1/30/2022

Palestine Polytechnic University

College of IT and Computer Engineering

Computer Systems Engineering

Embedded Systems
Ch1: Introducing Embedded Systems

Dr. Mohammed Aldasht

Spring 2022

DEFINITION

• An embedded system is an electronic system that contains at

least one controlling device, i.e. “the brain”.
• The controller is hidden from the end user “embedded
embedded”
embedded” in the system

• Examples of where embedded systems can be found:

• Automobiles, microwave, refrigerator, washing machine, television, etc.,
• Network router, cell phones, cameras, mp3 audio players, DVD players, etc.

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HISTORY
• In 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, electrical engineers needed
to be capable of designing many circuits,
• To handle input, process signals, then output feedback to
the user.

• All previously designed circuitry for the controller

mechanism has been replaced with, at least, a single
component,
• Either a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or a
microprocessor/ microcontroller.

CONCEPTUAL EMBEDDED SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

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EMBEDDED SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

COMPONENTS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

• Peripheral: is a device attached to a controlling
mechanism
• Peripherals are used to supplement a system’s overall
functionality, yet they require some extra mechanism to
control their behavior.

• The program is “a very specific list of instructions”

• The process of “creating the program” is where much of
system engineering time is spent.

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COMPONENTS CONT…
• In the past, the engineering task would include
creating custom circuitry for system control and
peripheral interfacing.
• Today, the engineering task involves creating a list of
instructions for system control and peripheral
interfacing.

AN EXAMPLE EMBEDDED SYSTEM

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MICROPROCESSORS AND
MICROCONTROLLERS
• Microprocessor contains essentially: ALU, CU and
registers …
• Used as the core component in general purpose computers
• Microcontroller contains: core, memory, and
peripherals;
• Peripherals can include digital or analog IO, serial ports,
timers, counters, and many other useful subsystems

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DIGITAL REPRESENTATION OF INFORMATION

• Voltage levels are used to represent the binary

symbols ‘0’ and ‘1’. Often, GND =‘0’ and VDD =‘1’.
• Voltage is an analog measure, some threshold is set
such that if x < T, then we have a ‘0’ and if x > T,
then we have a ‘1’.
• The choice of T is such that the largest amount of noise is
tolerated; this is called the noise margin.

DIGITAL LOGIC FUNDAMENTALS

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INFORMATION REPRESENTATION IN A DIGITAL

PROCESSOR

• Numbers:
• Unsigned Integers
• Signed Integers
• Floating Point
• Codes:
• Numbers: BCD
• TEXT: ASCII

Any Questions?