ASSIGNMENT: EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

1.Personal computer hardware architecture

Ans- Computer hardware (usually simply called hardware when a computing context is
concerned) is the collection of physical elements that constitutes a computer system. Computer
hardware is the physical parts or components of a computer, such as the monitor, mouse,
keyboard, computer data storage, hard disk drive (HDD), graphic cards, sound cards, memory,
motherboard, and so on, all of which are physical objects that are tangible. In contrast, software is
instructions that can be stored and run by hardware.

PERSONAL COMPUTER
The personal computer, also known as the PC, is one of the most common types of computer due
to its versatility and relatively low price. Laptops are generally very similar, although may use
lower-power or reduced size components.

CASE - The computer case is a plastic or metal enclosure that houses most of the components.
Those found on desktop computers are usually small enough to fit under a desk, however in recent
years more compact designs have become more common place, such as the all-in-one style
designs from Apple, namely the iMac. Though a case can basically be big or small, what matters
more is which form factor of motherboard it’s designed for. Laptops are computers that usually
come in a clamshell form factor, again however in more recent years deviations from this form
factor have started to emerge such as laptops that have a detachable screen that become tablet
computers in their own right.

POWER SUPPLY -A power supply unit (PSU) converts alternating current (AC) electric power to
low-voltage DC power for the internal components of the computer. Laptops are capable of
running from a built-in battery, normally for a period of hours.

MAINBOARD – The motherboard is the main component of a computer. It is a large rectangular

board with integrated circuitry that connects the other parts of the computer including the CPU,
the RAM, the disk drives (CD, DVD, hard disk, or any others) as well as any peripherals connected
via the ports or the expansion slots.

Components directly attached to or part of the motherboard include:

 The CPU (Central Processing Unit) performs most of the calculations which enable a

computer to function, and is sometimes referred to as the “brain” of the computer. It
is usually cooled by a heat sink and fan. Most newer CPUs include an on-die Graphics
Processing Unit (GPU).
 The Random-Access Memory (RAM) stores the code and data that are being actively
accessed by the CPU.
 The Read-Only Memory (ROM) stores the BIOS that runs when the computer is
powered on or otherwise begins execution, a process known as Bootstrapping, or
“booting” or “booting up”. The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) includes boot
firmware and power management firmware. Newer motherboards use Unified
Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) instead of BIOS.
  Buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expand cards for
graphics and sound.

STORAGE DEVICES – Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to
computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is a core function
and fundamental component of computers. The price of solid-state drives (SSD), which store data
on flash memory, has dropped a lot in recent years, making them a better choice than ever to add
to a computer to make booting up and accessing files faster.

1.Fixed media – Data is stored by a computer using a variety of media. Hard disk drives are found
in virtually all older computers, due to their high capacity and low cost, but solid-state drives are
faster and more power efficient, although currently more expensive than hard drives, so are often
found in more expensive computers. Some systems may use a disk array controller for greater
performance or reliability.
2.Removable media – To transfer data between computers, a USB flash drive or Optical disc may
be used. Their usefulness depends on being readable by other systems; the majority of machines
have an optical disk drive, and virtually all have a USB port.
INPUT AND OUTPUT TERMINALS – Input and output devices are typically housed externally to the
main computer chassis. The following are either standard or very common to many computer
systems.
 Input devices allow the user to enter information into the system, or control its operation.
Most personal computers have a mouse and keyboard, but laptop systems typically use
a touchpad instead of a mouse. Other input devices include webcams, microphones,
joysticks, and image scanners.

 Output devices display information in a human readable form. Such devices could include
printers, speakers, monitors or a Braille embosser.
2.Windows or UNIX operating system basics
Ans – UNIX OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS
UNIX is an operating system which was first developed in the 1960s, and has been under constant
development ever since. It is a stable, multi-user, multi-tasking system for servers, desktops and
laptops. UNIX systems also have a graphical user interface (GUI) similar to Microsoft Windows
which provides an easy-to-use environment. The UNIX operating system is made up of three parts;
the kernel, the shell and the programs.
The Kernel – The kernel of UNIX is the hub of the operating system: it allocates time and
memory to programs and handles the file store and communications in response to system
calls.

The Shell – The shell acts as an interface between the user and the kernel. The bash and tcsh
shells have certain features to help the user inputting commands.

Filename Completion – By typing part of the name of a command, filename or directory and
pressing the [Tab] key, the shell will complete the rest of the name automatically

History – The shell keeps a list of the commands the user has typed in.

File and Process in UNIX

Everything in UNIX is either a file or a process. A process is an executing program identified by

a unique PID (process identifier). A file is a collection of data. They are created by users using
text editors, running compilers etc. Examples of files: a document (report, essay etc.),the text
of a program written in some high-level programming language, etc.

All the files are grouped together in the directory structure. The file-system is arranged in a
hierarchical structure, like an inverted tree. The top of the hierarchy is traditionally called root

3.Digital clock
Ans-
DIGITAL CLOCK

The Digital clock consists of an LCD module that contains interface pins for power supply, backlight control,
LCD control and data lines.
->They are explained below.
Power Supply and Backlight Control Interface
The Power supply and Backlight control interface for the LCD module is tabulated below.
Control and Data Interface
The LCD unit can accept either 4bit data or 8bit data. The data bit width can be set programmatically. There
are three control signals associated with controlling the data/control command exchange with LCD. The
control and data bus signal details are tabulated below.

The HD44780 display controller contains an Instruction register and a data register for holding the
commands and the data respectively to the controller. The commands and data to the controller is sent through
the same data bus interface. The RS control signal interface is asserted accordingly and the RW signal is
asserted low to inform the controller that the incoming data is command data or display data.
from the controller, the RW signal is asserted high and the RS signal is asserted low or high according to the
requirement (RS = 0 for reading the command register. RS = 1 for reading from the data register).
The command register holds the different commands sent by the host controller (8051) CPU to control the
various options of the LCD. We will discuss the various control commands at a later section. For displaying
a character on the LCD, the ASCII value of the character (For example 30H for displaying 0) is written to the
data port of LCD. The LCD module contains two types of memory; namely; Display Data RAM (DDR) and
Character Generator RAM. Display Data RAM is the memory which holds the ASCII value of the characters

written to the LCD. The display data RAM size for the ODM16112 module is 80 characters. Each Crystal
cell in the LCD module is mapped to the DDRAM location. The first 40 DDRAM address locations (00H to
27H) are mapped for the crystal cells corresponding to the first line. The next 40 DDRAM memory locations
are mapped to the crystal cells for the second line and the address range for these DDRAM is from 40H to
67H.
The Character Generator RAM (CGRAM) is used for generating and storing user generated character
patterns. Readers are requested to go through the LCD module manual for generating and storing user
generated character pattern.
The various parameters for configuring and controlling the LCD is sent as commands to the Instruction
register of the LCD. These parameters include, the interface length setting (4 or 8 bit interface), Display Data Address
Selection, LCD cursor movement, Clear the LCD, display character scrolling, etc. For more details on the supported
command set for the LCD module, refer to the LCD manual. The common commands supported for executing the
commands for an HD44780 standard LCD module is listed below.
For all the commands listed above, except the Busy flag check, the RS signal is 0 (RS = 0 Command
Register Selection) and RW signal is 0 (RW = 0 Write to LCD).
For the Busy Flag check instruction, the RS signal is 0 and RW signal is 1 (Read Operation). The busy
flag gives an indication of whether the system is busy in processing a command. The busy flag (BF) should
be checked before writing a command to the LCD.

4.Battery operated smart card reader

Ans- - Smart-card is a credit card sized plastic card containing a memory or a ‘CPU and memory’. Smart-card
contains memory in the order of a few bytes to a few kilo bytes. Smart-card follows a specific command
sequence for data read/write operations. The data read write operation is controlled by a Smart-card Reader/Writer IC.
Based on the interface between the Smart-card and the Reader unit, smart-cards are classified as ‘Contact type’ and
‘Contactless’. The Contact type smart-card requires physical contact between the reader and the smart-card. The
contact type smart-card follows the ISO-7816 standard and it physical contact looks exactly the same as that of the
contacts of a GSM cell phone’s SIM card. Whereas the contactless smart-card doesn’t require a physical contact
between the reader and the smart-card for data communication. The data communication for a contactless smart-card
happens over air interface and it uses radio frequency waves for data transmission. 13.56 MHz is the commonly used
radio frequency for smart-card operation.
We are going to design a battery operated contactless smart card reader (Handheld Reader). A rechargeable Li-Io
battery (Say 7V with capacity 1000mAh) is used as the power source for the handheld. The battery parameter
(capacity and voltage) monitoring and charging is controlled using a battery monitor and charge control IC (Like
DS2770 from Maxim Dallas Semiconductor). The host processor can be an 8 or 16bit microcontroller (Like 8051 or
PIC family of controller). The device power ON is controlled through a push button switch. A single chip contactless
smart card read/write IC is used for data read write operation with the smart card. The smart card reader IC is
interfaced to the host processor and the data communication will be under the control of the host processor. The smart
card read/write IC contains CPU (Or control logic implementation), read/write memory, analog circuits for data
modulation and demodulation, transceiver unit for RF data transmission and reception, and antenna driver circuitry.
The Oscillator and Reset circuitry generates the necessary clock and reset signals for the proper operation of the host
processor and smart card read/write IC. The watchdog timer unit provides system in case of system misbehaviour.
Sometimes the watchdog timer hardware comes as part of the
host processor; if not a separate watchdog timer IC is used. The watchdog interrupt is connected to one of
the interrupt lines of the processor. Most of the microcontrollers contain built in data memory and program
memory. If the on-chip program and data memory are not sufficient for the application, external data memory and
program memory chips can be used in the design

5.AUTOMATIC METER READING

Ans-
 An Automated Meter Reading (AMR) system automates the utility metering (like electricity, water and gas
consumption). AMR technique replaces the existing manual meter reading operation. AMR systems
transfer the meter reading data automatically to a central station or operator for billing and usage
monitoring purposes. The meter reading data is transferred over a wireless communication channel or a
wired communication medium. Radio Frequency (RF) transceivers, GPRS based communication over GSM
network are examples of wireless AMR data transfer, whereas Power Line Communication (PLC) in
electricity metering is an example for wired AMR data transfer. PLC uses the power carrying lines for data
communication with a substation. The AMR system contains an AMR data transmission unit, which is
interfaced with the utility meter and a remote AMR data receiver unit which collects the data for billing and
usage monitoring purpose. The AMR data transmission interface can be built as an integral part of the
utility meter or can be built as an add-on module for existing utility readers. Nowadays, Application Specific
Standard Product (ASSP) ICs integrating both utility metering capability and AMR interface is available for
building a utility meter with integrated AMR interface. The AMR enabled utility meter can also be built using
a low-cost microcontroller
with an AMR interface. Our discussion is focused only on AMR interfaces for energy metering for single

phase power supply.

6.DIGITAL CAMERA
Ans- Digital camera is a device for capturing and storing images in the form digital data (series of 1s and
0s) in place of the conventional paper/film based image storage. It is a typical example of an embedded
computing system for data collection/storage application. It contains a lens and image sensors for
capturing the image, LCD for displaying the captured image, user interface buttons to control the
operation of the device and Communication interface to connect it with a PC to transfer captured images.
Figure given below illustrates the various subsystems of a digital camera.
The digital camera is powered by a re-chargeable battery and the monitoring and charging control is
carried out by a battery charge control and monitoring IC, which is under the control of the ‘System Control
Unit’.Provisions for interfacing various storage memory devices like SD/CF/MMC cards are implemented in the
digital camera. The camera device can be connected to a host PC through the communication interface(Like USB,
IEEE 1394, etc.) supported by the device, for image transfer.
Nowadays, a single-chip called System on Chip (SoC), incorporating both image processing unit and
16/32 processor in a single IC are available and they simplify the design. The resolution of a digital camera is
expressed in terms of mega pixels. You may be familiar with the terms 3.2 mega pixels, 5.1 mega pixels, 7.2mega
pixels, etc. It represents the pixels per inch of the image sensing device (CCD/CMOS). As the number of pixels
increase, the image quality also increases.
The various system control tasks and image capturing and processing tasks for the digital camera are
implemented using an embedded operating system.

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