Unit 1 - Emebedded Systems
Unit 1 - Emebedded Systems
Unit 1 - Emebedded Systems
:
: Elements of an Embedded System
• Embedded systems are basically designed to regulate a physical variable (such
Microwave Oven) or to manipulate the state of some devices by sending some signals
to the actuators or devices connected to the output port system (such as temperature in
Air Conditioner), in response to the input signal provided by the end users or sensors
which are connected to the input ports.
• Hence the embedded systems can be viewed as a reactive system.
• Examples of common user interface input devices are keyboards, push button,
switches, etc.
• The memory of the system is responsible for holding the code (control algorithm and
other important configuration details). • An embedded system without code (i.e. the
control algorithm) implemented memory has all the peripherals but is not capable
of making decisions depending on the situational as well as real world changes.
• Memory for implementing the code may be present on the processor or may be
implemented as a separate chip interfacing the processor In a controller based
embedded system, the controller may contain internal memory for storing code
• Such controllers are called Micro-controllers with on-chip ROM, eg. Atmel AT89C51.
3) Tub: There are two types of tubs in the washing machine: inner and outer. The
clothes are loaded in the inner tub, where the clothes are washed, rinsed and dried. The
inner tub has small holes for draining the water. The external tub covers the inner tub
and supports it during various cycles of clothes washing.
4) Agitator or rotating disc: The agitator is located inside the tub of the washing
machine. It is the important part of the washing machine that actually performs the
cleaning operation of the clothes. During the wash cycle the agitator rotates
continuously and produces strong rotating currents within the water due to which the
clothes also rotate inside the tub. The rotation of the clothes within water containing the
detergent enables the removal of the dirt particles from the fabric of the clothes. Thus
the agitator produces most important function of rubbing the clothes with each other as
well as with water. In some washing machines, instead of the long agitator, there is
a disc that contains blades on its upper side. The rotation of the disc and the blades
produce strong currents within the water and the rubbing of clothes that helps in
removing the dirt from clothes.
5) Motor of the washing machine: The motor is coupled to the agitator or the disc and
produces it rotator motion. These are multispeed motors, whose speed can be changed
as per the requirement. In the fully automatic washing machine the speed of the motor
i.e. the agitator changes automatically as per the load on the washing machine.
6) Timer: The timer helps setting the wash time for the clothes manually. In the
automatic mode the time is set automatically depending upon the number of clothes
inside the washing machine.
7) Printed circuit board (PCB): The PCB comprises of the various electronic
components and circuits, which are programmed to perform in unique ways depending
on the load conditions (the condition and the amount of clothes loaded in the washing
machine). They are sort of artificial intelligence devices that sense the various external
conditions and take the decisions accordingly. These are also called as fuzzy logic
systems. Thus the PCB will calculate the total weight of the clothes, and find out the
quantity of water and detergent required, and the total time required for washing the
clothes. Then they will decide the time required for washing and rinsing. The entire
processing is done on a kind of processor which may be a microprocessor or
microcontroller.
8) Drain pipe: The drain pipe enables removing the dirty water
from the washing that has been used for the washing purpose.
Microwave Owen
Let us see the important parts of the microwave oven; this will also help us understand
the working of the washing machine:
Parts of a Microwave Owen
A microwave oven consists of:
1. A high voltage transformer, which passes energy to the magnetron
2. A cavity magnetron,
3. A Control circuit with a microcontroller,
4. A waveguide, and
5. A cooking chamber
1. A Transformer transfers electrical energy through a circuit by magnetic coupling
without using motion between parts. These are used for supplying power to the
magnetron.
2. A Cavity magnetron is a microwave antenna placed in a vacuum tube and oscillated
in an electromagnetic field in order to produce high GHz microwaves. Magnetrons are
used in microwave ovens and radar systems.
3. A control circuit with a microcontroller is integrated on a circuit board. The
microcontroller controls the waveguide and the entire unit so the microwaves are
emitted at a constant rate.
4. A Waveguide is any linear structure that guides electromagnetic waves for the
purpose of transmitting power or signals. Generally constructed of a hollow metal pipe.
Placing a waveguide into a vacuum causes radio waves to scatter.
5. A Cooking Chamber is a microwave safe container the prevents microwaves from
escaping. The door has a microwave proof mesh with holes that are just small enough
that microwaves can't pass through but lightwaves can. The cooking chamber itself is a
Faraday cage enclosure which prevents the microwaves from escaping into the
environment. The oven door is usually a glass panel for easy viewing, but has a layer of
conductive mesh to maintain the shielding.
MICROCONTROLLERS.
• A microcontroller is a highly integrated chip that contains a CPU, scratch pad RAM,
special and general-purpose register arrays, on chip ROM/FLASH memory for program
storage, timer and interrupt control units and dedicated I/O ports. • Texas Instrument’s
TMS 1000 Is considered as the world’s first microcontroller. • Some embedded system
application require only 8 bit controllers whereas some requiring superior performance
and computational needs demand 16/32-bit controllers. • The instruction set of a
microcontroller can be RISC or CISC. • Microcontrollers are designed for either general
purpose application requirement or domain specific application requirement.
Digital Signal Processors
• DSP are powerful special purpose 8/16/32 bit microprocessor designed to meet the
computational demands and power constraints of today’s embedded audio, video and
communication applications. • DSP are 2 to 3 times faster than general purpose
microprocessors in signal processing applications. This is because of the architectural
difference between DSP and general purpose microprocessors.
• DSPs implement algorithms in hardware which speeds up the execution whereas
general purpose processor implements the algorithm in software and the speed of
execution depends primarily on the clock for the processors.• DSP includes following
key units:
i. Program memory: It is a memory for storing the program required by DSP to process
the data.
ii. Data memory: It is a working memory for storing temporary variables and data/signal
to be processed.
iii. Computational engine: It performs the signal processing in accordance with the
stored program memory computational engine incorporated many specialized
arithmetic units and each of them operates simultaneously to increase the execution
speed. It also includes multiple hardware shifters for shifting operands and saves
execution time.
iv. I/O unit: It acts as an interface between the outside world and DSP. It is responsible
for capturing signals to be processed and delivering the processed signals.
• Examples: Audio video signal processing, telecommunication and multimedia
applications. • SOP(Sum of Products) calculation, convolution, FFT(Fast Fourier
Transform), DFT(Discrete Fourier Transform), etc are some of the operation performed
by DSP.
Application Specific Integrated Circuits. (ASIC)
• ASICs is a microchip design to perform a specific and unique applications.
• Because of using single chip for integrates several functions there by reduces the
system development cost.• Most of the ASICs are proprietary (which having some trade
name) products, it is referred as Application Specific Standard Products(ASSP).
• As a single chip ASIC consumes a very small area in the total system. Thereby helps
in the design of smaller system with high capabilities or functionalities.
• The developers of such chips may not be interested in
revealing the internal detail of it .
Bus Interfacing
• RS 232 interface is a point to point communication interface and the devices involved
are called as Data Terminating Equipment (DTE) And Data Communications
Terminating Equipment (DCE)
• Embedded devices contain UART for serial transmission and generate signal levels as
per TTL/CMOS logic.
• A level translator IC (like Max 232) is used for converting the signal lines from UART
to RS 232 signal lines for communication.
• The vice versa is performed on the receiving side.
• Converter chips contain converters for both transmitters and receivers
• RS 232 is used only for point to point connections
• It is susceptible to noise and hence is limited to short distances only
• RS 422 is another serial interface from EIA.
• It supports multipoint connections with 1 transmitter and 10 receivers.
• It supports data rates up to 100Kbps and distance up to 400 ft
• RS 485 is enhanced version of RS 422 and supports up to 32 transmitters and 32
receivers
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEM
Following are some of the characteristics of an embedded system that make it different
from a general purpose computer:
1. Application and Domain specific
• An embedded system is designed for a specific purpose only. It will not do any other
task.
• Ex. A washing machine can only wash, it cannot cook
• Certain embedded systems are specific to a domain: ex. A hearing aid is an
application that belongs to the domain of signal processing.