Embedded Systems:
Embedded systems refer to those systems that have many hardware components attached either on the same board or in the same package. A software program is also needed to accomplish either a specific task or a set of tasks. A Fire Alarm or Rain Alarm is a classic example of an embedded system.
Components of an embedded system:
Processor: Processor or Microcontroller is the most important component in an embedded system since this is the thing that has to process the data.
Memory: Memory is the second most important thing in an embedded system since it has to hold or store all the data and programs.
Software: Software or simply called programs are another important components in embedded systems especially because these are the actual tasks that have to be executed.
Applications of embedded Systems:
- Medical Equipment.
- Automobile
- Industries
- Gadgets
Integration in Embedded systems:
- SSI: 10 to 200 logic gates
- MSI: 200 to 1000 logic gates
- LSI: 1000 to 10000 logic gates
- VLSI: More than 10000 logic gates
Structure of Embedded Systems:
Sensor: Sensor, as an important component of an embedded hardware, senses some arbitrary data and then either transfers to an Analog to Digital converter or directly to the Memory.
ADC: Sensors interact with ADC because almost every data that is sensed, is already in Analog form. That has to be converted into Digital form so that it can be processed by the Processor.
Processor & ASIC: Processor is the main chip that holds all the arithmetic and logical circuits. ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuit. It is very similar to a Processor but designed for a very specific application.
DAC: DAC converts Digital data into Analog form and that is needed because processor produces Digital data and Actuators require that in Analog form.
Actuator: Actuators are the components that produce some kind of motion. This motion is generated from the processed data that is produced by the processor.
Memory: Memory is required in an embedded system to store the data and programs.