Module – 4

Subject Name : Introduction to Electronic Engineering

Subject Code : BESCK104C

Syllabus:

Embedded Systems – Definition, Embedded systems vs general computing systems,

Classification of Embedded Systems, Major application areas of Embedded Systems,
Elements of an Embedded System, Core of the Embedded System, Microprocessor vs
Microcontroller, RISC vs CISC.
Sensors and Interfacing – Instrumentation and control systems, Transducers,
Sensors, Actuators, LED, 7-Segment LED Display.

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Embedded Systems:

 An embedded system is an electronic/electro-mechanical system designed to

perform a specific function and a combination of both hardware and firmware
(software).
 Every embedded system is unique and the hardware as well as the firmware is
highly specialized to the application domain.
 Embedded systems are becoming an inevitable part of any product or equipment
in all fields including household appliances, telecommunications, medical
equipment, industrial control, consumer products, etc.
 Embedded system is a combination of 3 things
1. Hardware
2. Software
3. Mechanical component & it is supposed to do only one specific task only
Examples:
Example1: Washing Machine

A washing machine from an embedded systems point of view has:

a. Hardware: Buttons, displays & buzzer, electronic circuitry.

b. Software: It has a chip on the circuit that holds the software which drives controls
& monitors various operations possible.
c. Mechanical components: the internals of a washing machine which actually
wash the clothes control the input and output of water.
Example-2: Air Conditioner
An Air Conditioner from an embedded systems point of view has:
a. Hardware: Remote, display & buzzer, infrared Sensors, electronic circuitry.
b. Software: It has a chip on the circuit that holds the software which drives control
& monitors the various operations possible. The software monitors the external
temperature through the sensos and then releases the coolant or suppresses it.
c. Mechanical components: The internals of an air conditioner the motor, the outlet,
etc.

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Differences between General Purpose computing system and

Embedded system:
Contents A system which is a A system which is a
combination of a generic combination of special-
hardware and general- purpose hardware and
purpose operating system for embedded operating system
executing a variety of & for executing specific set
applications of applications
OS It contains a general-purpose It may or may not contain
operating system (GPOS) an operating system for
functioning
Alterations Applications are alterable The firmware of the
(programmable) by the user. Embedded system is pre-
(It is possible for end user to programmed and it is non-
re-install the OS and also add alterable by the end user.
or remove user applications)
Key Factor Performance is the key Application specific
deciding factor in the selection requirements (like
of the system. Faster is better. performance, power
requirements, memory
usage etc) are the key
deciding factor.
Power More Less
consumption
Response Time Not Critical Critical for some
applications
Execution Need not be deterministic Deterministic for certain
types of ES like ‘Hard real
time systems’.

Classification of Embedded Systems:

The classification of embedded system is based on following criteria's:
 On generation

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 On complexity & performance

 On deterministic behavior
 On triggering

Classification based on generation:

1. First generation (1G):

 Built around 8bit microprocessor & microcontroller.
 Simple in hardware circuit & firmware developed.
 Examples: Digital telephone keypads.
2. Second generation (2G):
 Built around 16-bit µp & 8-bit µc.
 They are more complex & powerful than 1G µp & µc.
 Examples: SCADA systems
3. Third generation (3G):
 Built around 32-bit µp& 16-bit µc.
 Concepts like Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific
Integrated Circuits (ASICs) evolved.
 Examples: Robotics, Media, etc.
4. Fourth generation:
 Built around 64-bit µp & 32-bit µc.
 The concept of System on Chips (SoC), Multicore Processors evolved.
 Highly complex & very powerful. Examples: Smart Phones.

Classification based on complexity & performance:

1. Small-scale:
 It is suitable for simple applications.
 Performance not time-critical.
 It may oy may not contain OS.
 Built around low performance & low cost 8 or 16 bit µp/µc.
 Example: an electronic toy
2. Medium-scale:
 Slightly complex in hardware & firmware requirement.
 Built around medium performance & low cost 16 or 32 bit µp/µc.

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 Usually contain operating system.

 Examples: Industrial machines.
3. Large-scale:
 Highly complex hardware & firmware.
 Built around 32- or 64-bit RISC µp/µc or PLDs or Multicore Processors.
 Response is time-critical.
 Examples: Mission critical applications.

Classification based on deterministic behavior:

 It is applicable for Real Time systems.
 The application/task execution behavior for an embedded system can be either
deterministic or non-deterministic. These are classified in to two types:
1. Soft Real Time Systems: Missing a deadline may not be critical & can be
tolerated to a certain degree
2. Hard Real Time Systems: Missing a program/task execution time deadline
canhave catastrophic consequences (financial, human loss of life, etc.

Classification based on triggering:

These are classified into two types

1. Event triggered: Activities within the system (e.g., task run-times) are
dynamicand depend upon occurrence of different events.
2. Time triggered: Activities within the system follow a statically computed
schedule (i.e., they are allocated time slots during which they can take place) and
thus by nature are predictable.

Major Application Areas of Embedded Systems:

The application areas and the products in the embedded domain are countless. A
few of theimportant domains and products are listed below:
 Consumer electronics: Camcorders, cameras, etc.
 Household appliances: Television, DVD players, washing machine, fridge,
microwave oven, etc.
 Home automation and security systems: Air conditioners, sprinklers,
intruderdetection alarms, closed circuit television cameras, fire alarms, etc.
 Automotive industry: Anti-lock braking systems (ABS), engine control, ignition

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systems, automatic navigation systems, etc.

 Telecom: Cellular telephones, telephone switches, handset multimedia
applications,etc.
 Computer peripherals: Printers, scanners, fax machines, etc.
 Computer networking systems: Network routers, switches, hubs, firewalls, etc.
 Healthcare: Different kinds of scanners, EEG, ECG machines etc.
Measurement & Instrumentation: Digital multi meters, digital CROs, logic
analyzers, PLCsystems, etc.
 Banking & Retail: Automatic teller machines (ATM) and currency counters,
point ofsales (POS).
 Card Readers: Barcode, smart card readers, hand held devices, etc.
Elements of an embedded system:
 A typical embedded system contains a single chip controller which acts as the
master brain of the system. Diagrammatically an embedded system can be
represented as follows:

Fig: Elements of Embedded system

 Embedded systems consist of a system core which can be a single chip
controller.This system core will act as a brain of the system.
 The system core can be a microprocessor, microcontroller, FPGA, ASIC, DSP,
SOC.
 The input signals are sensed through sensors are provided to the embedded

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systems through input ports by the end users to the system core.
 The system processes the signals and provide the control signals to the output
ports (actuators).
 Keyboards, push button, switches, etc. are examples of common
user interface input devices and LEDs, LCDs, Piezoelectric buzzers, etc. examples
for commonuser interface output devices for a typical embedded system.
 Some embedded systems do not require any manual intervention for their
operation.
 They automatically sense the input parameters from real world through
sensors which are connected at input port.
 The sensor information is passed to the processor after signal conditioning
and digitization.
 The core of the system performs some predefined operations on input data
with the help of embedded firmware in the system and sends some actuating
signals to the actuator connect connected to the output port of the system.
 The memory of the system is responsible for holding the code (control
algorithmand other important configuration details).
 There are two types of memories are used in any embedded system. Fixed
memory (ROM) is used for storing code or program.
 The user cannot change the firmware in this type of memory.
 The most common types of memories used in embedded systems for control
algorithm storage are OTP, PROM, UVEPROM, EEPROM and FLASH.
The Core of the Embedded Systems:
The core of the embedded system falls into any one of the following categories.
1. General Purpose and Domain Specific Processors
 Microprocessors
 Microcontrollers
 Digital Signal Processors
2. Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)
3. Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)
4. Commercial off the shelf Components (COTS)
General Purpose and Domain Specific Processor:
Almost 80% of the embedded systems are processor/ controller based. The
processor may be microprocessor or a microcontroller or digital signal processor,
depending on the domain and application.

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Microprocessor:
 A silicon chip representing a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which is capable of
performing arithmetic as well as logical operations according to a pre-defined set
of Instructions, which is specific to the manufacturer
 In general, the CPU contains the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), Control Unit
and Working registers
 Microprocessor is a dependent unit and it requires the combination of other
hardware like Memory, Timer Unit, and Interrupt Controller etc. for proper
functioning.
Developers of microprocessors:
 Intel – Intel 4004 – November 1971(4-bit)
 Intel – Intel 4040.
 Intel – Intel 8008 – April 1972.
 Intel – Intel 8080 – April 1974(8-bit).
 Intel – Intel 8085 – 1976.

Microcontroller:

 A highly integrated silicon chip containing a CPU, scratch pad RAM, Special
and General-purpose
purpose Register Arrays, On Chip ROM/FLASH memory for
program storage, Timer and Interrupt control units and dedicated I/O
ports.
 Microcontrollers can be considered as a super set of Microprocessors.
Microprocessors
 Since a microcontroller contains all the necessary functional blocks for
independent working, they found greater place in the embedded domain in place
of microprocessors.
 Microcontrollers are cheap, cost effective and are readily available in the market.

 Texas Instruments TMS 1000 is considered as the world’s first microcontroller.

Differences between Microprocessor and Microcontroller:

Microprocessor Microcontroller

1. Microprocessor are widely used in 1. Microcontroller is widely used in

computer systems. embedded systems.
2 It has a CPU, a fixed amount of
2. It has only a CPU embedded into it RAM, ROM and other peripherals all
embedded on it.

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3. As all the components are

3. In case of microprocessors we have to
internally connected in
connect all the components externally so
microcontroller so the circuit size is
the circuit becomes large and complex.
less.
4. It consumes less power than a
4. It consumes more power.
microprocessor.

5. Used for high scale applications. 5. Used for low scale applications.

6. High processing power. 6. Low processing power.

7. Relatively slower in speed. 7. Relatively faster in speed.

8. Clock in GHz 8. Clock in MHz

9. Access time for memory and input 9. Access time for memory and input
devices are more. devices are less.

10. More flexible in design 10. Less flexible in design

Difference between CISC and RISC

CISC RISC

1. Complex instructions. 1. Simple instructions.

2. Main focus is hardware. 2. Main focus is software.

3. Complexity lies in Processor. 3. Complexity lies in Compiler.

4. Multiple clock cycle. 4. Single clock cycle.

5. Transistors are used to store 5. Transistors are used for storing

complex instructions. memory.
6. CISC has 100-300 minimum 6. RISC uses few instructions (30-
Instructions. 40).
7. 8-10 Addressing modes. 7. Few Addressing modes.

8. Variable size/length instructions. 8. Fixed size/length instructions.

Sensors and Interfacing:

Instrumentation and control systems:

 Fig.(a) Shows the arrangement of aninstrumentation system.

 The physical quantity that is needed to be measured (e.g., temperature) acts
upon

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a sensor that produces an electrical output

signal.

 The output produced by the sensor may be small or may

contain noise (i.e., unwanted signal).
 So,Further signal conditioning will be required.
 The signal processing may be in digital – So, analog-to-digital conversion
may be required.
 Fig.(b) shows the arrangement of a control system. This uses negative feedback in
order to regulate and stabilize the output.
 It thus becomes possible to set the input or demand (i.e., what we desire the
output to be) and leave the system to regulate itself by comparing it with a signal
derived from the output (via a sensor and appropriate signal conditioning).

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 A comparator is used to sense the difference in these two signals and where any
discrepancy is detected the input to the power amplifier is adjusted accordingly.
 This signal is referred to as an error signal (it should be zero when the output
exactly matches the demand).
 The input (demand) is often derived from a simple potentiometer connected across
a stable d.c. voltage source while the controlled device can take many forms (e.g.,
a d.c. motor, linear actuator, heater, etc.).
Transducers:
 Transducers are devices that convert energy in the form of sound, light,
heat, etc.,intoan equivalent electrical signal, or vice versa.
 Ex: A loudspeaker is a transducer that converts low frequency electric current
into audible sounds.
A microphone, on the other hand, is a transducer that performs the reverse
function i.e. that of converting sound pressure variations into voltage or
current. Loudspeakers and microphones can thus be considered as
complementary transducers.
 Transducers may be used both as inputs to electronic circuits and outputs from
them. From the two previous examples, it should be obvious that a loudspeaker
is an output transducer designed for use in conjunction with an audio system.
 A microphone is an input transducer designed for use with a recording or sound
reinforcing system.

Sensors:

 A sensor is a special kind of transducer that converts energy from one form to
anotherfor any measurement or control purpose.

 Ex. A Temperature sensor. The signal produced by a sensor is an electrical

analogy of a physical quantity, such as distance, velocity, acceleration,

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temperature, pressure, light level, etc.

 The choice of sensor is governed by a number of factors including accuracy,

resolution, cost and physical size.

 Sensors can be categorized as either active or passive. An active sensor

generates a current or voltage output. A passive transducer requires a source of
current or voltage and it modifies this in some way (e.g. by virtue of a change in
the sensor’s resistance).

 Sensors can also be classed as either digital or analog. The output of a digital
sensor can exist in only two discrete states, either ‘on’ or ‘off’, ‘low’ or ‘high’,
‘logic1’ or ‘logic 0’, etc.
Actuator:
Actuator is used for output. It is a transducer that may be either mechanical or
electrical which converts signals to corresponding physical actions.

 LED (Light Emitting Diode):

 LED is a p-n junction diode and contains a CATHODE and ANODE

 The anode is connected to +ve end of power supply and cathode is

connected to –ve end of power supply.
 The maximum current flowing through the LED is limited by connecting a
resistor in series between the power supply and LED as shown in the figure.

There are two ways to interface an LED to a microprocessor/microcontroller:

 The Anode of LED is connected to the port pin and cathode to Ground:

 In this approach the port pin sources the current to the LED when it is at
logic high (ie. 1).

 The Cathode of LED is connected to the port pin and Anode to Vcc through a

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 current limiting resistor : The LED is turned on when the port pin is at logic
Low (Logic '0’).

7-Segment Display:

• The 7-segment LED displays are available in two different configurations, namely; Common
Anode and Common Cathode.
• In the common anode configuration, the anodes of the 8 segments are connected commonly
whereas in the common cathode configuration, the cathodes of 8 LED segments are connected
commonly.
• Figure illustrates the Common Anode and Cathode configurations.
•

Based on the configuration of the 7-segment LED unit, the LED segment's anode or
cathode is connected to the port of the processor/controller in the order 'A' (least
significant port pin) and DP segment to the (most significant port pin).
• The current flow through each of the LED segments should be limited to the maximum value
supported by the LED display unit.( 20mA.)
• The current can be limited by connecting a current limiting resistor to the anode or cathode
of each segment.
•

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Question Bank

1. Define embedded system. Give classification of embedded system. And also

mention the Applications of embedded system.
2. Differentiate the Embedded systems and general computing systems.
3. Explain Elements of an Embedded System with the neat diagram.
4. Explain in detail the core of the Embedded System.
5. Differentiate the following
a. Microprocessor and Microcontroller.
b. RISC and CISC processor.
6. Explain the arrangement of an instrumentation and control system with neat
diagram.
7. Write a note on
a. 7 segment LED display
b. Transducers
c. LED
d. Sensors and Actuators

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