Embedded Systems

Theory and Design

@Anupam Basu 1
 Course overview (contd)
Tentative contents:
1. Introduction to Embedded Computing
2. Embedded System Hardware
3. Embedded Computing Platform
4. Programming Embedded Systems
5. Embedded System Development
6. Case Study and Assignments for Designing a
Complete System

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 Course Overview
• Evaluation criteria:
• Term papers / Seminars/ Projects : 40% (20%
will be clubbed with end term marks and 20%
will contribute as Teacher's Assessment)
• Mid Term (written): 20%
• End Term (written): 40%

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 What is an Embedded System
An Embedded System is a microprocessor based
system that is embedded as a subsystem, in a
larger system (which may or may not be a
computer system).

I O

4
 Application areas
• Automotive electronics

• Aircraft electronics

• Trains

• Telecommunication

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 Application areas
•• Medical
Medical systems
systems

•• Military
Militaryapplications
applications

•• Authentication
Authentication
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 Application areas

• Consumer electronics

•• Fabrication
Fabricationequipment
equipment

•• Smart
Smart buildings
buildings
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 Essential Components
• Microprocessor / DSP
• Sensors
• Converters (A-D and D-A)
• Actuators
• Memory (On-chip and Off chip)
• Communication path with the interacting
environment
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 Embedded System Structure
(Generic)

Processor & D- Actuator

Sensor A-
ASICs A
D

Memory

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 Essential Considerations

• Response Time -- Real Time Systems

• Area
• Cost
• Portability
• Low Power (Battery Life)

 Fault Tolerance

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 Design Issues
(Hardware-Software Co-design)
• System Specification
– Functions, Real Time Constraints, Cost and Power
Constraints
• Hardware Software Partitioning
• Hardware Synthesis
• Software Synthesis and Code Generation
• Simulation
• Implementation

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 ES, MS and RTS
• All embedded systems are microprocessor based systems, but all
microprocessor based systems may not be amenable to embedding
(Area, Power, Cost, Payload parameters).
• Most of the embedded systems have real time constraints, but there
may be ES which are not hard RTS (for example off line Palm tops)
• There may be RTS which are not embedded (e.g. Separate Process
Control Computers in a network)
• Embedded Systems are not GPS; they are designed for dedicated
applications with specific interfaces with the sphere of control

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 General Characteristics of Embedded
Systems
• Perform a single task
– Usually not general purpose
• Increasingly high performance and real time constrained
• Power, cost and reliability are important considerations
• HW-SW systems
– Software is used for more features and flexibility
– Hardware (processors, ASICs, memory etc. are used
for performance and security

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 General Characteristics of Embedded
Systems (contd.)

Analog
ASIC s IO
Mem Digital
Processor
Cores

ASIPs and ASICs form a significant component

– Adv: customization  lower power, cost and enhanced performance
– Disadv: higher development effort (debuggers, compilers etc.) and
larger time to market
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 Classification of Embedded
Systems
• Distributed and Non distributed

• Reactive and Transformational

• Control dominated and Data dominated

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 Application Specific
Characteristics
• Application is known before the system is designed
• System is however made programmable for
– Feature upgrades
– Product differentiation
• Often application development occurs in parallel to system
development
– Hw-Sw partitioning should be as delayed as possible
• For upgrades design reuse is an important criterion
– IP reuse, object oriented development

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 DSP Characteristics
• Signals are increasingly being represented digitally as a sequence of
samples
• ADCs are moving closer to signals; RFs are also treated digitally
• Typical DSP processing includes:
– Filtering, DFT, DCT etc.
– Speech and image: Compression, decompression, encryption,
decryption etc.
– Modems: Equalization, noise and echo cancellation, better SNR
– Communication channel: encoding, decoding, equalization etc.

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 Distributed Characteristics
• Components may be physically distributed
• Communicating processes on multiple processors
• Dedicated hw connected through communicating channels

• Often economical
– 4 x 8 Bit controllers may be cheaper than a 32 bit
microcontroller
– Multiple processors can perform multiple time critical
tasks
– Better logistics – devices being controlled may be
@Anupam Basu
physically distributed 18
 Design Metrics
• Unit cost – the $ cost for each unit excluding development cost
• NRE cost: $ cost for design and development
• Size: The physical space reqd. – determined by bytes of sw,
number of gates and transistors in hw
• Performance: execution time or throughput of the system
• Power: lifetime of battery, cooling provisions
• Flexibility: ability to change functionality without heavy NRE cost

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 Design Metrics (contd.)
• Time to market = Time to prototype + Time to refine +
Time to produce in bulk
• Correctness: Test and Validation
• Safety:

• Often these metrics are contradictory – hence calls for

optimization
• Processor choice, partitioning decisions, compilation
knowledge
• Requires expertise in hw and sw both

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 Major Subtasks of Embedded System
Design
• Modeling the system to be designed and constraints
– Experimenting with different algorithms and their preliminary
evaluation
– Factoring the task into smaller subtasks and modeling their
interaction
• Refinement
• HW-SW partitioning
– Allocating the tasks into hw, sw running on custom hw or general
purpose hw
• Scheduling – allocation of time steps for several modules sharing the
same resource
• Implementation: Actual hw binding and sw code generation
• Simulation and Validation
• Iterate if necessary
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 What is Co-design?
• Traditional design
– SW and HW partitioning done at an early stage and
development henceforth proceeds independently
• CAD tools are focussed towards hardware synthesis
• For embedded systems we need several components
– DSPs, microprocessors, network and bus interface etc.
• HW-SW codesign allow hw and sw design to proceed in parallel
with interactions and feedback between the two processes
• Evaluation of trade offs and performance yields ultimate result

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 CAD for Embedded Systems
• Co-design: Joint optimization of hw and sw to optimize
design metrics
• Co-synthesis: Synthesizes designs from formal
specifications
• Rapid prototyping and design space exploration
• Many of the tasks are interrelated
• Intermediate evaluation is not easy as a later decision in
one path affects the other

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 A Mix of Disciplines
• Application Domain (Signal processing, control …)
• Software Engg. ( Design Process plays an important role)
• Programming Language
• Compilers and Operating System
• Architecture – Processor and IO techniques
• Parallel and Distributed Computing
• Real Time Systems

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 Importance of Embedded Software
and Embedded Processors
“... the New York Times has
estimated that the average Most of the
American comes into contact functionality
with about 60 micro- of embedded
processors every day....” systems
[Camposano, 1996] will be
implemented
in software!
Latest top-level BMWs
contain over 100 micro-
processors
[Personal communication]
@Anupam Basu
 Views on embedded System
• It is estimated that each year embedded software is written
five times as much as 'regular' software
• The vast majority of CPU-chips produced world-wide today
are used in the embedded market ... ; only a small portion of
CPU's is applied in PC's
• ... the number of software-constructors of Embedded
Systems will rise from 2 million in 1994 to 10 million in
2010;
... the number of constructors employed by software-
producers 'merely' rises from 0.6 million to 1.1 million.
[Department of Trade and Industry/ IDC Benelux BV: Embedded software
research in the Netherlands. Analysis and results, 1997
(according @Anupam
to: www.scintilla.utwente.nl/shintabi/engels/thema_text.html)]
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 Some problems
••How
Howcan
can we
wecapture
capture the
the required
requiredbehaviour
behaviour of
of complex
complex
systems
systems??
••How
Howdodowewevalidate
validatespecifications?
specifications?
••How
Howdodowewetranslate
translate specifications
specificationsefficiently
efficientlyinto
into
implementation?
implementation?
••Do
Do software
softwareengineers
engineers ever
ever consider
consider electrical
electrical power?
power?
••How
Howcancan we
wecheck
check that
that we
we meet
meet real-time
real-timeconstraints?
constraints?
••How
Howdo do we
wevalidate
validate embedded
embeddedreal-time
real-timesoftware?
software?
(large
(largevolumes
volumesof of data,
data, testing
testingmay
maybe be safety-critical)
safety-critical)

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