, etc. are examples of processing requirements
which can be implemented using a co-processor/hardware
accelerator.
● Usually contain a high performance real time operating system
(RTOS) for
Classification Based on
Deterministic Behaviour
● Applicable for ‘Real Time’ systems.
● The application/task execution behaviour can be
either deterministic or non-deterministic.
● Based on the execution behaviour, real time embedded
systems are classified into Hard Real Time and Soft Real
Time systems.
Classification Based on Triggering
● Embedded systems which are ‘Reactive’ in nature (like
process control systems in industrial control applications)
can be classified based on the trigger.
● Reactive systems can be either event-triggered or time-
triggered.
Major Application Areas of
Embedded Systems
1. Consumer electronics: Camcorders, cameras, etc.
2. Household appliances: Television, DVD players, washing
machine, refrigerators, microwave oven, etc.
3. Home automation and security systems: Air
conditioners, sprinklers, intruder detection alarms,
closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, fire alarms,
etc.
4. Automotive industry: Anti-lock braking systems (ABS),
engine control, ignition systems, automatic navigation
systems, etc.
5. Telecom: Cellular telephones, telephone switches,
Major Application Areas of
Embedded Systems (continued)
6. Computer peripherals: Printers, scanners, fax machines, etc.
7. Computer networking systems: Network routers, switches,
hubs, firewalls, etc.
8. Healthcare: Different kinds of scanners, EEG, ECG machines,
etc.
9. Measurements & Instrumentation: Digital multimeters,
digital CROs, logic analyzers, PLC systems, etc.
10. Banking & Retail: Automated teller machines (ATM) and
currency counters, point of sales (POS), etc.
11. Card readers: Barcode, smart card readers, hand held
Purpose of Embedded Systems
● Each embedded system is designed to serve the purpose of
any one or a combination of the following tasks:
1. Data Collection/Storage/Representation
2. Data Communication
3. Data (Signal) Processing
4. Monitoring
5. Control
6. Application Specific User Interface
Purpose of Embedded
Systems (continued)
● Data Collection/Storage/Representation
●Embedded systems designed for the purpose
of data collection performs acquisition of
data from the external world.
●Data collection is usually done for
storage, analysis, manipulation and
transmission.
●The term "data" refers all kinds of ● A digital camera is a typical
example of an embedded
information, viz. text, voice, image, video, system with data collection/
electrical signals and any other measurable storage/representation of
data.
quantities. ● Images are captured and the
●Data can be either analog (continuous) or captured image may be stored
within the memory of the
digital (discrete). camera.
●The collected data may be stored or ● The captured image can also
transmitted or it may be processed or it may be presented to the user
through a graphic LCD unit.
be deleted instantly after giving a meaningful
Purpose of Embedded
Systems (continued)
● Data Communication
●Embedded data communication systems
are deployed in applications ranging from
complex satellite communication systems
to simple home networking systems.
● The transmission is achieved either by a Fig: A wireless network router
wire- line medium or by a wireless for data communication
medium. ● Network hubs, routers,
switches, etc. are typical
● The data collecting embedded terminal examples of dedicated data
transmission embedded
itself can incorporate data systems.
communication units like wireless ● They act as mediators in data
communication and provide
modules (Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, EDGE, various features like data
security, monitoring etc.
GPRS, etc.) or wire-line modules (RS-
232C, USB, TCP/IP, PS2, etc.).
Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
● Data (Signal) Processing
●The data (voice, image, video, electrical
signals and other measurable quantities)
collected by embedded systems may be
used for various kinds of data processing.
●Embedded systems with signal
processing functionalities are
● A digital hearing aid is a
demandinginsignal
employed processing like
applications typical example of an
embedded system employing
speech coding, synthesis, audio data processing.
video codec, transmission ● Digital hearing aid improves
the hearing capacity of
applications, etc. hearing impaired persons.
Purpose of Embedded
Systems (continued)
● Monitoring
● Almost embedded products coming under the
medical domain are used for monitoring.
● A very good example is the electro cardiogram
(ECG)
machine for monitoring the heartbeat of a
patient.
● The machine is intended to do the monitoring of the Fig: A patient monitoring system
● Some other examples of embedded
heartbeat. for monitoring heartbeat
monitoring
●systems
function are measuring
It cannot with
impose control over the heartbeat.
instruments like digital CRO, digital
●multimeters,
The sensors used in ECG
logic are the different
analyzers, etc. electrodes
used in
connected to the patient's body.
Control & Instrumentation applications.
Purpose of Embedded
Systems (continued)
● Control
●Embedded systems with control
functionalities impose control over some
variables according to the changes in input
variables.
●A system with control functionality contains
both sensors and actuators.
● An Air Conditioner System
●Sensors are connected to the input port for used to control the room
temperature to a specified limit
capturing the changes in environmental is a typical example for
variable or measuring variable. embedded system for control
purpose.
●The actuators connected to the output port ● An air conditioner contains a
are controlled according to the changes in room temperature-sensing
element (sensor) which may
input variable to put an impact on the be a thermistor and a
controlling variable to bring the controlled handheld unit for setting up
(feeding) the desired
variable to the specified range. temperature.
Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
● Application Specific User Interface
●These are embedded systems with
application-specific user interfaces like
buttons, switches, keypad, lights, bells,
display units, etc.
●Mobile phone is an example for this.
●In mobile phone the user interface is
provided
through the keypad, graphic LCD ● A mobile phone is an example
for embedded system with an
module, system speaker, vibration application-specific user
interfaces.
alert, etc.
A Typical Embedded
System
A Typical Embedded System

Fig: Elements of an Embedded

Harvard vs. Von-Neumann Processor/
ControIIer Architecture (continued)
Harvard Architecture Von-Neumann Architecture
Separate buses for instruction and data fetching Single shared bus for instruction and data
Easier to pipeline, so high performance fetching
Low performance compared to
can be achieved Harvard architecture
Comparatively high cost Cheaper
No memory alignment problems Allows self modifying codes
Since data memory and program memory Since data memory and program memory
are stored physically in different locations, are stored physically in the same chip,
no chances for accidental corruption of chances for accidental corruption of
program memory program memory
 A Typical Embedded System
●(continued)
It contains a single chip controller, which acts as the master
brain of the system.
● The controller can be
●A microprocessor or
●A microcontroller or
●A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device or
●A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or
●An Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)/Application
Specific Standard Product (ASSP)
 A Typical Embedded System
●(continued)
An embedded system can be viewed as a reactive system.
● The control is achieved by processing the information
coming from the sensors and user interfaces, and
controlling some actuators that regulate the physical
variable.
● Key boards, push button switches, etc. are examples for
common user interface input devices.
● LEDs, liquid crystal displays, piezoelectric buzzers, etc. are
examples for common user interface output devices for a
typical embedded system.
 A Typical Embedded System
(continued)
● The memory of the system is responsible for holding the control algorithm and
other important configuration details.
● For most of embedded systems, the memory for storing the algorithm or configuration
data is of fixed type, which is a kind of Read Only Memory (ROM).
● It is not available for the end user for modifications
● The memory is protected from unwanted user interaction by implementing some
kind of memory protection mechanism.
● The most common types of memories used in embedded systems for control
algorithm storage are PROM, UVEPROM, EEPROM and FLASH.

● Sometimes the system requires temporary memory for performing arithmetic

operations or control algorithm execution and this type of memory is known as
"working memory".
● Random Access Memory (RAM) is used in most of the systems as the working
A Typical Embedded System
(continued)
● Various types of RAM like SRAM, DRAM and NVRAM are used for this
purpose.
 A Typical Embedded System
●(continued)
Apart from these, communication interface is essential for
communicating with various subsystems of the embedded
system and with the external world.
● The communication interfaces may be used to achieve
onboard (I2C, SPI, UART, parallel bus interface, etc.) or
external communication (wireless interfaces like Infrared,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
 RISC vs. CISC Processors/
●Controllers
RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing.
●All RISC processors/controllers possess lesser number of
instructions, typically in the range of 30 to 40.
●E.g.: Atmel AVR microcontroller – its instruction set contains
only 32 instructions.
●CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computing.
● The instruction set is complex and instructions are high in
number.
●E.g.: 8051 microcontroller – its instruction set
contains 255 instructions.
RISC CISC

Lesser number of instructions Greater number of instructions

Instruction pipelining and increased execution speed Generally no instruction pipelining feature

Orthogonal instruction set (Allows each instruction to operate Non-orthogonal instruction set (All instructions are not allowed
on any register and use any addressing mode) to operate on any register and use any addressing mode. It is
instruction-specific)
Operations are performed on registers only, the only Operations are performed on registers or memory depending on
memory operations are load and store the instruction

A large number of registers are available Limited number of general purpose registers

Programmer needs to write more code to execute a task since Instructions are like macros in C language. A programmer can
the instructions are simpler ones achieve the desired functionality with a single instruction which
in turn provides the effect of using more simpler single
instructions in RISC
Single, fixed length instructions Variable length instructions

Less silicon usage and pin count More silicon usage since more additional decoder logic is
required to implement the complex instruction decoding

With Harvard Architecture Can be Harvard or Von-Neumann Architecture

Harvard vs. Von-Neumann
Processor/ControIIer
● Von-Neumann Architecture
Architecture
●Microprocessors/controllers based on the Von-Neumann
architecture share a single common bus for fetching both
instructions and data.
● Program instructions and data are stored in a common main
memory.
●They first fetch an instruction and then fetch the data to
support the instruction from code memory.
● The two separate fetches slows down the controller's operation.
●Von-Neumann architecture is also referred as Princeton
architecture, since it was developed by the Princeton University.
Harvard vs. Von-Neumann Processor/
ControIIer Architecture (continued)
● Harvard Architecture
●Microprocessors/controllers based on the Harvard
architecture will have separate data bus and instruction bus.
● This allows the data transfer and program fetching to occur
simultaneously on both buses.
●The data memory can be read and written while the program
memory is being accessed.
●These separated data memory and code memory buses
allow one instruction to execute while the next instruction is
fetched ("pre- fetching").
● The pre-fetch theoretically allows much faster execution than Von-
Neumann architecture.
Big-Endian [Link]-Endian
● Endianness specifies order in which the data is stored
in the memory by processor operations in a multi byte
Processors/Controllers
system.
● Suppose the word length is two byte then data can be
stored in memory in two different ways:
1. Higher order of data byte at the higher memory and lower
order of data byte at location just below the higher memory
– Little-Endian
● E.g.: Intel x86 Processors
2. Lower order of data byte at the higher memory and higher
order of data byte at location just below the higher memory –
Big-Endian
● E.g.: Motorola 68000 Series Processors
Big-Endian vs. Little-Endian
Processors/Controllers (continued)
● Little-endian means the lower-order byte of the data is
stored in memory at the lowest address, and the higher-
order byte at the highest address. (The little end comes
first.)
●For example, a 4 byte long integer Byte3 Byte2 Byte1 Byte0
will be stored in the memory as shown below:
Big-Endian vs. Little-Endian
Processors/Controllers (continued)
● Big-endian means the higher-order byte of the data is
stored in memory at the lowest address, and the lower-
order byte at the highest address. (The big end comes
first.)
●For example, a 4 byte long integer Byte3 Byte2 Byte1 Byte0
will be stored in the memory as shown below:
Memory
Memory
● Memory is an important part of a processor/controller
based embedded systems.
● Some of the processors/controllers contain built in
memory and this memory is referred as on-chip memory.
● Others do not contain any memory inside the chip and
requires external memory to be connected with the
controller/processor to store the control algorithm. It is
called off-chip memory.
● Also some working memory is required for holding data
temporarily during certain operations.
 Program Storage Memory
●(ROM)
The program memory or code storage memory of an embedded
system stores the program instructions.
● The code memory retains its contents even after the power is
turned off. It is generally known as non-volatile storage memory.
● It can be classified into different types as shown:
 Masked ROM (MROM)
● Masked ROM is a one-time programmable device.
● Masked ROM makes use of the hardwired
technology for storing data.
● The device is factory programmed by masking
and metallisation process at the time of
production itself, according to the data provided
by the end user.
● Advantage – low cost for high volume
production.
● Limitation – inability to modify the device
firmware against firmware upgrades.
● Since the MROM is permanent in bit storage, it
is not possible to alter the bit information.
Masked ROM (MROM) (continued)
● Different mechanisms are used for the masking process
of the ROM, like
1. Creation of an enhancement or depletion mode
transistor through channel implant.
2. By creating the memory cell either using a standard
transistor or a high threshold transistor.
● In the high threshold mode, the supply voltage required to turn
ON the transistor is above the normal ROM IC operating
voltage.
● This ensures that the transistor is always off and the
Programmable Read Only
Memory (PROM) / (OTP)
● One Time Programmable Memory (OTP) or PROM is not pre-
programmed by the manufacturer.
● The end user is responsible for programming these
devices.
● This memory has nichrome or polysilicon wires arranged
in a matrix. These wires can be functionally viewed as
fuses.
● It is programmed by a PROM programmer which
selectively burns the fuses according to the bit
pattern to be stored.
● Fuses which are not blown/burned represents a logic “1"
whereas fuses which are blown/burned represents a logic
0 .
● The default state is logic "1".
● OTP is widely used for commercial production of
Erasable Programmable Read
Only Memory (EPROM)
● Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM)
gives the flexibility to re-program the same chip.
● EPROM stores the bit information by charging the
floating gate of an FET.
● Bit information is stored by using an EPROM
programmer, which applies high voltage to charge the
floating gate.
● EPROM contains a quartz crystal window for
erasing the stored information.
● If the window is exposed to ultraviolet rays for a fixed
duration, the entire memory will be erased.
● Even though the EPROM chip is flexible in terms of re-
programmability, it needs to be taken out of the circuit
board and put in a UV eraser device for 20 to 30
minutes.
● It is a tedious and time-consuming process.
Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read only Memory (EEPROM)
● The information contained in the EEPROM memory can
be altered by using electrical signals at the register/
byte level.
● They can be erased and reprogrammed in-circuit.

● These chips include a chip erase mode and in this mode

they can be erased in a few milliseconds.
● It provides greater flexibility for system design.

● The only limitation is their capacity is limited (a few

kilobytes) when compared with the standard ROM.
FLASH MEMORY
● FLASH memory is a variation of EEPROM technology – It
combines the re- programmability of EEPROM and the high
capacity of standard ROMs.
● FLASH is the latest ROM technology.
● Most popular ROM technology used in today's embedded
designs.
● FLASH memory is organised as sectors (blocks) or pages.
● FLASH memory stores information in an array of floating gate
MOSFET transistors.
● The erasing of memory can be done at sector level or page level
without affecting the other sectors or pages.
● Each sector/page should be erased before re-programming.
● The typical erasable capacity of FLASH is 1000 cycles.
Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM)
● Non-volatile RAM is a random access memory
with battery backup.
● It contains static RAM based memory and a
minute battery for providing supply to the
memory in the absence of external power
supply.
● The memory and battery are packed together in
a single package.
● The life span of NVRAM is expected to be
around 10 years.
● E.g.: DS1644 from Maxim/Dallas is an example
of 32KB NVRAM.
Read-Write Memory/Random
Access Memory (RAM)
● RAM is the data memory or working memory of the controller/
processor.
● Controller/processor can read from it and write to it.
● RAM is volatile – when the power is turned off, all the
contents are destroyed.
● RAM is a direct access memory – we can access the desired
memory location directly without the need for traversing
through the entire memory locations to reach the desired
memory position (i.e. random access of memory location).
● This is in contrast to the Sequential Access Memory (SAM), where the
desired memory location is accessed by either traversing through the
entire memory or through a 'seek' method. Magnetic tapes, CD ROMs,
etc. are examples of sequential access memories.
Read-Write Memory/Random
Access Memory (RAM) (continued)
● RAM generally falls into three categories: Static RAM
(SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Non-Volatile RAM
(NVRAM).
Static RAM (SRAM)
● Static RAM stores data in the form of voltage.
● They are made up of flip-flops.
● Static RAM is the fastest form of RAM available.
● Fast due to its resistive networking and switching capabilities.
● In typical implementation, an SRAM cell (bit) is realised
using six transistors (or 6 MOSFETs).
●Four of the transistors are used for building the latch (flip-flop)
part of the memory cell and two for controlling the access.
Static RAM (SRAM) (continued)
● In its simplest representation an SRAM cell can be
visualised as shown in the figure below:

Fig: SRAM cell

implementation
Static RAM (SRAM) (continued)
● This implementation in its simpler form can be visualised as
two cross-coupled inverters with read/write control through
transistors.
● The four transistors in the middle form the cross-coupled
inverters.
● This can be visualised as shown in the figure below:

Fig: Visualisation of SRAM

cell
 Static RAM (SRAM)
●(continued)
The access to the memory cell is controlled by Word Line,
which controls the access transistors (MOSFETs) Q5 and
Q6.
● The access transistors control the connection to bit lines B & B\.
● In order to write a value to the memory cell, apply the desired
value to the bit control lines (For writing 1, make B = 1 and B\
= 0; For writing 0, make B = 0 and B\ = 1) and assert the Word
Line (Make Word line high).
● This operation latches the bit written in the flip-flop.
● For reading the content of the memory cell, assert both B and
B\ bit lines to 1 and set the Word line to 1.
● The major limitations of SRAM are low capacity and high cost.
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
● Dynamic RAM stores data in the form of charge.
● They are made up of MOS transistor gates.
● Advantages – high density and low cost compared to SRAM.
● Disadvantage – since the information is stored as charge it
gets leaked off with time and to prevent this they need to be
refreshed periodically.
● Special circuits called DRAM controllers are used for the
refreshing operation.
● The refresh operation is done periodically in milliseconds
interval.
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) (continued)
● Figure below illustrates the typical implementation of a
DRAM cell.
● The MOSFET acts as the gate for the incoming and
outgoing data whereas the capacitor acts as the bit
storage unit.

Fig: DRAM cell

implementation
SRAM vs DRAM
● Table given below summarises the relative merits and
demerits of SRAM and DRAM technology.
SRAM Cell DRAM Cell
Made up of 6 CMOS transistors (MOSFET) Made up of a MOSFET and a capacitor
Doesn't require refreshing Requires refreshing
Low capacity (Less dense) High capacity (Highly dense)
More expensive Less expensive
Fast in operation. Typical access time is 10ns Slow in operation due to refresh
requirements. Typical access time is 60ns.
Write operation is faster than read operation.
Sensors and
Actuators
Sensors and Actuators
● An embedded system is in constant interaction with the real
world and the controlling/monitoring functions executed by
the embedded system is achieved in accordance with the
changes happening to the real world.
● The changes in system environment or variables are detected
by the sensors connected to the input port of the embedded
system.
● If the embedded system is designed for any controlling
purpose, the system will produce some changes in the
controlling variable to bring the controlled variable to the
desired value.
●It is achieved through an actuator connected to the output port
Sensors and Actuators (continued)
● A sensor is a transducer device that converts energy from
one form to another for any measurement or control purpose.
●E.g.: Temperature sensor, humidity sensor, etc.
● An actuator is a form of transducer device (mechanical or
electrical) which converts signals to corresponding physical
action (motion).
● Actuator acts as an output device.
● E.g.: Stepper motor
The I/O Subsystem
● The I/O subsystem of the embedded system facilitates the
interaction of the embedded system with the external world.
● The interaction happens through the sensors and
actuators connected to the input and output ports
respectively of the embedded system.
● The sensors may not be directly interfaced to the input ports,
instead they may be interfaced through signal conditioning
and translating systems like ADC, optocouplers, etc.
Optocoupler
● Optocoupler is a solid state device to isolate two parts of a
circuit.
● Optocoupler combines an LED and a photo-transistor in a
single housing.
● Figure illustrates the functioning of an optocoupler device.

Fig: An optocoupler
device
Optocoupler (continued)
● In electronic circuits, an optocoupler is used for suppressing
interference in data communication, circuit isolation, high
voltage separation, simultaneous separation and signal
intensification, etc.
● Optocouplers can be used in either input circuits or in
output circuits.
● Optocoupler is available as ICs from different
semiconductor manufacturers.
●The MCT2M IC from Fairchild semiconductor is an
example for optocoupler IC.
Optocoupler (continued)
● Figure illustrates the usage of optocoupler in input circuit and
output circuit of an embedded system with a microcontroller
as the system core.

Fig: Optocoupler in Input and Output

circuit
Communication
Interface
Communication Interface
● Communication interface is essential for communicating with
various subsystems of the embedded system and with the
external world.
● For an embedded product, the communication interface can be
viewed in two different perspectives:
● Onboard Communication Interface (Device/board level
communication interface)
● E.g.: Serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, 1-Wire, etc and parallel bus interface.
● External Communication Interface (Product level communication
interface)
● E.g.: Wireless interfaces like Infrared (IR), Bluetooth (BT), Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi),
Radio Frequency waves (RF), GPRS, etc. and wired interfaces like RS-232C/
Onboard Communication Interfaces
●An embedded system is a combination of different types
of components (chips/devices) arranged on a printed
circuit board (PCB).
●Onboard Communication Interface refers to the different
communication channels/buses for interconnecting the
various integrated circuits and other peripherals within
the embedded system.
●E.g.: Serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, 1-Wire, etc and
parallel bus interface
Inter Integrated Circuit
(I2C)
●The Inter Bus
2
Integrated Circuit Bus (I2C or I C Pronounced 'I square
C') is a synchronous bi-directional half duplex two wire serial
interface bus.
●(Half duplex - one-directional communication at a given point of
time)
●The concept of I2C bus was developed by Philips Semiconductors
in the early 1980s.
●The original intention of I2C was to provide an easy way of
connection between a microprocessor/microcontroller system
and the peripheral chips in television sets.
●The I2C bus comprise of two bus lines:
● Serial Clock (SCL line) – responsible for generating synchronisation clock
Inter Integrated Circuit
(I2C) Bus (continued)
● I2C bus is a shared bus system to which many number of I2C
devices can be connected.
● Devices connected to the I2C bus can act as either 'Master' or
'Slave’.
● The 'Master' device is responsible for controlling the
communication by initiating/terminating data transfer, sending data
and generating necessary synchronisation clock pulses.
● 'Slave' devices wait for the commands from the master and
respond upon receiving the commands.
● 'Master' and 'Slave' devices can act as either transmitter or
receiver.
● Regardless whether a master is acting as transmitter or
receiver, the synchronisation clock signal is generated by the
'Master' device only.
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
● The following bus interface diagram illustrates the
connection of master and slave devices on the I2C bus.

Fig: I2C Bus

Interfacing
Inter Integrated Circuit
(I2C) Bus (continued)
● The I2C bus interface is built around an input buffer and an open
drain or collector transistor.
● When the bus is in the idle state, the open drain/collector transistor
will be in the floating state and the output lines (SDA and SCL) switch
to the 'High Impedance' state.
● For proper operation of the bus, both the bus lines should be pulled
to the supply voltage (+5 V for TTL family and +3.3V for CMOS
family devices) using pull-up resistors.
● The typical value of resistors used in pull-up is 2.2K.
● With pull-up resistors, the output lines of the bus in the idle state will be
'HIGH'
● The address of a I2C device is assigned by hardwiring the address
lines of the device to the desired logic level.
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
●The sequence of operations for communicating with an I2C
slave device is listed below:
1. The master device pulls the clock line (SCL) of the bus to 'HIGH'
2. The master device pulls the data line (SDA) 'LOW', when the SCL
line is at logic 'HIGH' (This is the 'Start' condition for data
transfer)
3. The master device sends the address (7 bit or 10 bit wide) of
the 'slave' device to which it wants to communicate, over the
SDA line.
● Clock pulses are generated at the SCL line for synchronising the bit
reception by the slave device.
● The MSB of the data is always transmitted first.
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
4. The master device sends the Read or Write bit (Bit value = 1 Read
operation; Bit value = 0 Write operation) according to the requirement
5. The master device waits for the acknowledgement bit from the slave device
whose address is sent on the bus along with the Read/ Write operation
command.
●Slave devices connected to the bus compares the address received with the address
assigned to them
6. The slave device with the address requested by the master device
responds by sending an acknowledge bit (Bit value 1) over the SDA line
7. Upon receiving the acknowledge bit, the Master device sends the 8 bit data to
the
slave device over SDA line, if the requested operation is 'Write to device’.
●If the requested operation is 'Read from device', the slave device sends data to the
master over the SDA line
8. The master device waits for the acknowledgement bit from the device upon
byte transfer complete for a write operation and sends an acknowledge bit
to the Slave device for a read operation
9. The master device terminates the transfer by pulling the SDA line 'HIGH'
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
● I2C bus supports three different data rates:
● Standard mode (Data rate up to 100kbits/sec (100
kbps))
● Fast mode (Data rate up to 400kbits/sec (400 kbps))
● High speed mode (Data rate up to 3.4Mbits/sec (3.4
Mbps))
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
● The Serial Peripheral Interface Bus (SPI) is a synchronous bi-
directional full duplex four-wire serial interface bus.
● The concept of SPI was introduced by Motorola.
● SPI is a single master multi-slave system.
● There can be more than one masters, but only one master device
can be active at any given point of time.
● SPI requires four signal lines for communication. They are:
● Master Out Slave In (MOSI) – Signal line carrying the data from master
to slave device. It is also known as Slave Input/SIave Data In (SI/SDI)
● Master In Slave Out (MISO) – Signal line carrying the data from slave to
master device. It is also known as Slave Output (SO/SDO)
● Serial Clock (SCLK) – Signal line carrying the clock signals
● Slave Select (SS) – Signal line for slave device select. It is an active low
signal
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
● The bus interface diagram shown in the figure
illustrates the connection of master and slave devices
on the SPI bus.

Fig: SPI Bus

Interfacing
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
● The master device is responsible for generating the clock signal.
● It selects the required slave device by asserting the corresponding
slave device's slave select signal 'LOW’.
● The data out line (MISO) of all the slave devices when not selected
floats at high impedance state.
● The serial data transmission through SPI bus is fully configurable.
● SPI devices contain a certain set of registers for holding these
configurations.
● The control register holds the various configuration
parameters like master/slave selection for the device, baud
rate selection for communication, clock signal control, etc.
● The status register holds the status of various conditions for
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
● SPI works on the principle of 'Shift Register’.
● The master and slave devices contain a special shift register for the data to
transmit or receive.
● The size of the shift register is device dependent. Normally it is a multiple of 8.
● During transmission from the master to slave, the data in the master's shift
register is shifted out to the MOSI pin and it enters the shift register of the
slave device through the MOSI pin of the slave device.
● At the same time the shifted out data bit from the slave device's shift register
enters the shift register of the master device through MISO pin.
● In summary, the shift registers of 'master' and 'slave' devices form a circular
buffer.
● When compared to I2C, SPI bus is most suitable for applications requiring
transfer of data in ' streams '.
● The only limitation is SPI doesn't support an acknowledgement mechanism.
External Communication Interfaces
● External Communication Interface refers to the different
communication channels/buses used by the embedded
system to communicate with the external world.
● E.g.: RS-232 C & RS-485, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE
1394 (Firewire), Infrared (IR), Bluetooth (BT), Wi-Fi,
ZigBee, GPRS, etc.
 Infrared
●(IrDA)
Infrared (IrDA) is a serial, half duplex, line of sight based wireless
technology for data communication between devices.
● It is in use from the olden days of communication and you may be very
familiar with it.
● E.g.: The remote control of TV, VCD player, etc. works on Infrared.
● Infrared communication technique uses infrared waves of the
electromagnetic spectrum for transmitting the data.
● It supports point-point and point-to-multipoint communication,
provided all devices involved in the communication are within the
line of sight.
● The typical communication range for IrDA lies in the range 10 cm to 1
m.
Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
● IR supports data rates ranging from 9600bits/second to
16Mbps.
● Depending on the speed of data transmission IR is classified
into:
● Serial IR (SIR) – supports data rates ranging from 9600bps to
115.2kbps.
● Medium IR (MIR) – supports data rates of 0.576Mbps and
1.152Mbps.
● Fast IR (FIR) – supports data rates up to 4Mbps.
● Very Fast IR (VFIR) – supports high data rates up to 16Mbps.
● Ultra Fast IR (UFIR) – targeted to support a data rate up to
100Mbps.
 Infrared (IrDA)
●(continued)
IrDA communication involves a transmitter unit for transmitting the
data over IR and a receiver for receiving the data.
● Infrared Light Emitting Diode (LED) is the IR source for transmitter
and at the receiving end a photodiode acts as the receiver.
● Both transmitter and receiver unit will be present in each
device supporting IrDA communication for bidirectional
data transfer.
● Such IR units are known as 'Transceiver’.
● Certain devices like a TV remote control always require
unidirectional communication and so they contain either the
transmitter or receiver unit.
● The remote control unit contains the transmitter unit and TV contains
 Infrared (IrDA)
(continued)
● Infrared Data Association (IrDA ) is the regulatory body responsible for
defining and licensing the specifications for IR data communication.
● IR communication has two essential parts: a physical link part and a
protocol part.
● The physical link is responsible for the physical transmission of data between
devices supporting IR communication
● Protocol part is responsible for defining the rules of communication.
● The physical link works on the wireless principle making use of
Infrared for communication.
● The IrDA specifications include the standard for both physical link and
protocol layer.
● The IrDA control protocol contains implementations for Physical
Layer (PHY), Media Access Control (MAC) and Logical Link Control
(LLC).
Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
● IrDA is a popular interface for file exchange and data transfer
in low cost devices.
● IrDA was the prominent communication channel in mobile
phones before Bluetooth's existence.
Bluetooth (BT)
● Bluetooth is a low cost, low power, short range wireless
technology for data and voice communication.
● Bluetooth was first proposed by Ericsson in 1994.
● Bluetooth operates at 2.4GHz of the Radio Frequency
spectrum and uses the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
(FHSS) technique for communication.
● It supports a data rate of up to 1Mbps and a range of
approximately 30 feet for data communication.
Bluetooth (BT) (continued)
● Bluetooth communication has two essential parts – a
physical link part and a protocol part.
●The physical link is responsible for the physical transmission
of data between devices supporting Bluetooth communication
●The protocol part is responsible for defining the
rules of communication.
● The physical link works on the wireless principle making
use of RF waves for communication.
● Bluetooth enabled devices essentially contain a Bluetooth
wireless radio for the transmission and reception of data.
 Bluetooth (BT)
●(continued)
The rules governing the Bluetooth communication is
implemented in the 'Bluetooth protocol stack’.
● The Bluetooth communication IC holds the stack.
● Each Bluetooth device will have a 48 bit unique identification number.
● Bluetooth communication follows packet based data transfer.
● Bluetooth supports point-to-point (device to device) and point-to-
multipoint (device to multiple device broadcasting) wireless
communication.
● The point-to-point communication follows the master-slave relationship.
● A Bluetooth device can function as either master or slave.
● When a network is formed with one Bluetooth device as master and
more than one device as slaves, it is called a Piconet.
● A Piconet supports a maximum of seven slave devices.
 Bluetooth (BT)
(continued)
● Bluetooth is the favourite choice for short range data communication in
handheld embedded devices.
● Bluetooth technology is very popular among cell phone users as they are the
easiest communication channel for transferring ringtones, music files,
pictures, media files, etc. between neighbouring Bluetooth enabled phones.
● The Bluetooth standard specifies the minimum requirements that a Bluetooth
device must support for a specific usage scenario.
● The Generic Access Profile (GAP) defines the requirements for detecting a
Bluetooth device and establishing a connection with it.
● All other specific usage profiles are based on GAP.
● Serial Port Profile (SPP) for serial data communication, File Transfer Profile (FTP)
for file transfer between devices, Human Interface Device (HID) for supporting
human interface devices like keyboard and mouse are examples for Bluetooth
profiles.
● The specifications for Bluetooth communication is defined and licensed
by the standards body 'Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)'.
Wi-Fi
● Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity is the popular wireless communication
technique for networked communication of devices.
● Wi-Fi follows the IEEE 802.11 standard.
● Wi-Fi is intended for network communication and it supports Internet
Protocol (IP) based communication.
● It is essential to have device identities in a multipoint
communication to address specific devices for data
communication.
● In an IP based communication each device is identified by an IP
address, which is unique to each device on the network.
Wi-Fi (continued)
● Wi-Fi based communications require an intermediate agent
called Wi-Fi router/Wireless Access point to manage the
communications.
● The Wi-Fi router is responsible for restricting the access to a network,
assigning IP address to devices on the network, routing data packets
to the intended devices on the network.
● Wi-Fi enabled devices contain a wireless adaptor for transmitting and
receiving data in the form of radio signals through an antenna.
● The hardware part of it is known as Wi-Fi Radio.
● Wi-Fi operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz of radio spectrum and they co-
exist with other ISM band devices like Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi (continued)
● Figure illustrates the typical interfacing of devices in a
Wi-Fi network.

Fig: Wi-Fi
Network
 Wi-Fi
●(continued)
For communicating with devices over a Wi-Fi network, the device
when its Wi-Fi radio is turned ON, searches the available Wi-Fi
network in its vicinity and lists out the Service Set Identifier (SSID)
of the available networks.
● If the network is security enabled, a password may be
required to connect to a particular SSID.
● Wi-Fi employs different security mechanisms like Wired
Equivalency Privacy (WEP), Wireless Protected Access (WPA),
etc. for securing the data communication.
● Wi-Fi supports data rates ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.73 Gbps
depending on the standards (802.11a/b/g/n) and access/
modulation method.
● Depending on the type of antenna and usage location (indoor/
outdoor), Wi-Fi offers a range of 100 to 300 feet.
 ZigBe
●e
ZigBee is a low power, low cost, wireless network communication
protocol based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard.
● ZigBee is targeted for low power, low data rate and secure
applications for Wireless Personal Area Networking (WPAN).
● The ZigBee specifications support a robust mesh network containing
multiple nodes.
● This networking strategy makes the network reliable by permitting
messages to travel through a number of different paths to get from one
node to another.
● ZigBee operates worldwide at the unlicensed bands of Radio
spectrum, mainly at 2.400 to 2.484 GHz, 902 to 928 MHz and 868.0 to
868.6 MHz.
 ZigBee
●(continued)
In the ZigBee terminology, each ZigBee device falls under any one
of the following ZigBee device category:
● ZigBee Coordinator (ZC)/Network Coordinator
● The ZigBee coordinator acts as the root of the ZigBee network.
● The ZC is responsible for initiating the ZigBee network and it has the
capability to store information about the network.
● ZigBee Router (ZR)/Full function Device (FFD)
● Responsible for passing information from device to another device or to
another ZR.
● ZigBee End Device (ZED)/Reduced Function Device (RFD):
● End device containing ZigBee functionality for data communication.
● It can talk only with a ZR or ZC and doesn't have the capability to act as a
mediator for transferring data from one device to another.
ZigBee (continued)
● The diagram shown in figure gives an overview of ZC, ZED
and ZR in a ZigBee network.

Fig: A ZigBee network

model
ZigBee (continued)
● ZigBee is primarily targeting application areas like home &
industrial automation, energy management, home control/
security, medical/patient tracking, logistics & asset tracking and
sensor networks & active RFID.
● Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), smoke detectors, wireless
telemetry, HVAC control, heating control, lighting controls,
environmental controls, etc. are examples for applications which
can make use of the ZigBee technology.
● The specifications for ZigBee is developed and managed by the
ZigBee Alliance, a non-profit consortium of leading
semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs and
end-users worldwide.
 General Packet Radio Service
●(GPRS)
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a communication
technique for transferring data over a mobile communication
network like GSM.
● Data is sent as packets in GPRS communication.
● The transmitting device splits the data into several related
packets.
● At the receiving end the data is re-constructed by
combining the received data packets.
● GPRS supports a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 171.2
kbps.
● In GPRS communication, the radio channel is concurrently
shared between several users instead of dedicating a radio
References
[Link] K V, “Introduction to Embedded Systems”, Tata McGraw Hill,
2009.
[Link] Kamal, “Embedded Systems: Architecture and
Programming”, Tata McGraw Hill, 2008.