Design of Embedded Systems

An Introduction
http://www.cs.lth.se/EDAN15
Krzysztof Kuchcinski
[email protected]
Department of Computer Science
Lund Institute of Technology
Sweden

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Outline
1

Introduction

Course Organization

General introduction, definition of the field

Embedded Systems Examples

Embedded Systems Design Methodologies

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Design of Embedded Systems

Examples of Embedded Systems

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Examples of Embedded Systems (contd)

Modems
MPEG decoders
Network cards
Network switches/routers
On-board navigation
Pagers
Photocopiers
Point-of-sale systems
Portable video games
Printers
Satellite phones
Scanners
Smart ovens/dishwashers
Speech recognizers
Stereo systems
Teleconferencing systems
Televisions
Temperature controllers
Theft tracking systems
TV set-top boxes
VCRs, DVD players
Video game consoles
Video phones
Washers and dryers

Anti-lock brakes
Auto-focus cameras
Automatic teller machines
Automatic toll systems
Automatic transmission
Avionic systems
Battery chargers
Camcorders
Cell phones
Cell-phone base stations
Cordless phones
Cruise control
Curbside check-in systems
Digital cameras
Disk drives
Electronic card readers
Electronic instruments
Electronic toys/games
Factory control
Fax machines
Fingerprint identifiers
Home security systems
Life-support systems
Medical testing systems

Source: Embedded Systems Design: A Unified

Hardware/Software Introduction, (c) 2000 Vahid/Givargis

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Course Organization
Twelve lectures.
Four lab assignments plus an introductory lab.
carried out in groups of two students
use special software and hardware (lab Neptunus)
require preparation
deadline for lab reports (last lab assignment) May 31.

Group
1
2
3

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day
Wed
Wed
Wed

time
8-10
13-15
15-17

room
Neptunus
Neptunus
Neptunus

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Course Organization (contd)

Seminars
15/05, 15:15 (E:2116) and 16/05, 8:15 (E:2116)
22/05, 15:15 (E:2116) and 23/05, 8:15 (E:2116)

Obligatory examinations
2 June 2014 at 8-13, Sparat:A-B
27 August 2014 at 8-13, MA08-A
January 2015 ...

Books:
Peter Marwedel, Embedded System Design, 2nd Edition, Springer,
2011 (ISBN: 978-94-007-0256-1).

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Lectures
Preliminary Schedule
Date
14-03-17
14-03-21
14-03-24
14-03-28
14-01-31
14-04-04
14-04-07
14-04-11
14-05-05
14-04-09
14-05-12
14-05-16

Content
Introduction, motivation, etc.
Design methodology (HW/SW co-design, etc)
Specification and programming of
Embedded Systems
Computational models
Design representations
System partitioning
Allocation, assignment
and scheduling
Communication synthesis
Testability
Low-power design

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Embedded Systems
A device that includes a programmable computer but is not
itself a general-purpose computer

Execution deadlines,
Power consumption constraints,
:
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Embedded Systems (contd)

Computing systems embedded within electronic devices
Hard to define. Nearly any computing system other than a
desktop computer
Billions of units produced yearly, versus millions of desktop units
Perhaps 50 per household and per automobile

Source: Embedded Systems Design: A Unified

Hardware/Software Introduction, (c) 2000 Vahid/Givargis

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Embedded Systems (contd)

Non User-Programmable.
Based on programmable components (e.g., Micro-controllers,
DSPs...) but often contain application specific hardware (ICs,
ASICs).
Reactive Real-Time Systems:
React to external environment,
Maintain permanent interaction,
Ideally never terminate,
Are subject to external timing constraints (real-time).

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Characteristics Embedded Systems

Sophisticated functionality.
Real-time operation.
Low manufacturing cost.
Low power.
Designed to tight deadlines by small teams.
"Resource conscious" vs. "Unlimited resources" programming

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A Single Processor Embedded System

Source: W. Wolf, Computers as Components:

Principles of Embedded Computing Systems Design

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SoC Embedded System

Assembly of "prefabricated
component" often purchased
from external vendors ("IP")
"black box" hierarchy

Design & Verification at the

System level
rather than the logic level
Interface and
communication

Great Importance of Software

Source: Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, 35th DAC

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A Digital Camera Example

Source: F. Vahid and T. Givargis, Embedded System Design: A Unified Hardware Software Approach

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Real-time gas turbine testing system

MI-2 helicopter engine

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"Minicomputer" 8kB RAM

cassette tape

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TELEX-I and TELEX-II systems

PDP-11
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PDP-11
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WITAS project
Autonomous system.
Real-time system.
Image processing.
Mission planning.
Incorporation of GIS
systems.
Interface with ground
operator.
...
http://www.ida.liu.se/ext/witas

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Typical Hardware Components of DSP System

Component class
DSP processor
Microcontroller
Hardware accelerator
Communication
blocks and
memory
Others

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Implements
Low data-rate DSP
Slow control loops
Appl. Spec. alg.
User interface
Slow control loops
High data-rate DSP
RT level synth.
Internal & external
communication
Storage & buffering
Usually FSMDs
- clock generators
- DMA blocks

Compiler
(Retargetable)
code generator
High level synth.
C compiler
High level synth.
Memory mgmt.
(A)synchronous
interface synth.
RT level synth.
Asynchronous
synth.

Design of Embedded Systems

Specification
Assembly
C
C
C, VHDL
Verilog
Data-sheets
VHDL

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Importance of Embedded System Design

Methodologies
Hardware complexity.
Heterogeneous systems containing hardware (both digital and
analog) and software.
Heterogeneous components (CPUs, DSPs, ASICs, buses,
point-to-point links, etc.).
Heterogeneous requirements - performance, cost, power
consumption, etc.
System-on-chip.
Shorter design cycles required by time-to-market constraints.
...

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Design Complexity and Designer Productivity Gap

Source: Bryan Preas, Xerox PARC, 35th DAC

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Flexibility and Energy Efficiency

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Flexibility and Energy Efficiency

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Flexibility and Energy Efficiency

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Design Domains and Abstraction Levels

Behavioural
Domain

Structural
Domain

System level
RTL

Algorithm

CPU, memory, bus

Logic level

ALU, reg., MUX

RT specication
Circuit level

Gate, ip-op

Boolean eq.

Transistor

Transistor function

Transistor layout
Standard cell/subcell
Macrocell, chip
Board
Physical
Domain

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Design Domains
behavioral representations - describe only circuits function, for
example
if clock=high then counter:= counter+1

structural representations - describe the components and their

interconnections, for example
a
b
c
d
e

NAND
NAND

NAND

My
Cell

Out

physical representations - it can describe either a geometrical

layout or a topological constraint.

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Software vs. Hardware Design

short summary
Software
flexibility,
reconfigurability, easy update, etc.,
complex functionality,
cost,
...

Hardware
speed,
power consumption,
cost in large volumes,
...

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Design of Embedded Systems

Design of Embedded Systems

Need to be done using high-level specification, programming and
hardware description languages - not assembly languages and
gate/transistor level design.
Requires efficient design space exploration and
synthesis/compilation tools.
Different design requirements has to be taken into account, e.g.,
cost, performance, testability, quality of service, power
consumption.
Multi-language design framework.

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Importance of High-Level Design Methods

System Verification Processing Speeds
System implementation
Behavioral model
RTL model
Gate model
Gate model on hardware accelerator
Rapid prototype
Target hardware

Processing time (s/frame)

1 200 (20 min/frame)
144 000 (1.6 days/frame)
228 000 (2.6 days/frame)
1 200
0.5
0.05

Source: Paul Clemente, Ron Crevier, Peter Runstadler "RTL and

Behavioral Synthesis, A Case Study", VHDL Times, vol. 5, no. 1.

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General Design Flow

Specify-Explore-Refine

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Specification and Programming

Specification languages, such as UML, SDL.
Programming languages, such as C, C++, Java, Esterel, assembly
languages.
Hardware description languages, such as VHDL, Verilog,
SystemC.
Example: combining SystemC and C++ gives a unified simulation
environment for hardware and software.

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Hardware Description Languages

Cover several levels of design abstraction as well as behavioral
and structural description domain.
Contain typical features of programming languages, such as data
types and program statements.
Special features:
time concept,
structure description,
parallelism.

VHDL (IEEE standard), Verilog, SystemC.

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Design Representations
(Computational Model)
Used to represent/model digital systems under design.
Generated by a compiler from system specification or coded
directly in the model.
Represent the semantics, structure and timing of the system.
Usually based on some kind of annotated graph representation.
Used internally by design automation systems or by the
modeler/designer.

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Design Synthesis
Software is translated into target code for a processor.
Real-time operating system might be used.
Hardware synthesis translation of a behavioral representation of
a design into a structural one.
Communication synthesis generates hardware and software
which interconnects system components.

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Hardware Synthesis Levels

System level accepts as an input specification in a form of
communicating concurrent processes. The synthesis task is to
generate the general system structure defined by processors,
ASICs, buses, etc.
High level the input specification is given as a behavioral level
description of an algorithm describing the functionality of a design
and generates implementation at RT-level. Basic synthesis steps
are scheduling, allocation and binding.
Logic level it can be divided into combinational and sequential
logic synthesis.
Physical design it accepts a gate-level netlist and produces final
implementation of the design in a given technology.

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Hardware/Software Co-design enabling

technologies

Source: F. Vahid and T. Givargis, Embedded System Design: A Unified Hardware Software Approach

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Discrete Cosine Transform

Partial Design Space

40
Cloc k
st e ps

30

Add 4

20

Add 3
A dd 2

10

Add 4
0
M ul

M ul

M ul

M ul

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Add 2
Add 1

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Design Space Exploration

40
30
20
CPU

10
C PU

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DSP
ASI C

Design time

Cost

Power

Speed

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Time-to-market constraint
need time for new
product development,
the biggest profit is in
the market window time,
missing the market
window can be costly

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Summary
Embedded systems are important class of electronic systems
which can be found everywhere,
Combine hardware and software solutions,
Cover several engineering and research areas:
microelectronics,
real-time systems,
software development,
etc.

Need careful design which optimizes different design parameters.

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