Parisutham Institute of Technology & Science, Thanjavur

Sub. Name: EE6602 EMBEDDED SYSTEM

Dept:EEE Max. Mark:100

Semester/Year: VI / III Duration: 3 hrs

CAT-1

PART-A (10×2=20marks)

1. What are the components presented in an embedded system ?

i. Hardware similar to a computer iii. A Real-time operating system.
ii. Main application software.
2. What are the applications of an embedded system?
i. Video accelerator iii. Washing machine
ii. Telephone answering machine iv. Software model.
3. What is the use of Watchdog timer?
A watchdog timer is an additional timer that does a monitoring job and reads the system, if necessary.
4. Define ASSP.
Application Specific System Processor is a processor which is used for specific system applications
alone.
5. What are the steps involved in designing process of an embedded system.
The basic step involved in EDLC are,
a) Analysis c) Implementation.
b) Design
6. What are the important considerations to selecting a processor?
i. Instruction set
ii. Maximum bits in an operand
iii. Clock frequency.
iv. Process ability.
7. What is meant by Direct Memory Access (DMA).
It is a bus operation that allows read and write not controlled by the CPU. A DMA transfer is
controlled by a DMA controller by a DMA controller, which requests control of the bus from the
CPU.
8. What are the various form of system memory used in embedded system ?
i. Internal RAM at microcontroller.
ii. External memory.
iii. Internal caches on external memory.
iv. Flash/EEPROM
v. ROM/PROM
vi. Memory address at the system ports.
9. Define half duplex in an embedded system.
It is in which data flows in one direction or the other, but not both at the same time. At a time the
transmission is done only in one direction and thus the full bandwidth of the line can be used for
transmission.

10. List out the communication network used in an embedded system.

Simplex communication. Half duplex communication. Full duplex communication.

PART-B (5×13=65marks)

11.a.) Explain in detail about selection of processor in embedded system. (13)

 A processor, which can operate at higher clock speed, processes more instructions per
second.
 A processor with register windows provides fast context switching in a multitasking.
 A power efficient embedded system requires a processor that has programmable auto-shut
down feature for its units and programmability for disabling use of caches when the
processing need for a function or an instruction set is not constrained by limit on
execution deadline. Processor uses stop, sleep and wait instructions, and special cache
design.
 A processor with an atomic operation unit provides hardware solution to shared data
problems when designing embedded software, else special programming skill and efforts
are to be made when program uses shared variables and data buffers among multiple tasks
 When coding in assembly language or designing compiler or locator, data may store in
big-endian mode in a system and the lower order bytes store at higher address. Lower
order bytes store at lower addresses and vice versa.
(or)
b.) Explain in detail about memory management in embedded system. (13)
 The processor is the most important resource, but it cannot work in isolation.
 Memory in the next most important resources and there is constant interaction, that is
communication between memory and the processor.
The functions of an OS with respect to memory management can be listed as follows :
 All programs are run with a code and data with the RAM. Thus follows a program, RAM
space has to be allocated when the program runs and de-allocated when the program
terminates. The OS has to keep track of the RAM space when this is being done.
 The most important aspect of memory management is the virtual memory concept.
Virtual Memory:
 It is the concept by which the application is made to believe that it has much more memory
than is physically available.
 Whenever the application is to be run, the processor expects to find the associates data and
code in the main memory.
 This takes a small amount of time.
12.a.) Discuss in detail about In-Circuit Emulator and Watchdog Timer (13)
 A watchdog timer is additional timer that does a monitoring jab and resets the system, if
necessary.
 Most embedded systems are said to be self-reliant.
 There is very little possibility of intervention by a human operator in case the associated
software goes away by getting stuck in an infinite loop.
 Some embedded systems are placed in inaccessible sites like factory environments, space
probes, etc.
 When the software is detected to be malfunctioning the best way is to reset and start again.
 The watchdog timer is like any other timer and it can be loaded with a count with
decrement to zero. When it reaches zero, it resets the processor.
 For a system which is doing its job correctly, the watchdog timer will never cunt down to
zero.
 When the processor gets reset by the WDT, it is called a soft reset or a warm boot.
(or)
b.) Discuss in detail about the timer and counter devices in embedded system. (13)
A counter/timer devices provide a variety f measurement solutions, including measuring a
number of time-related quantities.
Timing devices or Timer:
 A timer device is a device that counts the regular interval of clock pulses at its input.
 The counts are stored and incremented on each pulse.
 It has output bits for the period of counts.
 A number of registers may be associated with timers, but basically there is a timer count
register and a mode register to decide between different options.
Counting devices or Counter:
 A counting device is a device that counts the input for events that may occur at irregular
or regular intervals.
 The counts give the number of input events or pulses since it was last read.
 In timing application, the reference clock is taken from the processor clock.
 But there is another duty for timer units are to get it to act as a counter.
 It is necessary to know the details of individual MCUs for understanding it completely.
13.a.) Explain about structural units of embedded processor including hardware and software
A processor is an important unit in the embedded system hardware. It is the heart of the
embedded system. Basic concept of microprocessors and microcontrollers are most important
for an embedded system.
Processors in an Embedded System:
 A processor has two essential units:
i. Program Flow Control Unit [CU]
ii. Execution Unit [EU]
 The control unit includes a fetch unit for fetching instructions from the memory.
 The execution unit has circuits that implement the instruction pertaining to data transfer
operations and data conversion from one form to another.
 A processor runs the cycles of fetch and execute.
 The instructions, defined in the processor instruction set are executed in the sequence that
they are fetched from the memory.
 A processor is in the form of an IC chip, or in core form application specific integrated
circuit or system on chip.
 Core means a part of the functional circuit on the very large scale integrated chip.
 An embedded system processor chip or core can be of the following.

(or)
b.) With a neat diagram explain the working of Direct Memory Access with architecture and
timing diagram. (13)
  Direct memory access is a bus operation that allows reads and writes not controlled by
CPU.
 A DMA transfer is controlled by a DMA controller, which requests control of the bus
from the CPU.
 Data transfer occurs efficiently between the I/O devices and system memory with the
least processor intervention when using DMAC.
(i) Hardware Unit:
Power source:
A power supply or a charge pump is essential in every system.
Clock oscillator circuit and clocking units:
For processing units, a highly stable oscillator is required and the processor clock-out signal
provides the clock for synchronizing all system units with the processor.
System Timers and Real-Time Clocks:
To schedule the various tasks and for real-time programming, a RTC or system clock is
needed. The clock also drives the timers for various timing and counting needs in a system.
Reset circuit, Power-up Reset and Watchdog Timer Reset:
When a program executes the program counter increments or changes. An important circuit
that associates a system is its reset circuit that can change the program counter to a power
default value.
(ii) Software Unit.
The architecture depletion tells what components are needed. The component design efforts
build those components in conformance to the architecture and specifications. The
components include both software and hardware modules.
Some the components will be readymade.

14.a.) Explain in detail about the serial communication protocol (13)

Types of serial communication:
In general, three types of serial communications are available. They are,
i. Simplex connection
ii. Half-duplex connection
iii. Full-duplex connection
Transmission rate:
In serial communication, data bits are transmitted one by one. That is at a time only one bit
can be transferred. It’s unit is always bits per second.
Features of Serial Communication Buses:
A synchronous bus is timed by a clock signals. The bus can run very fast and the interface
logic will be small. Every device on the bus must run at the same clock rate and the bus must
necessarily be short to avoid clock-skew problems.
The standard serial ports:
 The standard serial port was available at the back of PC’s and also in embedded
boards.
 This port is on its way to obsolescence, but it will be a good idea to have a look at this
RS-232 compliant port. It is often called “legacy” port.

(or)
 b.) Explain in detail about the timer and counter devices in Embedded system. (13)
A counter/timer devices provide a variety f measurement solutions, including measuring a
number of time-related quantities.
Timing devices or Timer:
 A timer device is a device that counts the regular interval of clock pulses at its input.
 The counts are stored and incremented on each pulse.
 It has output bits for the period of counts.
 All microcontroller units have timers as one of its peripherals.
 A timer is a dedicated hardware for timing events, to generate waveforms and so on.
 Once a timer is started, the CPU does not have to interface, as the timer hardware will
take care of it.
 A number of registers may be associated with timers, but basically there is a timer count
register and a mode register to decide between different options.
Counting devices or Counter:
 A counting device is a device that counts the input for events that may occur at irregular
or regular intervals.
 The counts give the number of input events or pulses since it was last read.
 In timing application, the reference clock is taken from the processor clock.
 But there is another duty for timer units are to get it to act as a counter.
It is necessary to know the details of individual MCUs for understanding it completely.
15.a.) Explain in detail about the serial peripheral interface (SPI) with neat sketches. (13)
 The SPI bus was developed by Motorola.
 The name SPI suggests it is a serial data transfer protocol, which is synchronous and full
duplex, between a microcontroller unit and a peripheral.
 When the master does this, data transfer occurs in both the directions simultaneously.
 There are four wires for the bus: the clock generated by the master; which carries data
from the slave to the master; and SS, the slave select signal.
The SPI Protocol:
 The transfer of data using on SPI interface can be thought of a large shift register shared
between the master and slave device.
 Data is clocked IN at the same time as it is clocked OUT of the devices.
 In addition, there should be a transmit buffer, so that whenever the master sends a byte to
the slave, the slave sends a byte back to the master.
 The length of the shift registers is decided by the manufacturer of the SPI controller.
 Similarly, the received data should be copied and saved at the receiver side.
 This processor can continue until the required block of data is transferred.
(or)
b.) Explain in detail about the features of Input-Output ports in embedded system. (13)
A bus is a collection of wires which carry electrical signals. The electrical signals may be
defined in terms of voltage level or current values.
 The address bus carries the IO addresses which the processor wants to access.
 The data bus carries data coming from or going to the processor. It is bidirectional bus.
 The control bus which transports control and synchronization signals.

Processor-memory Bus:
 The bus connecting the processor and memory is now called the processor-memory bus.
 It is also designated by terms such as internal bus, main bus, system bus, etc.
Peripheral Buses:
 Processor also need to communicate with peripherals, that is external input and output
devices, and this data pathway is called the I/O bus or peripheral bus.
 All these also necessitate an extra “controller” or an interfacing chip between the
processor and the peripheral.
 Embedded processor:
 Embedded processor are designated to act as a single chip computer, and it’s contain
memory and I/O controllers internal to the chip.
 The processor-memory bus is internal to the chip, and there is no need for an external
peripheral bus.
 The embedded systems have become big, complex and the resource available inside the
processor chip may not be sufficient.
 Extra memory and more peripheral controllers must be needed.

PART-C (15×1=15marks)

16 a).Explain the software tools in designing of an embedded system. (15)

Requirement :
 Gather an informal description from the customers known as requirements.
 Refine the requirements into a specification that contains enough information to begin
designing the system architecture.
Functional Requirement:
 It dedicate the hardware components such as input/output components, computing and
communication components. These provide the basis for the design of hardware modules.
Non-Functional Requirements:
 Performance
 Cost
 Physical size and weight
 Power consumption
Specification:
 The specification is more precise. It serves as the contact between the customer and the
architects.
Architecture design:
 Architecture descriptions must be designed to satisfy both functional and non-functional
requirements. Not only must all the required functions be present, but one must meet cost,
speed, power and other non-functional constraints.
b. Explain in detail about CAN protocol with example. (15)
 CAN is a protocol developed to reduce the wiring inside vehicles.
 There are different standard version for CAN
i. Low speed CAN – 125 Kbps – 11 bit identifier
ii. Standard CAN 2.0A – 1Mbps - 11 bit identifier
iii. Extended CAN 2.0B – 1 Mbps - 29 bit identifier
 The CAN protocol is used in many units in a vehicle.
 Its interesting feature is that it is an ‘Interconnection network’.
 In vehicles it may be used to interconnect between the engine control unit and the
transmission control unit
 There can be other kinds of buses also in vehicle.
 To connect between buses of different speeds and of different standards, ‘bridges’ are
used.
 CAN is now used as well as in machine and factory automation products.