An example of an embedded system chip
1. Telephone decoupling electronics.
2. Multicolour LED (displaying network status).
3. Single colour LED (displaying USB satus).
4. Main processor
5. JTAG (Joint Test Action Group)
6. RAM (Random Access Memory)
7. Flash Memory
8. Power Supply Regulator
9.Main Power Supply fuse
10.Power connector
11. Reset Button
12.Quartz Crystal
13. Ethernet port
14. Ethernet transformer
15. Ethernet PHY trasmiter receiver
16. USB port
17. Telephone Port
18. Telephone connector fuses
An embedded system is a computer system with a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electrical system, often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today.
Properties typical of embedded computers when compared with general-purpose ones are e.g. low power consumption, small size, rugged operating ranges and low per-unit cost. This comes at the price of limited processing resources, which make them significantly more difficult to program and to interface with. However, by building intelligence mechanisms on the top of the hardware, taking advantage of possible existing sensors and the existence of a network of embedded units, we can both optimally manage available resources at the unit and network levels as well as provide augmented functionalities, well beyond those available. For example, intelligent techniques can be designed to manage power consumption of embedded systems.
Modern embedded systems are often based on micro controllers (i.e. CPUs with integrated memory or peripheral interfaces) but ordinary microprocessors (using external chips for memory and peripheral interface circuits) are also still common, especially in more complex systems. In either case, the processor(s) used may be types ranging from general purpose to specialized in certain class of computations, or even custom designed for the application at hand. A common standard class of dedicated processors is the digital signal processor (DSP).
Since the embedded system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can optimize it to reduce the size and cost of the product and increase the reliability and performance. Some embedded systems are mass-produced, benefiting from economies of scale.
Embedded systems range from portable devices such as digital watches and MP3 players, to large stationary installations like traffic lights, factory controllers, and largely complex systems like hybrid vehicles, MRI, and avionics. Complexity varies from low, with a single micro-controller chip, to very high with multiple units, peripherals and networks mounted inside a large chassis or enclosure.
HISTORY OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
One of the very first recognizably modern embedded systems was the Apollo Guidance Computer, developed by Charles Stark Draper at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. At the project's inception, the Apollo guidance computer was considered the riskiest item in the Apollo project as it employed the then newly developed monolithic integrated circuits to reduce the size and weight. An early mass-produced embedded system was the Autonetics D-17 guidance computer for the Minuteman missile, released in 1961. When the Minuteman II went into production in 1966, the D-17 was replaced with a new computer that was the first high-volume use of integrated circuits. This program alone reduced prices on quadnand gate IC's from $1000/each to $3/each, permitting their use in commercial products.
Since these early applications in the 1960s, embedded systems have come down in price and there has been a dramatic rise in processing power and functionality. An early micro processor for example, the Intel 4004, was designed for calculators and other small systems but still required external memory and support chips. In 1978 National Engineering Manufacturers Association released a "standard" for programmable microcontrollers, including almost any computer-based controllers, such as single board computers, numerical, and event-based controllers.
As the cost of microprocessors and microcontrollers fell it became feasible to replace expensive knob-based analog components such as potentiometers and variable capacitors with up/down buttons or knobs read out by a microprocessor even in consumer products. By the early 1980s, memory, input and output system components had been integrated into the same chip as the processor forming a microcontroller. Microcontrollers find applications where a general-purpose computer would be too costly.
A comparatively low-cost microcontroller may be programmed to fulfill the same role as a large number of separate components. Although in this context an embedded system is usually more complex than a traditional solution, most of the complexity is contained within the microcontroller itself. Very few additional components may be needed and most of the design effort is in the software. Software prototype and test can be quicker compared with the design and construction of a new circuit not using an embedded processor.
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