Embedded Systems

As its name suggests, Embedded means something that is attached to another thing. An embedded system can be thought of as a computer hardware system having software embedded in it. An embedded system can be an independent system or it can be a part of a large system. An embedded system is a microcontroller or microprocessor based system which is designed to perform a specific task. For example, a fire alarm is an embedded system; it will sense only smoke.

An embedded system has three components −

• It has hardware.
• It has application software.
• It has Real Time Operating system (RTOS)

Embedded systems are small, fast, and very powerful tools, gadgets and equipment’s which have become part of our everyday life. They are those computer systems that do not look like computer systems to the everyday user. They form a part of a larger system or product, part of anything, from mobile phones to medical devices, from agricultural farming tools to manufacturing equipment’s. An embedded system is a micro-processor based system that is built to control a function or range of functions and is not designed to be used by the user in the same way that a personal computer (PC) is (Heath, 2003).

Embedded systems are where the software meets the physical world. As we put tiny computers into all sorts of systems (door locks, airplanes, pacemakers), how we implement the software is truly, terrifyingly important.

Why do we need embedded systems?

 The first reason why we need embedded systems is because general-purpose computers, like PCs, would be far too costly for the majority of products that incorporate some form of embedded system technology (Christoffer, 2006). Another reason why we need embedded systems is because general-purpose solution might also fail to meet a number of functional or performance requirements such as constraints in power-consumption, size-limitations, reliability or real-time performance etc.

The digital revolution, started decades ago, has reached a stage that we cannot conduct our normal modern daily lives without this technology. Indeed, it is safe to say that we already own at least one piece of equipment, which contains a processor, whether it is a phone, a television, an automatic washing machine or an MP3 player.

The colossal growth of processing power in small packages has fuelled the digital revolution. All sectors of the economy have been influenced by the digital revolution and the industry has experienced tremendous developments in all aspects of engineering disciplines (Bruce, 2011).