Embedded Systems

    Embedded systems might be most familiar to a electronics engineering student.  For any newbie , to get familiarize about them and know what are embedded systems have a look

.These were actually developed in the 1960s with the aim of reducing the size and weight of computers.

    The term embed simply means that you are going to embed certain features or technology,like computation(software and hardware) into a normal device without making it much complex.that collectively makes it an Embedded System.For example the IoT devices with computational ability are all embedded.Other than this In agriculture, machine in industries, mobile devices and so you can find embedded systems.There are more preferred to perform specific tasks , unlike those  for general purposes.

VLSIs(very large scale integrated circuits ) are advancements present in the embedded systems.They are more in number inside these systems.

Embedded systems are classified into real time ,stand alone, networked and mobile embedded syatems.

Architecture of Embedded Systems

    The architecture of any embedded system contains a hardware platform to work and software part to give the functionalities.The hardware may be like a microprocessor or microcontroller .It also has RTOS (real time operating system) to serve application without delays , checks priorities,and manipulates the work flow .On top of the hardware there lies an application software and system software.The system software means the compiler,debugger,drivers etc while application software implies wordpad,sheets,may be the IDE etc that enables to program the functionalities.These sytems also execute pr-programmed functions.

    The hardware  include all the physical components that make a embedded system board.Some basic hardware components of an embedded system include sensors,A-D converters, processors and actuators.The sensors can take in inputs and A-D converter is where the analog to digital conversion(vice versa ) occurs.Further the information collected  are processed and stored within its memory and final action is taking by the actuators may be motion,light etc(by converting the digital to analog signals).

    The components in an embedded system thus interacts with each other regardless if it is hardware or soft ware.Without knowing the functionalities going on within the components in the system it would be like back-breaking and challenging task for it.The embedded system firmware is to connect the hardware and software ,that are used in complex embedded systems.

    Every microcontroller that is a self-contained system with memory ,processor etc to control system in a chip . Simply the microcontrollers or microprocessors are the controllers and computers of embedded systems.The Arduino Uno which we simply use for most project is an embedded system.

Advantage 

    These systems actually prove better because of various reasons.One thing is that they are small and run fast.They are affordable and easy to manage.Also they are more reliable  with fewer connections.Long term use and higher stability.They outstand in the specific task for which it was initiated.

Disadvantage

    Although they have bought advantages in many aspects the data transfer between devices has been a difficult task.Moreover the hardware that could be embedded is limited.In case any problems arise,yo may need to reset it all and it is also difficult to upgrade.

Application

    As mentioned embedded systems only perform specific tasks.A device may be collection of embedded systems  to execute various tasks.What is most familiar embedded system to us.In our daily life we encounter many such embedded systems applications.Camera,printers,washing machine,digital alarm clocks,GPS systems etc all contain such systems o improve the efficiency and performance.They are also used in banking,computation,communication,finance,automobiles fields too.

    In automobiles, these systems serve as sensors,navigation systems etc.In your smartphones the camera,Operating system,microphones etc come into use.Also in industrial machine they perform the role of monitoring and control.

Embedded systems and IoT

     Embedded systems are acquiring rapid growth as various electronic appliances are being developed. IoT devices that have integrated sensors,processors and actuators also need hardware development.Thus these systems have always been  part of the IoT solutions by connecting web applications, protocols etc to create the embedded environment.Hence its always essential to know about embedded systems while involving in IoT projects.This has revolutionized the era of embedded devices.Smart phones,smart watches, are all applications of IoT.

Microprocessors and Microcontrollers 

Microprocessors contain only CPU and are bulky.They use external bus to interface with RAM ,ROm etc.eg.INTEL

Microcontrollers are compact since they have CPU,memory ,Input/output all integrated together in a board.They use internal controlling bus .They also have RAM and ROM embedded within them.

Communication

    We already mentioned that for complete and proper function of an embedded system it must communicate with other parts of the system.The type of communication within the embedded system are termed as onboard communication.Baud Rate is a term that we use to indicate the data transfer rate in bits per second.The software part needs to be uploaded to the embedded device to enable functionality ,hence there must be a communication channel for this transfer of information.This was a challenge.

    Serial communication paves way for this.There are certain protocols, set of rules to govern the communication and exchange information between devices .First of all you need to know what is difference between serial and parallel communication is.Parallel communication is way of transferring data as multiple bits simultaneously using parallel links.While incase of serial communication,only one bit of data is transferred at a time.Parallel communication is ofcourse fast since more number of bits are transferred.But since there are more lines required,serial mode of communication is preferred over parallel. ISA,PCI ,ATA etc are some parallel protocols.

    So speaking more on serial communication,it is a sequential, single communication channel data transfer method.There are 3 kinds of method to transfer data-Simplex (2-wired single way- Eg Tv ,Radio), Half-Duplex(can accept data but not send simultaneously- Eg Laptop) and Full-Duplex(can accept as well as send data at the same time- Eg mobile phones).One major advantage concerning the topic is that this is the reason why embedded system is cheaper(less lines and channels).An finally this is the reason why advanced microcontrollers make use of this communication technique.

    Synchronization of data signals is necessary to ensure data transfer at a proper standard.This is accomplished by generating clock signals ,which are different for each serial device.No mismatch occurs in this kind of communication.Also data transfer it faster.Asynchronous signals are only used in long distance applications, and is suitable for stable communications.

Serial communication protocols are I2C ,SPI,UART,CAN etc.

    You might have now got to know much on Embedded systems.Anyways the communication topic is even Vast.We will later try to cover some essential kind of Serial communication protocols.Till then....

Happy Reading !!!