Sunday 22 May 2016

What Is Embedded System?


A system is an arrangement in which all the individual units work together according to specified program or Plan.
So, Embedded System is a system that has computer hardware and software designed for a specific function. In embedded system the software is embedded in to hardware which makes a system dedicated for application specific or may be a part of larger system.
Embedded systems are considered when the cost of implementing a product designed in software on a microprocessor and some small amount of hardware is cheaper, more reliable, or better for some other reason than a discrete hardware design.
In embedded system the code is feed in micro-controller's ROM memory. So there is no requirement of external program memory.
Embedded System Different from Computer System
Embedded system is designed to perform a specific or a group of specific task. While if we talk about Computer system which is designed to run a lot of process at the same time.
In embedded system there will be few external interfaces and computer can be connected to many different devices externally.
PC has a relatively expensive generalized central processing unit (CPU) at its heart with many other external devices (memory, disk drives, video controllers, network inter-face circuits, etc.). An embedded system has a low-cost micro controller unit (MCU) for its intelligence, with many peripheral circuits on the same chip, and with relatively few external devices.


Main Component of Embedded System
In embedded system there are two main components:
·       Hardware
·       Software
Hardware contains the processor, Power supply, input/output device interfacing, Program and data memory, Oscillator circuitry etc as shown in figure below:



Embedded Software
Software is the program code written for a sequence of specific task and burned in to Micro-controller program memory. This memory also called as Read Only memory Flash Memory. Software will monitor all the Input from external environment and perform operation on data and perform output operation.
Programming language can be ASSEMBLY, C & C++ etc.
What is Difference in Embedded and Computer Programming?
A software developer works on the platform which is totally separated from Hardware. He does not require going in hardware Details.
In embedded programming developer directly communicate with the hardware. He should know the Knowledge of hardware for which code is written.
Computer Software Engineer Develop code for PC which is run different Systems. Software written is portable from one system to another system or operating System.  
Embedded Software Engineer writes code for specific hardware. The Software written for one system for system is not Portable form one device to another device.
Application of Embedded System
Currently Embedded System is widely used in Industrial Equipment, Home Appliances, Security application and Agriculture Industry etc. Main Application Fields are As Follows:
·       Home and Building automation.
·        Industrial Machine Health Monitoring System
·       Medical Instruments
·       Security Systems
·       Agriculture Automation

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