ARM MICROCONTROLLER & EMBEDDED SYSTEMS (17EC62)

MODULE – 3

Embedded System
Components

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 1

Introduction

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 2

What is an Embedded System?
• An embedded system is an electronic/electro-mechanical
system designed to perform a specific function and is a
combination of both hardware and firmware (software).
• Every embedded system is unique and the hardware as
well as the firmware is highly specialised to the application
domain.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 3

Embedded Systems vs. General
Computing Systems
• The computing revolution began with the general purpose
computing requirements. Later it was realised that the
general computing requirements are not sufficient for the
embedded computing requirements.
• The embedded computing requirements demand
‘something special’ in terms of response to stimuli,
meeting the computational deadlines, power efficiency,
limited memory capability, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 4

General Purpose Computing System Embedded System
A system which is a combination of a generic hardware A system which is a combination of special purpose
and a General Purpose Operating System for executing a hardware and embedded OS for executing a specific set of
variety of applications applications
Contains a General Purpose Operating System (GPOS) May or may not contain an operating system for
functioning
Applications are alterable (programmable) by the user (It The firmware of the embedded system is pre-programmed
is possible for the end user to re-install the operating and it is non-alterable by the end-user (There may be
system, and also add or remove user applications) exceptions for system supporting OS kernel image flashing
through special hardware settings)
Performance is the key deciding factor in the selection of Application-specific requirements (like performance,
the system. Always, ‘Faster is Better’ power requirements, memory usage, etc.) are the key
deciding factors
Less/not at all tailored towards reduced operating power Highly tailored to take advantage of the power saving
requirements, options for different levels of power modes supported by the hardware and the operating
management system
Response requirements are not time-critical For certain category of embedded systems like mission
critical systems, the response time requirement is highly
critical
Need not be deterministic in execution behaviour Execution behaviour is deterministic for certain types of
embedded systems like ‘Hard Real Time’ systems

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 5

History of Embedded Systems
• Embedded systems were in existence even before the IT revolution.
• Built around the old vacuum tube and transistor technologies.
• Advances in semiconductor and nanotechnology and IT revolution gave way to the
development of miniature embedded systems.
• The first recognised modern embedded system is the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC)
developed by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory for the lunar expedition.
• It had 36K words of fixed memory and 2K words of erasable memory.
• The clock frequency of was 1.024 MHz and it was derived from a 2.048 MHz crystal
clock.
• The first mass-produced embedded system was the Autonetics D-17 guidance
computer for the Minuteman-I missile in 1961.
• It was built using discrete transistor logic and a hard-disk for main memory.
• The first integrated circuit was produced in September 1958 and computers using them
began to appear in 1963.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 6
Classification of Embedded Systems
• Some of the criteria used in the classification of embedded
systems are:
1. Based on generation
2. Complexity and performance requirements
3. Based on deterministic behaviour
4. Based on triggering

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 7

Classification Based on Generation
• First Generation
• Second Generation
• Third Generation
• Fourth Generation
• Next Generation

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 8

Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
• First Generation
• Early embedded systems were built around 8-bit microprocessors
like 8085 and Z80 and 4-bit microcontrollers.
• Simple in hardware circuits with firmware developed in assembly
code.
• E.g.: Digital telephone keypads, stepper motor control units, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 9

Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
• Second Generation
• Embedded systems built around 16-bit microprocessors and 8-bit
or 16-bit microcontrollers.
• Instruction set were much more complex and powerful than the
first generation.
• Some of the second generation embedded systems contained
embedded operating systems for their operation.
• E.g.: Data acquisition systems, SCADA systems, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 10

Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
• Third Generation
• Embedded systems built around 32-bit microprocessors and 16-bit
microcontrollers.
• Application and domain specific processors/controllers like Digital
Signal Processors (DSP) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits
(ASICs) came into picture.
• The instruction set of processors became more complex and powerful
and the concept of instruction pipelining also evolved.
• Dedicated embedded real time and general purpose operating systems
entered into the embedded market.
• Embedded systems spread its ground to areas like robotics, media,
industrial process control, networking, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 11

Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
• Fourth Generation
• The advent of System on Chips (SoC), reconfigurable processors
and multicore processors are bringing high performance, tight
integration and miniaturisation into the embedded device
market.
• The SoC technique implements a total system on a chip by
implementing different functionalities with a processor core on
an integrated circuit.
• They make use of high performance real time embedded
operating systems for their functioning.
• E.g.: Smart phone devices, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 12

Classification Based on Generation
(continued)
• Next Generation
• The processor and embedded market is highly dynamic and
demanding.
• The next generation embedded systems are expected to meet
growing demands in the market.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 13

Classification Based on Complexity and
Performance
• Small-Scale Embedded Systems
• Medium-Scale Embedded Systems
• Large-Scale Embedded Systems

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 14

Classification Based on Complexity and
Performance (continued)
• Small-Scale Embedded Systems
• Simple in application needs and the performance requirements
are not time critical.
• E.g.: An electronic toy
• Usually built around low performance and low cost 8-bit or 16-bit
microprocessors/microcontrollers.
• May or may not contain an operating system for its functioning.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 15

Classification Based on Complexity and
Performance (continued)
• Medium-Scale Embedded Systems
• Slightly complex in hardware and firmware (software)
requirements.
• Usually built around medium performance, low cost 16-bit or 32-
bit microprocessors/microcontrollers or digital signal processors.
• Usually contain an embedded operating system (either general
purpose or real time operating system) for functioning.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 16

Classification Based on Complexity and
Performance (continued)
• Large-Scale Embedded Systems
• Highly complex in hardware and firmware (software) requirements.
• They are employed in mission critical applications demanding high
performance.
• Usually built around high performance 32-bit or 64-bit RISC
processors/controllers or Reconfigurable System on Chip (RSoC) or multi-
core processors and programmable logic devices.
• May contain multiple processors/controllers and co-units/hardware
accelerators for offloading the processing requirements from the main
processor of the system.
• Decoding/encoding of media, cryptographic function implementation, etc.
are examples of processing requirements which can be implemented using a
co-processor/hardware accelerator.
• Usually contain a high performance real time operating system (RTOS) for
task scheduling, prioritization and management.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 17
Classification Based on Deterministic
Behaviour
• Applicable for ‘Real Time’ systems.
• The application/task execution behaviour can be either
deterministic or non-deterministic.
• Based on the execution behaviour, real time embedded systems are
classified into Hard Real Time and Soft Real Time systems.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 18

Classification Based on Triggering
• Embedded systems which are ‘Reactive’ in nature (like process
control systems in industrial control applications) can be classified
based on the trigger.
• Reactive systems can be either event-triggered or time-triggered.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 19

Major Application Areas of Embedded
Systems
1. Consumer electronics: Camcorders, cameras, etc.
2. Household appliances: Television, DVD players, washing machine,
refrigerators, microwave oven, etc.
3. Home automation and security systems: Air conditioners,
sprinklers, intruder detection alarms, closed circuit television
(CCTV) cameras, fire alarms, etc.
4. Automotive industry: Anti-lock braking systems (ABS), engine
control, ignition systems, automatic navigation systems, etc.
5. Telecom: Cellular telephones, telephone switches, handset
multimedia applications, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 20

Major Application Areas of Embedded
Systems (continued)
6. Computer peripherals: Printers, scanners, fax machines, etc.
7. Computer networking systems: Network routers, switches, hubs,
firewalls, etc.
8. Healthcare: Different kinds of scanners, EEG, ECG machines, etc.
9. Measurements & Instrumentation: Digital multimeters, digital
CROs, logic analyzers, PLC systems, etc.
10. Banking & Retail: Automated teller machines (ATM) and currency
counters, point of sales (POS), etc.
11. Card readers: Barcode, smart card readers, hand held devices, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 21

Purpose of Embedded Systems
• Each embedded system is designed to serve the purpose of any one
or a combination of the following tasks:
1. Data Collection/Storage/Representation
2. Data Communication
3. Data (Signal) Processing
4. Monitoring
5. Control
6. Application Specific User Interface

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 22

Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Data Collection/Storage/Representation
• Embedded systems designed for the purpose of
data collection performs acquisition of data from
the external world.
• Data collection is usually done for storage,
analysis, manipulation and transmission.
• The term "data" refers all kinds of information,
viz. text, voice, image, video, electrical signals and • A digital camera is a typical
example of an embedded system
any other measurable quantities. with data
collection/storage/representation
• Data can be either analog (continuous) or digital of data.
(discrete). • Images are captured and the
captured image may be stored
• The collected data may be stored or transmitted within the memory of the camera.
or it may be processed or it may be deleted • The captured image can also be
presented to the user through a
instantly after giving a meaningful representation. graphic LCD unit.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 23

Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Data Communication
• Embedded data communication systems are
deployed in applications ranging from complex
satellite communication systems to simple
home networking systems.
• The transmission is achieved either by a wire-
Fig: A wireless network router for
line medium or by a wireless medium. data communication
• Network hubs, routers, switches,
• The data collecting embedded terminal itself etc. are typical examples of
dedicated data transmission
can incorporate data communication units like embedded systems.
wireless modules (Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, • They act as mediators in data
communication and provide
EDGE, GPRS, etc.) or wire-line modules (RS- various features like data security,
monitoring etc.
232C, USB, TCP/IP, PS2, etc.).
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 24
Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Data (Signal) Processing
• The data (voice, image, video, electrical signals
and other measurable quantities) collected by
embedded systems may be used for various
kinds of data processing.
• Embedded systems with signal processing
functionalities are employed in applications
• A digital hearing aid is a typical
demanding signal processing like speech example of an embedded system
employing data processing.
coding, synthesis, audio video codec, • Digital hearing aid improves the
hearing capacity of hearing
transmission applications, etc. impaired persons.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 25

Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Monitoring
• Almost embedded products coming under the medical
domain are used for monitoring.
• A very good example is the electro cardiogram (ECG)
machine for monitoring the heartbeat of a patient.
• The machine is intended to do the monitoring of the heartbeat.
• It cannot impose control over the heartbeat.
• The sensors used in ECG are the different electrodes connected
to the patient's body.
• Some other examples of embedded systems with Fig: A patient monitoring system for
monitoring heartbeat
monitoring function are measuring instruments like
digital CRO, digital multimeters, logic analyzers, etc.
used in Control & Instrumentation applications.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 26

Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Control
• Embedded systems with control functionalities
impose control over some variables according to
the changes in input variables.
• A system with control functionality contains both
sensors and actuators.
• Sensors are connected to the input port for
capturing the changes in environmental variable • An Air Conditioner System used to
control the room temperature to
or measuring variable. a specified limit is a typical
example for embedded system for
• The actuators connected to the output port are control purpose.
controlled according to the changes in input • An air conditioner contains a
room temperature-sensing
variable to put an impact on the controlling element (sensor) which may be a
variable to bring the controlled variable to the thermistor and a handheld unit
for setting up (feeding) the
specified range. desired temperature.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 27

Purpose of Embedded Systems
(continued)
• Application Specific User Interface
• These are embedded systems with
application-specific user interfaces like
buttons, switches, keypad, lights, bells, display
units, etc.
• Mobile phone is an example for this.
• In mobile phone the user interface is provided
through the keypad, graphic LCD module, • A mobile phone is an example for
embedded system with an
system speaker, vibration alert, etc. application-specific user
interfaces.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 28

A Typical Embedded
System

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 29

A Typical Embedded System

Fig: Elements of an Embedded System

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 30

A Typical Embedded System (continued)
• It contains a single chip controller, which acts as the master brain of
the system.
• The controller can be
✓ A microprocessor or
✓ A microcontroller or
✓ A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device or
✓ A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or
✓ An Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)/Application Specific
Standard Product (ASSP)

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 31

A Typical Embedded System (continued)
• An embedded system can be viewed as a reactive system.
• The control is achieved by processing the information coming from
the sensors and user interfaces, and controlling some actuators
that regulate the physical variable.
• Key boards, push button switches, etc. are examples for common
user interface input devices.
• LEDs, liquid crystal displays, piezoelectric buzzers, etc. are examples
for common user interface output devices for a typical embedded
system.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 32

A Typical Embedded System (continued)
• The memory of the system is responsible for holding the control algorithm and other
important configuration details.
• For most of embedded systems, the memory for storing the algorithm or configuration data is
of fixed type, which is a kind of Read Only Memory (ROM).
• It is not available for the end user for modifications
• The memory is protected from unwanted user interaction by implementing some kind of
memory protection mechanism.
• The most common types of memories used in embedded systems for control algorithm
storage are OTP, PROM, UVEPROM, EEPROM and FLASH.
• Sometimes the system requires temporary memory for performing arithmetic operations or
control algorithm execution and this type of memory is known as "working memory".
• Random Access Memory (RAM) is used in most of the systems as the working memory.
• Various types of RAM like SRAM, DRAM and NVRAM are used for this purpose.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 33

A Typical Embedded System (continued)
• Apart from these, communication interface is essential for
communicating with various subsystems of the embedded system
and with the external world.
• The communication interfaces may be used to achieve onboard
(I2C, SPI, UART, parallel bus interface, etc.) or external
communication (wireless interfaces like Infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,
etc.)

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 34

Core of the Embedded
System

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 35

Core of the Embedded System
• Embedded systems are domain and application specific and are built around a
central core.
• The core of the embedded system falls into any one of the following
categories:
1. General Purpose and Domain Specific Processors
1.1 Microprocessors
1.2 Microcontrollers
1.3 Digital Signal Processors
2. Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)
3. Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)
4. Commercial off-the-shelf Components (COTS)
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 36
General Purpose and Domain Specific
Processors
• Almost 80% of the embedded systems are processor/controller based.
• The processor may be a microprocessor or a microcontroller or a digital signal
processor, depending on the domain and application.
• Most of the embedded systems in the industrial control and monitoring
applications make use of the commonly available microprocessors or
microcontrollers.
• Domains which require signal processing such as speech coding, speech
recognition, etc. make use of special kind of digital signal processors.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 37

Microprocessors
• A Microprocessor is a silicon chip representing a central processing unit (CPU),
which is capable of performing arithmetic as well as logical operations
according to a pre-defined set of instructions.
• In general the CPU contains the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), control unit
and working registers.
• A microprocessor is a dependent unit and it requires the combination of other
hardware like memory, timer unit, and interrupt controller, etc. for proper
functioning.
• Intel, AMD, Freescale, IBM, TI, Cyrix, Hitachi, NEC, LSI Logic, etc. are the key
players in the processor market.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 38

General Purpose Processor (GPP) vs. Application-
Specific Instruction Set Processor (ASIP)
General Purpose Processor (GPP) Application-Specific Instruction Set Processor
(ASIP)
• A General Purpose Processor or GPP is a • Application Specific Instruction Set Processors (ASIPs)
processor designed for general computational are processors with architecture and instruction set
tasks. optimised to specific-domain/application requirements
like network processing, automotive, telecom, media
• The processor running inside laptop or desktop applications, digital signal processing, control
is a typical example for general purpose applications, etc.
processor.
• Most of the embedded systems are built around
• Due to the high volume production, the per unit application specific instruction set processors.
cost for a chip is low. • Some microcontrollers (like automotive AVR, USB
AVR from Atmel), system on chips, digital signal
• A typical general purpose processor contains an processors, etc. are examples for application specific
Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) and Control Unit instruction set processors (ASIPs).
(CU).
• ASIPs incorporate a processor and on-chip peripherals,
demanded by the application requirement, program and
data memory.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 39
Microcontrollers
• A Microcontroller is a highly integrated chip that contains a CPU,
scratch pad RAM, special and general purpose register arrays, on chip
ROM/FLASH memory for program storage, timer and interrupt control
units and dedicated I/O ports.
• A microcontroller contains all the necessary functional blocks for
independent working.
• Have greater place in embedded domain in place of microprocessors.
• They are cheap, cost effective and are readily available in the market.
• Atmel, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Philips, Freescale, NEC, Zilog,
Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Infineon, ST Micro Electronics, National,
Microchip, Analog Devices, Daewoo, Intel, Maxim, Sharp, Silicon
Laboratories, TDK, Triscend, Winbond, etc. are the key players in the
microcontroller market.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 40
Microprocessor vs. Microcontroller
Microprocessor Microcontroller
A silicon chip representing a central processing unit (CPU), which is A microcontroller is a highly integrated chip that contains a CPU,
capable of performing arithmetic as well as logical operations scratchpad RAM, special and general purpose register arrays, on
according to a pre-defined set of instructions chip ROM/ FLASH memory for program storage, timer and
interrupt control units and dedicated I/O ports

It is a dependent unit. It requires the combination of other chips It is a self-contained unit and it doesn't require external interrupt
like timers, program and data memory chips, interrupt controllers, controller, timer, UART, etc. for its functioning
etc. for functioning

Most of the time, general purpose in design and operation Mostly application-oriented or domain-specific

Doesn't contain a built in I/O port. The I/O port functionality needs Most of the processors contain multiple built-in I/O ports which
to be implemented with the help of external programmable can be operated as a single 8 or 16 or 32 bit port or as individual
peripheral interface chips like 8255 port pins

Targeted for high end market where performance is important Targeted for embedded market where performance is not so
critical
Limited power saving options compared to microcontrollers Includes lot of power saving features

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 41

Digital Signal Processors
• Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are powerful special purpose 8/16/32 bit
microprocessors designed specifically to meet the computational demands and power
constraints of today's embedded audio, video, and communications applications.
• Digital signal processors are 2 to 3 times faster than the general purpose
microprocessors in signal processing applications.
• This is because of the architectural difference between the two.
• DSPs implement algorithms in hardware which speeds up the execution whereas
general purpose processors implement the algorithm in firmware and the speed of
execution depends primarily on the clock for the processors.
• Audio video signal processing, telecommunication and multimedia applications are
typical examples where DSP is employed.
• Digital signal processing employs a large amount of real-time calculations.
• Sum of products (SOP) calculation, convolution, fast fourier transform (FFT), discrete
fourier transform (DFT), etc, are some of the operations performed by digital signal
processors.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 42
Digital Signal Processors (continued)
• A typical digital signal processor incorporates the following key units:
• Program Memory: Memory for storing the program required by DSP to process
the data
• Data Memory: Working memory for storing temporary variables and
data/signal to be processed.
• Computational Engine: Performs the signal processing in accordance with the
stored program memory.
• It incorporates many specialised arithmetic units and each of them operates
simultaneously to increase the execution speed.
• It also incorporates multiple hardware shifters for shifting operands and thereby
saves execution time.
• I/O Unit: Acts as an interface between the outside world and DSP.
• It is responsible for capturing signals to be processed and delivering the processed
signals.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 43
RISC vs. CISC Processors/Controllers
• RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing.
• All RISC processors/controllers possess lesser number of instructions,
typically in the range of 30 to 40.
• E.g.: Atmel AVR microcontroller – its instruction set contains only 32
instructions.
• CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computing.
• The instruction set is complex and instructions are high in number.
• E.g.: 8051 microcontroller – its instruction set contains 255
instructions.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 44

RISC CISC

Lesser number of instructions Greater number of instructions

Instruction pipelining and increased execution speed Generally no instruction pipelining feature

Orthogonal instruction set (Allows each instruction to operate on Non-orthogonal instruction set (All instructions are not allowed to
any register and use any addressing mode) operate on any register and use any addressing mode. It is
instruction-specific)
Operations are performed on registers only, the only memory Operations are performed on registers or memory depending on the
operations are load and store instruction

A large number of registers are available Limited number of general purpose registers

Programmer needs to write more code to execute a task since the Instructions are like macros in C language. A programmer can
instructions are simpler ones achieve the desired functionality with a single instruction which in
turn provides the effect of using more simpler single instructions in
RISC
Single, fixed length instructions Variable length instructions

Less silicon usage and pin count More silicon usage since more additional decoder logic is required
to implement the complex instruction decoding

With Harvard Architecture Can be Harvard or Von-Neumann Architecture

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 45

Harvard vs. Von-Neumann
Processor/ControIIer Architecture
• Von-Neumann Architecture
• Microprocessors/controllers based on the Von-Neumann architecture
share a single common bus for fetching both instructions and data.
• Program instructions and data are stored in a common main memory.
• They first fetch an instruction and then fetch the data to support the
instruction from code memory.
• The two separate fetches slows down the controller's operation.
• Von-Neumann architecture is also referred as Princeton architecture,
since it was developed by the Princeton University.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 46

Harvard vs. Von-Neumann
Processor/ControIIer Architecture (continued)
• Harvard Architecture
• Microprocessors/controllers based on the Harvard architecture will
have separate data bus and instruction bus.
• This allows the data transfer and program fetching to occur simultaneously on
both buses.
• The data memory can be read and written while the program memory
is being accessed.
• These separated data memory and code memory buses allow one
instruction to execute while the next instruction is fetched ("pre-
fetching").
• The pre-fetch theoretically allows much faster execution than Von-Neumann
architecture.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 47
Harvard vs. Von-Neumann
Processor/ControIIer Architecture (continued)
Harvard Architecture Von-Neumann Architecture
Separate buses for instruction and data fetching Single shared bus for instruction and data fetching
Easier to pipeline, so high performance can be Low performance compared to Harvard
achieved architecture
Comparatively high cost Cheaper
No memory alignment problems Allows self modifying codes
Since data memory and program memory are Since data memory and program memory are
stored physically in different locations, no chances stored physically in the same chip, chances for
for accidental corruption of program memory accidental corruption of program memory

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 48

Big-Endian vs. Little-Endian
Processors/Controllers
• Endianness specifies the order in which the data is stored in the
memory by processor operations in a multi byte system.
• Suppose the word length is two byte then data can be stored in
memory in two different ways:
1. Higher order of data byte at the higher memory and lower order of
data byte at location just below the higher memory – Little-Endian
◦ E.g.: Intel x86 Processors
2. Lower order of data byte at the higher memory and higher order of
data byte at location just below the higher memory – Big-Endian
◦ E.g.: Motorola 68000 Series Processors

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 49

Big-Endian vs. Little-Endian
Processors/Controllers (continued)
• Little-endian means the lower-order byte of the data is stored in
memory at the lowest address, and the higher-order byte at the
highest address. (The little end comes first.)
• For example, a 4 byte long integer Byte3 Byte2 Byte1 Byte0 will be
stored in the memory as shown below:

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 50

Big-Endian vs. Little-Endian
Processors/Controllers (continued)
• Big-endian means the higher-order byte of the data is stored in
memory at the lowest address, and the lower-order byte at the
highest address. (The big end comes first.)
• For example, a 4 byte long integer Byte3 Byte2 Byte1 Byte0 will be
stored in the memory as shown below:

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 51

Load Store Operation and Instruction
Pipelining
• The memory access related operations are performed by the
special instructions load and store.
• If the operand is specified as memory location, the content of it is
loaded to a register using the load instruction.
• The instruction store stores data from a specified register to a
specified memory location.
• The concept of Load Store Architecture is illustrated with the
following example:
• Suppose x, y and z are memory locations and we want to add the
contents of x and y and store the result in location z. Under the load
store architecture the same is achieved with 4 instructions as shown:
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 52
Load Store Operation and Instruction
Pipelining (continued)

Fig: The concept of load store architecture

• The first instruction load R1, x loads the register R1 with the content of memory location x.
• The second instruction load R2, y loads the register R2 with the content of memory location y.
• The instruction add R3, R1, R2 adds the content of registers R1 and R2 and stores the result in
register R3.
• The next instruction store R3,z stores the content of register R3 in memory location z.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 53

Load Store Operation and Instruction
Pipelining (continued)
• The conventional instruction execution by the processor follows the
fetch-decode-execute sequence.
• The fetch part fetches the instruction from program memory or code
memory.
• The decode part decodes the instruction to generate the
necessary control signals.
• The execute stage reads the operands, perform ALU operations and
stores the result.
• In conventional program execution, the fetch and decode
operations are performed in sequence. For simplicity let's consider
decode and execution together.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 54

Load Store Operation and Instruction
Pipelining (continued)
• During the decode operation, the memory address bus is available and if
it is possible to effectively utilise it for an instruction fetch, the
processing speed can be increased.
• Instruction pipelining refers to the overlapped execution of instructions –
i.e., while the current instruction is being decoded and executed, the
next instruction will be fetched.
• If the current instruction in progress is a program control flow transfer
instruction like jump or call instruction, the instruction fetched is flushed
and a new instruction fetch is performed to fetch the instruction.
• Whenever the current instruction is executing the program counter will
be loaded with the address of the next instruction.
• In case of jump or branch instruction, the new location is known only
after completion of the jump or branch instruction.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 55
Load Store Operation and Instruction
Pipelining (continued)
• Depending on the stages involved in an instruction (fetch, read register and
decode, execute instruction, access an operand in data memory, write back the
result to register, etc.), there can be multiple levels of instruction pipelining.
• Figure illustrates the concept of instruction pipelining for single stage
pipelining.

Fig: The single-stage pipelining concept

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 56

Application Specific Integrated Circuits
(ASICs)
• Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is a microchip designed to perform a specific or
unique application.
• Used as replacement to conventional general purpose logic chips.
• It integrates several functions into a single chip and there by reduces the system development
cost.
• ASIC consumes a very small area in the total system.
• Helps in the design of smaller systems with high capabilities/functionalities.
• Fabrication of ASICs requires a non-refundable initial investment for the process technology
and configuration expenses. This investment is known as Non-Recurring Engineering Charge
(NRE) and it is a one time investment.
• If the Non-Recurring Engineering Charges (NRE) is borne by a third party and the ASIC is made
openly available in the market, the it is referred as Application Specific Standard Product
(ASSP).
• E.g.: ADE7760 Energy Meter ASIC developed by Analog Devices for Energy metering applications

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 57

Programmable Logic Devices
• Logic devices provide specific functions, including device-to-device interfacing, data
communication, signal processing, data display, timing and control operations, and
almost every other function a system must perform.
• Logic devices can be classified into two broad categories—fixed and programmable.
• The circuits in a fixed logic device are permanent, they perform one function or set of
functions—once manufactured, they cannot be changed.
• Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) offer customers a wide range of logic capacity,
features, speed, and voltage characteristics and these devices can be re-configured to
perform any number of functions at any time.
• Designers use inexpensive software tools to quickly develop, simulate, and test their
designs.
• Then, a design can be quickly programmed into a device, and immediately tested in a live
circuit.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 58
Programmable Logic Devices (continued)
• There are no NRE costs and the final design is completed much faster than that
of a custom, fixed logic device.
• Another key benefit of using PLDs is that during the design phase customers
can change the circuitry as often as they want until the design operates to their
satisfaction.
• PLDs are based on re-writable memory technology to change the design, the device
is simply reprogrammed.
• Once the design is final, customers can go into immediate production by simply
programming as many PLDs as they need with the final software design file.
• The two major types of programmable logic devices are Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 59

 CPLDs and FPGAs
FPGAs CPLDs
• The FPGAs offer the highest amount of logic density, • CPLDs offer much smaller amounts of logic—up to
the most features, and the highest performance. about 10,000 gates.
• The largest FPGA now shipping, part of the Xilinx • But CPLDs offer very predictable timing
Virtex line of devices, provides eight million "system characteristics and are therefore ideal for critical
gates" (the relative density of logic). control applications.
• These advanced devices also offer features such as • CPLDs such as the Xilinx CoolRunner series also
built-in hardwired processors (such as the IBM power require extremely low amounts of power and are
PC), substantial amounts of memory, clock very inexpensive, making them ideal for cost-
management systems, and support for many of the sensitive, battery-operated, portable applications
latest, very fast device-to-device signaling such as mobile phones and digital handheld
technologies. assistants.
• FPGAs are used in a wide variety of applications
ranging from data processing and storage, to
instrumentation, telecommunications, and digital
signal processing.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 60

Advantages of PLD
• PLDs offer customers much more flexibility during the design cycle because design
iterations are simply a matter of changing the programming file, and the results of
design changes can be seen immediately in working parts.
• PLDs do not require long lead times for prototypes or production parts—the PLDs are
already on a distributor's shelf and ready for shipment.
• PLDs do not require customers to pay for large NRE costs and purchase expensive
mask sets—PLD suppliers incur those costs when they design their programmable
devices and are able to amortize those costs over the multi-year lifespan of a given
line of PLDs.
• PLDs allow customers to order just the number of parts they need, when they need
them, allowing them to control inventory.
• PLDs can be reprogrammed even after a piece of equipment is shipped to a customer.
The manufacturers can add new features or upgrade products that already are in the
field. To do this, they simply upload a new programming file to the PLD, via the
Internet, creating new hardware logic in the system.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 61

Commercial Off-the-Shelf Components
(COTS)
• A Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) product is one which is used 'as-is’.
• COTS products are designed in such a way to provide easy integration and
interoperability with existing system components.
• The COTS component itself may be developed around a general purpose or
domain specific processor or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit or a
Programmable Logic Device.
• Advantages:
• They are readily available in the market
• Cheap
• Developer can cut down his development time to a great extent
• Reduces the time to market
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 62
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Components
(COTS) (continued)
• Typical examples of COTS hardware unit are remote
controlled toy car control units including the RF
circuitry part, high performance, high frequency
microwave electronics (2—200 GHz), high
bandwidth analog-to-digital converters, devices
and components for operation at very high
temperatures, electro-optic IR imaging arrays,
UV/IR detectors, etc. Fig: An example of a COTS product for
TCP/IP plug-in from WIZnet
• E.g.: The TCP/IP plug-in module available from (WIZnet NM7010A Plug in Module)

various manufactures like 'WIZnet', 'Freescale',

'Dynalog', etc. are very good examples of COTS
product.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 63
Memory

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 64

Memory
• Memory is an important part of a processor/controller based
embedded systems.
• Some of the processors/controllers contain built in memory and
this memory is referred as on-chip memory.
• Others do not contain any memory inside the chip and requires
external memory to be connected with the controller/processor to
store the control algorithm. It is called off-chip memory.
• Also some working memory is required for holding data temporarily
during certain operations.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 65

Program Storage Memory (ROM)
• The program memory or code storage memory of an embedded system
stores the program instructions.
• The code memory retains its contents even after the power is turned off.
It is generally known as non-volatile storage memory.
• It can be classified into different types as shown:

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 66

Masked ROM (MROM)
• Masked ROM is a one-time programmable device.
• Masked ROM makes use of the hardwired technology for storing data.
• The device is factory programmed by masking and metallisation process
at the time of production itself, according to the data provided by the
end user.
• Advantage – low cost for high volume production.
• Limitation – inability to modify the device firmware against firmware
upgrades.
• Since the MROM is permanent in bit storage, it is not possible to alter the bit
information.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 67
Masked ROM (MROM) (continued)
• Different mechanisms are used for the masking process of the
ROM, like
1. Creation of an enhancement or depletion mode transistor
through channel implant.
2. By creating the memory cell either using a standard transistor or
a high threshold transistor.
• In the high threshold mode, the supply voltage required to turn ON
the transistor is above the normal ROM IC operating voltage.
• This ensures that the transistor is always off and the memory cell
stores always logic 0.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 68
Programmable Read Only Memory
(PROM) / (OTP)
• One Time Programmable Memory (OTP) or PROM is not pre-programmed by
the manufacturer.
• The end user is responsible for programming these devices.
• This memory has nichrome or polysilicon wires arranged in a matrix. These
wires can be functionally viewed as fuses.
• It is programmed by a PROM programmer which selectively burns the fuses
according to the bit pattern to be stored.
• Fuses which are not blown/burned represents a logic “1" whereas fuses which are
blown/burned represents a logic 0 .
• The default state is logic "1".
• OTP is widely used for commercial production of embedded systems whose
prototyped versions are proven and the code is finalised.
• It is a low cost solution for commercial production.
• OTPs cannot be reprogrammed.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 69

Erasable Programmable Read Only
Memory (EPROM)
• Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM) gives the flexibility
to re-program the same chip.
• EPROM stores the bit information by charging the floating gate of an FET.
• Bit information is stored by using an EPROM programmer, which applies
high voltage to charge the floating gate.
• EPROM contains a quartz crystal window for erasing the stored
information.
• If the window is exposed to ultraviolet rays for a fixed duration, the entire
memory will be erased.
• Even though the EPROM chip is flexible in terms of re-programmability, it
needs to be taken out of the circuit board and put in a UV eraser device
for 20 to 30 minutes.
• It is a tedious and time-consuming process.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 70
Electrically Erasable Programmable Read
only Memory (EEPROM)
• The information contained in the EEPROM memory can be altered
by using electrical signals at the register/byte level.
• They can be erased and reprogrammed in-circuit.
• These chips include a chip erase mode and in this mode they can be
erased in a few milliseconds.
• It provides greater flexibility for system design.
• The only limitation is their capacity is limited (a few kilobytes) when
compared with the standard ROM.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 71

FLASH
• FLASH memory is a variation of EEPROM technology – It combines the re-
programmability of EEPROM and the high capacity of standard ROMs.
• FLASH is the latest ROM technology.
• Most popular ROM technology used in today's embedded designs.
• FLASH memory is organised as sectors (blocks) or pages.
• FLASH memory stores information in an array of floating gate MOSFET
transistors.
• The erasing of memory can be done at sector level or page level without
affecting the other sectors or pages.
• Each sector/page should be erased before re-programming.
• The typical erasable capacity of FLASH is 1000 cycles.
• E.g.: W27C512 from WINBOND is an example of 64KB FLASH memory.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 72
Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM)
• Non-volatile RAM is a random access memory with battery backup.
• It contains static RAM based memory and a minute battery for
providing supply to the memory in the absence of external power
supply.
• The memory and battery are packed together in a single package.
• The life span of NVRAM is expected to be around 10 years.
• E.g.: DS1644 from Maxim/Dallas is an example of 32KB NVRAM.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 73

Read-Write Memory/Random Access
Memory (RAM)
• RAM is the data memory or working memory of the controller/processor.
• Controller/processor can read from it and write to it.
• RAM is volatile – when the power is turned off, all the contents are
destroyed.
• RAM is a direct access memory – we can access the desired memory
location directly without the need for traversing through the entire
memory locations to reach the desired memory position (i.e. random
access of memory location).
• This is in contrast to the Sequential Access Memory (SAM), where the desired
memory location is accessed by either traversing through the entire memory
or through a 'seek' method. Magnetic tapes, CD ROMs, etc. are examples of
sequential access memories.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 74
Read-Write Memory/Random Access
Memory (RAM) (continued)
• RAM generally falls into three categories: Static RAM (SRAM),
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 75

Static RAM (SRAM)
• Static RAM stores data in the form of voltage.
• They are made up of flip-flops.
• Static RAM is the fastest form of RAM available.
• Fast due to its resistive networking and switching capabilities.
• In typical implementation, an SRAM cell (bit) is realised using six
transistors (or 6 MOSFETs).
• Four of the transistors are used for building the latch (flip-flop) part of
the memory cell and two for controlling the access.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 76

Static RAM (SRAM) (continued)
• In its simplest representation an SRAM cell can be visualised as
shown in the figure below:

Fig: SRAM cell implementation

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 77

Static RAM (SRAM) (continued)
• This implementation in its simpler form can be visualised as two
cross-coupled inverters with read/write control through transistors.
• The four transistors in the middle form the cross-coupled inverters.
• This can be visualised as shown in the figure below:

Fig: Visualisation of SRAM cell

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 78

Static RAM (SRAM) (continued)
• The access to the memory cell is controlled by Word Line, which
controls the access transistors (MOSFETs) Q5 and Q6.
• The access transistors control the connection to bit lines B & B\.
• In order to write a value to the memory cell, apply the desired value
to the bit control lines (For writing 1, make B = 1 and B\ = 0; For
writing 0, make B = 0 and B\ = 1) and assert the Word Line (Make
Word line high).
• This operation latches the bit written in the flip-flop.
• For reading the content of the memory cell, assert both B and B\ bit
lines to 1 and set the Word line to 1.
• The major limitations of SRAM are low capacity and high cost.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 79
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
• Dynamic RAM stores data in the form of charge.
• They are made up of MOS transistor gates.
• Advantages – high density and low cost compared to SRAM.
• Disadvantage – since the information is stored as charge it gets
leaked off with time and to prevent this they need to be refreshed
periodically.
• Special circuits called DRAM controllers are used for the refreshing
operation.
• The refresh operation is done periodically in milliseconds interval.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 80
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) (continued)
• Figure below illustrates the typical implementation of a DRAM cell.
• The MOSFET acts as the gate for the incoming and outgoing data
whereas the capacitor acts as the bit storage unit.

Fig: DRAM cell implementation

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 81

SRAM vs DRAM
• Table given below summarises the relative merits and demerits of
SRAM and DRAM technology.
SRAM Cell DRAM Cell
Made up of 6 CMOS transistors (MOSFET) Made up of a MOSFET and a capacitor
Doesn't require refreshing Requires refreshing
Low capacity (Less dense) High capacity (Highly dense)
More expensive Less expensive
Fast in operation. Typical access time is 10ns Slow in operation due to refresh requirements.
Typical access time is 60ns. Write operation is faster
than read operation.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 82

Memory According to the Type of
Interface
• The interface (connection) of memory with the processor/controller can
be of various types.
• Parallel interface
• Serial interface like I2C
• SPI (Serial peripheral interface)
• Single wire interconnection (like Dallas 1-Wire interface)
• Serial interface is commonly used for data storage memory like EEPROM.
• The memory density of a serial memory is usually expressed in terms of
kilobits, whereas that of a parallel interface memory is expressed in terms
of kilobytes.
• Atmel Corporations AT24C512 is an example for serial memory with
capacity 512 kilobits and 2-wire interface.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 83

Memory Shadowing
• Generally the execution of a program or a configuration from a ROM is
very slow (120 to 200 ns) compared to the execution from a RAM(40 to
70 ns).
• RAM access is about three times as fast as ROM access.
• Memory Shadowing is a technique adopted to solve the execution speed
problem in processor-based systems.
• In computer systems and video systems there will be a configuration
holding ROM called Basic Input Output Configuration ROM or simply
BIOS.
• BIOS stores the hardware configuration information like the address assigned
for various serial ports and other non-plug 'n' play devices, etc.
• Usually it is read and the system is configured according to it during system
boot up and it is time consuming.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 84

Memory Shadowing (continued)
• In memory shadowing, a RAM is included behind the logical layer of
BIOS at its same address as a shadow to the BIOS.
• The first step that happens during the boot up is copying the BIOS to
the shadowed RAM and write protecting the RAM then disabling the
BIOS reading.
• RAM is volatile and it cannot hold the configuration data which is
copied from the BIOS when the power supply is switched off. Only a
ROM can hold it permanently.
• But for high system performance it should be accessed from a RAM
instead of accessing from a ROM.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 85

Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems
• Embedded systems require a
• Program memory for holding the control algorithm or embedded OS and the
applications designed to run on top of it
• Data memory for holding variables and temporary data during task execution
• Memory for holding non-volatile data (like configuration data, look up table
etc) which are modifiable by the application
• The memory requirement for an embedded system in terms of RAM and
ROM (EEPROM/FLASH/NVRAM) is solely dependent on the type of the
embedded system and the applications for which it is designed.
• Lot of factors need to be considered when selecting the type and size of
memory for embedded system.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 86

Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• For example, if the embedded system is designed using SOC or a
microcontroller with on-chip RAM and ROM (FLASH/EEPROM),
depending on the application need the on-chip memory may be
sufficient for designing the total system.
• Consider a simple electronic toy design as an example.
• As the complexity of requirements are less and data memory
requirement are minimal, we can think of a microcontroller with a few
bytes of internal RAM, a few bytes or kilobytes of FLASH memory and a
few bytes of EEPROM (if required) for designing the system. Hence
there is no need for external memory at all.
• A PIC microcontroller device which satisfies the I/O and memory
requirements can be used in this case.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 87
Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• If the embedded design is based on an RTOS, the RTOS requires certain
amount of RAM for its execution and ROM for storing the RTOS image.
• Normally the binary code for RTOS kernel containing all the services is
stored in a non-volatile memory (Like FLASH) as either compressed or
non-compressed data.
• During boot-up of the device, the RTOS files are copied from the program
storage memory, decompressed if required and then loaded to the RAM
for execution.
• A smart phone device with Windows mobile operating system is a typical
example for embedded device with OS.
• Say 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM are the minimum requirements for running
the Windows mobile device, extra RAM and ROM are needed for running
user applications.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 88

Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• There are two parameters for representing a memory:
1. Size of the memory chip – Memory density expressed in terms of number of memory
bytes per chip.
◦ Memory chips come in standard sizes like 512 bytes, 1024 bytes (1 kilobyte), 2048 bytes (2
kilobytes), 4KB, 8KB, 16KB, 32KB, 64KB, 128KB, 256KB, 512KB, 1024KB(1 megabytes), etc.
◦ While selecting a memory size, the address range supported by the processor must also be
considered. For example, for a processor/controller with 16 bit address bus, the maximum
number of memory locations that can be addressed is 216 = 65536 bytes = 64KB
◦ The entire memory range supported by the processor/controller may not be available to the
memory chip alone. It may be shared between I/O, other ICs and memory.
2. Word size of the memory – The number of memory bits that can be read/written
together at a time.
◦ Word size can be 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, etc.
◦ The word size supported by the memory chip must match with the data bus width of the
processor/controller.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 89

Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• FLASH memory is the popular choice for ROM in embedded applications.
• It is a powerful and cost-effective solid-state storage technology for mobile electronics devices
and other consumer applications.
• FLASH memory comes in two major variants – NAND FLASH and NOR FLASH.
• NAND FLASH is a high-density low cost non-volatile storage memory, while NOR FLASH is less
dense and slightly expensive.
• NOR FLASH supports the Execute in Place (XIP) technique for program execution.
• The XIP technology allows the execution of code memory from ROM itself without the need for copying
it to the RAM as in the case of conventional execution method.
• It is a good practice to use a combination of NOR and NAND memory for storage memory
requirements, where NAND can be used for storing the program code and/or data like the data
captured in a camera device.
• NAND FLASH doesn't support XIP and if NAND FLASH is used for storing program code, a DRAM can be
used for copying and executing the program code.
• NOR FLASH supports XIP and it can be used as the memory for bootloader or for even storing the
complete program code.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 90
Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• The EEPROM data storage memory is available as either serial
interface or parallel interface chip.
• If the processor/controller of the device supports serial interface and
the amount of data to write and read to and from the device is less, it
is better to have a serial EEPROM chip.
• The serial EEPROM saves the address space of the total system.
• The memory capacity of the serial EEPROM is usually expressed in
bits or kilobits.
• 512 bits, 1Kbits, 2Kbits, 4Kbits, etc. are examples for serial EEPROM
memory representation.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 91
Memory Selection for Embedded
Systems (continued)
• For embedded systems with low power requirements like portable
devices, choose low power memory devices.
• Certain embedded devices may be targeted for operating at extreme
environmental conditions like high temperature, high humid area,
etc.
• Select an industrial grade memory chip in place of the commercial grade
chip for such devices.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 92

Sensors and Actuators

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 93

Sensors and Actuators
• An embedded system is in constant interaction with the real world
and the controlling/monitoring functions executed by the embedded
system is achieved in accordance with the changes happening to the
real world.
• The changes in system environment or variables are detected by the
sensors connected to the input port of the embedded system.
• If the embedded system is designed for any controlling purpose, the
system will produce some changes in the controlling variable to bring
the controlled variable to the desired value.
• It is achieved through an actuator connected to the output port of the
embedded system.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 94

Sensors and Actuators (continued)
• A sensor is a transducer device that converts energy from one form
to another for any measurement or control purpose.
• E.g.: Temperature sensor, magnetic hall effect sensor, humidity sensor,
etc.
• An actuator is a form of transducer device (mechanical or electrical)
which converts signals to corresponding physical action (motion).
• Actuator acts as an output device.
• E.g.: Stepper motor

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 95

The I/O Subsystem
• The I/O subsystem of the embedded system facilitates the interaction
of the embedded system with the external world.
• The interaction happens through the sensors and actuators
connected to the input and output ports respectively of the
embedded system.
• The sensors may not be directly interfaced to the input ports, instead
they may be interfaced through signal conditioning and translating
systems like ADC, optocouplers, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 96

Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an important output device for visual
indication in any embedded system.
• LED can be used as an indicator for the status of various signals or
situations.
• E.g.: 'Device ON', 'Battery low' or 'Charging of battery’ conditions
• Light Emitting Diode is a p-n junction diode and it contains an
anode and a cathode.
Fig: LED interfacing
• For proper functioning of the LED, the anode is connected to +ve
terminal of the supply voltage and cathode to the -ve terminal of
supply voltage.
• The current flowing through the LED must be limited to a value
below the maximum current that it can conduct.
• A resister is used in series to limit the current through the LED.
• The ideal LED interfacing circuit is shown in the figure.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 97
Light Emitting Diode (LED) (continued)
• LEDs can be interfaced to the port pin of a processor/controller in
two ways:
• In the first method, the anode is directly connected to the port pin and
the port pin drives the LED.
• The port pin 'sources' current to the LED when the port pin is at logic High (Logic
‘1’).
• In the second method, the cathode of the LED is connected to the port
pin of the processor/controller and the anode to the supply voltage
through a current limiting resistor.
• The LED is turned on when the port pin is at logic Low (Logic '0’).
• Here the port pin 'sinks' current.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 98

7-Segment LED Display
• The 7-segment LED display is an output device
for displaying alpha numeric characters.
• It contains 7 LED segments arranged in a special
form used for displaying alpha numeric
characters and 1 LED used for representing
'decimal point' in decimal number display.
• The LED segments are named A to G and the
decimal point LED segment is named as DP.
• The LED segments A to G and DP should be lit
accordingly to display numbers and characters.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 99
7-Segment LED Display (continued)
• The 7-segment LED displays are available in two different configurations,
namely; Common Anode and Common Cathode.
• In the common anode configuration, the anodes of the 8 segments are
connected commonly whereas in the common cathode configuration,
the cathodes of 8 LED segments are connected commonly.
• Figure illustrates the Common Anode and Cathode configurations.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 100

7-Segment LED Display (continued)
• Based on the configuration of the 7-segment LED unit, the LED segment's
anode or cathode is connected to the port of the processor/controller in
the order 'A' segment to the least significant port pin and DP segment to
the most significant port pin.
• The current flow through each of the LED segments should be limited to
the maximum value supported by the LED display unit.
• The typical value is 20mA.
• The current can be limited by connecting a current limiting resistor to the
anode or cathode of each segment.
• 7-segment LED display is used in low cost embedded applications like
Public telephone call monitoring devices, point of sale terminals, etc.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 101
Optocoupler
• Optocoupler is a solid state device to isolate two parts of a circuit.
• Optocoupler combines an LED and a photo-transistor in a single
housing.
• Figure illustrates the functioning of an optocoupler device.

Fig: An optocoupler device

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 102

Optocoupler (continued)
• In electronic circuits, an optocoupler is used for suppressing
interference in data communication, circuit isolation, high voltage
separation, simultaneous separation and signal intensification, etc.
• Optocouplers can be used in either input circuits or in output
circuits.
• Optocoupler is available as ICs from different semiconductor
manufacturers.
• The MCT2M IC from Fairchild semiconductor is an example for
optocoupler IC.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 103

Optocoupler (continued)
• Figure illustrates the usage of optocoupler in input circuit and
output circuit of an embedded system with a microcontroller as the
system core.

Fig: Optocoupler in Input and Output circuit

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 104

Relay
• Relay is an electro-mechanical device.
• In embedded application, the Relay unit acts as dynamic path selector
for signals and power.
• The Relay unit contains a relay coil made up of insulated wire on a metal
core and a metal armature with one or more contacts.
• Relay works on electromagnetic principle.
• When a voltage is applied to the relay coil, current flows through the coil,
which in turn generates a magnetic field.
• The magnetic field attracts the armature core and moves the contact point.
• The movement of the contact point changes the power/signal flow path.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 105

Relay (continued)
• Relays are available in different configurations.
• Figure given below illustrates the widely used relay configurations
for embedded applications.

Fig: Relay configurations

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 106

Relay (continued)
• The Single Pole Single Throw configuration has only one path for
information flow.
• The path is either open or closed in normal condition.
• For Normally Open Single Pole Single Throw relay, the circuit is
normally open and it becomes closed when the relay is energised.
• For Normally Closed Single Pole Single Throw relay, the circuit is
normally closed and it becomes open when the relay is energised.
• For Single Pole Double Throw configuration, there are two paths for
information flow and they are selected by energising or de-
energising the relay.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 107
Relay (continued)
• The Relay is normally controlled using a relay driver
circuit connected to the port pin of the
processor/controller.
• A transistor is used for building the relay driver
circuit as shown in the figure.
• A free-wheeling diode is used for free-wheeling the
voltage produced in the opposite direction when
the relay coil is de-energised.
• The freewheeling diode is essential for protecting Fig: Transistor based Relay driving circuit
the relay and the transistor.
• Most of the industrial relays are bulky and require high voltage to operate.
• Special relays called 'Reed' relays are available for embedded application requiring switching of
low voltage DC signals.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 108
Piezo Buzzer
• Piezo buzzer is a piezoelectric device for generating audio indications in embedded
application.
• A piezoelectric buzzer contains a piezoelectric diaphragm which produces audible
sound in response to the voltage applied to it.
• Piezoelectric buzzers are available in two types – 'Self-driving’ and 'External driving’.
• The Self-driving circuit contains all the necessary components to generate sound at a
predefined tone.
• It will generate a tone on applying the voltage.
• External driving piezo buzzers support the generation of different tones.
• The tone can be varied by applying a variable pulse train to the piezoelectric buzzer.
• A piezo buzzer can be directly interfaced to the port pin of the processor/control.
• Depending on the driving current requirements, the piezo buzzer can also be
interfaced using a transistor based driver circuit as in the case of a 'Relay'.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 109

Push Button Switch
• It is an input device.
• Push button switch comes in two configurations, namely 'Push to Make'
and 'Push to Break’.
• In the 'Push to Make' configuration, the switch is normally in the open
state and it makes a circuit contact when it is pushed or pressed.
• In the 'Push to Break' configuration, the switch is normally in the closed
state and it breaks the circuit contact when it is pushed or pressed.
• The push button stays in the 'closed' (For Push to Make type) or 'open'
(For Push to Break type) state as long as it is kept in the pushed state and
it breaks/makes the circuit connection when it is released.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 110
Push Button Switch (continued)
• Push button is used for generating a momentary
pulse.
• In embedded applications, push button is generally
used as reset and start switch and pulse generator.
• The Push button is normally connected to the port pin
of the host processor/controller.
Fig: Push button switch configurations
• Depending on the way in which the push button
interfaced to the controller, it can generate either a
'HIGH' pulse or a 'LOW' pulse.
• Figure illustrates how the push button can be used for
generating 'LOW' and 'HIGH' pulses.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 111
Communication
Interface

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 112

Communication Interface
• Communication interface is essential for communicating with various
subsystems of the embedded system and with the external world.
• For an embedded product, the communication interface can be viewed
in two different perspectives:
• Onboard Communication Interface (Device/board level communication
interface)
• E.g.: Serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, 1-Wire, etc and parallel bus interface.
• External Communication Interface (Product level communication interface)
• E.g.: Wireless interfaces like Infrared (IR), Bluetooth (BT), Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), Radio
Frequency waves (RF), GPRS, etc. and wired interfaces like RS-232C/RS-422/RS-485, USB,
Ethernet IEEE 1394 port, Parallel port, CF-II interface, SDIO, PCMCIA, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 113

Onboard Communication Interfaces
• An embedded system is a combination of different types of
components (chips/devices) arranged on a printed circuit board
(PCB).
• Onboard Communication Interface refers to the different
communication channels/buses for interconnecting the various
integrated circuits and other peripherals within the embedded
system.
• E.g.: Serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, 1-Wire, etc and parallel bus
interface

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 114

Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
• The Inter Integrated Circuit Bus (I2C or I2C Pronounced 'I square C') is a
synchronous bi-directional half duplex two wire serial interface bus.
• (Half duplex - one-directional communication at a given point of time)
• The concept of I2C bus was developed by Philips Semiconductors in the
early 1980s.
• The original intention of I2C was to provide an easy way of connection
between a microprocessor/microcontroller system and the peripheral
chips in television sets.
• The I2C bus comprise of two bus lines:
• Serial Clock (SCL line) – responsible for generating synchronisation clock pulses
• Serial Data (SDA line) – responsible for transmitting the serial data across devices

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 115

Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
• I2C bus is a shared bus system to which many number of I2C devices can
be connected.
• Devices connected to the I2C bus can act as either 'Master' or 'Slave’.
• The 'Master' device is responsible for controlling the communication by
initiating/terminating data transfer, sending data and generating necessary
synchronisation clock pulses.
• 'Slave' devices wait for the commands from the master and respond upon
receiving the commands.
• 'Master' and 'Slave' devices can act as either transmitter or receiver.
• Regardless whether a master is acting as transmitter or receiver, the
synchronisation clock signal is generated by the 'Master' device only.
• I2C supports multi masters on the same bus.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 116

Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
• The following bus interface diagram illustrates the connection of
master and slave devices on the I2C bus.

Fig: I2C Bus Interfacing

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 117

Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
• The I2C bus interface is built around an input buffer and an open drain or
collector transistor.
• When the bus is in the idle state, the open drain/collector transistor will be in
the floating state and the output lines (SDA and SCL) switch to the 'High
Impedance' state.
• For proper operation of the bus, both the bus lines should be pulled to the
supply voltage (+5 V for TTL family and +3.3V for CMOS family devices) using
pull-up resistors.
• The typical value of resistors used in pull-up is 2.2K.
• With pull-up resistors, the output lines of the bus in the idle state will be 'HIGH'
• The address of a I2C device is assigned by hardwiring the address lines of the
device to the desired logic level.
• Done at the time of designing the embedded hardware.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 118
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
• The sequence of operations for communicating with an I2C slave
device is listed below:
1. The master device pulls the clock line (SCL) of the bus to 'HIGH'
2. The master device pulls the data line (SDA) 'LOW', when the SCL line is
at logic 'HIGH' (This is the 'Start' condition for data transfer)
3. The master device sends the address (7 bit or 10 bit wide) of the
'slave' device to which it wants to communicate, over the SDA line.
◦ Clock pulses are generated at the SCL line for synchronising the bit reception by
the slave device.
◦ The MSB of the data is always transmitted first.
◦ The data in the bus is valid during the 'HIGH' period of the clock signal

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 119

Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
4. The master device sends the Read or Write bit (Bit value = 1 Read operation; Bit
value = 0 Write operation) according to the requirement
5. The master device waits for the acknowledgement bit from the slave device whose
address is sent on the bus along with the Read/ Write operation command.
◦ Slave devices connected to the bus compares the address received with the address assigned
to them
6. The slave device with the address requested by the master device responds by
sending an acknowledge bit (Bit value 1) over the SDA line
7. Upon receiving the acknowledge bit, the Master device sends the 8 bit data to the
slave device over SDA line, if the requested operation is 'Write to device’.
◦ If the requested operation is 'Read from device', the slave device sends data to the master
over the SDA line
8. The master device waits for the acknowledgement bit from the device upon byte
transfer complete for a write operation and sends an acknowledge bit to the Slave
device for a read operation
9. The master device terminates the transfer by pulling the SDA line 'HIGH' when the
clock line SCL is at logic 'HIGH' (Indicating the 'STOP' condition)
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 120
Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus
(continued)
• I2C bus supports three different data rates:
• Standard mode (Data rate up to 100kbits/sec (100 kbps))
• Fast mode (Data rate up to 400kbits/sec (400 kbps))
• High speed mode (Data rate up to 3.4Mbits/sec (3.4 Mbps))

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 121

Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
• The Serial Peripheral Interface Bus (SPI) is a synchronous bi-directional
full duplex four-wire serial interface bus.
• The concept of SPI was introduced by Motorola.
• SPI is a single master multi-slave system.
• There can be more than one masters, but only one master device can be
active at any given point of time.
• SPI requires four signal lines for communication. They are:
• Master Out Slave In (MOSI) – Signal line carrying the data from master to slave
device. It is also known as Slave Input/SIave Data In (SI/SDI)
• Master In Slave Out (MISO) – Signal line carrying the data from slave to master
device. It is also known as Slave Output (SO/SDO)
• Serial Clock (SCLK) – Signal line carrying the clock signals
• Slave Select (SS) – Signal line for slave device select. It is an active low signal

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 122

Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
• The bus interface diagram shown in the figure illustrates the
connection of master and slave devices on the SPI bus.

Fig: SPI Bus Interfacing

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 123

Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
• The master device is responsible for generating the clock signal.
• It selects the required slave device by asserting the corresponding slave
device's slave select signal 'LOW’.
• The data out line (MISO) of all the slave devices when not selected floats
at high impedance state.
• The serial data transmission through SPI bus is fully configurable.
• SPI devices contain a certain set of registers for holding these configurations.
• The control register holds the various configuration parameters like
master/slave selection for the device, baud rate selection for
communication, clock signal control, etc.
• The status register holds the status of various conditions for transmission
and reception.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 124
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus
(continued)
• SPI works on the principle of 'Shift Register’.
• The master and slave devices contain a special shift register for the data to transmit or
receive.
• The size of the shift register is device dependent. Normally it is a multiple of 8.
• During transmission from the master to slave, the data in the master's shift register is
shifted out to the MOSI pin and it enters the shift register of the slave device through
the MOSI pin of the slave device.
• At the same time the shifted out data bit from the slave device's shift register enters
the shift register of the master device through MISO pin.
• In summary, the shift registers of 'master' and 'slave' devices form a circular buffer.
• When compared to I2C, SPI bus is most suitable for applications requiring transfer of
data in ' streams '.
• The only limitation is SPI doesn't support an acknowledgement mechanism.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 125

Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter (UART)
• Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) based data
transmission is an asynchronous form of serial data transmission.
• It doesn't require a clock signal to synchronise the transmitting end
and receiving end for transmission.
• Instead it relies upon the pre-defined agreement between the
transmitting device and receiving device.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 126

Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter (UART) (continued)
• The serial communication settings (Baudrate, number of bits per
byte, parity, number of start bits and stop bit and flow control) for
both transmitter and receiver should be set as identical.
• The start and stop of communication is indicated through inserting
special bits in the data stream.
• While sending a byte of data, a start bit is added first and a stop bit
is added at the end of the bit stream.
• The least significant bit of the data byte follows the 'start' bit.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 127

Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter (UART) (continued)
• The 'start' bit informs the receiver that a data byte is about to arrive.
• The receiver device starts polling its 'receive line' as per the baud rate settings.
• If the baud rate is 'x' bits per second, the time slot available for one bit is 1/x seconds.
• The receiver unit polls the receiver line at exactly half of the time slot available for the
bit.
• If parity is enabled for communication, the UART of the transmitting device adds a
parity bit (bit value is 1 for odd number of 1s in the transmitted bit stream and 0 for
even number of 1s).
• The UART of the receiving device calculates the parity of the bits received and
compares it with the received parity bit for error checking.
• The UART of the receiving device discards the 'Start', 'Stop' and 'Parity’ bit from the
received bit stream and converts the received serial bit data to a word
• In the case of 8 bits/byte, the byte is formed with the received 8 bits with the first received
bit as the LSB and last received data bit as MSB.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 128

Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter (UART) (continued)
• For proper communication, the 'Transmit line' of the sending device
should be connected to the 'Receive line' of the receiving device.
• In addition to the serial data transmission function, UART provides
hardware handshaking signal support for controlling the serial data flow.
• UART chips are available from different semiconductor manufacturers.
• National Semiconductor's 8250 UART chip is considered as the standard
setting UART. It was used in the original IBM PC.
• Nowadays most of the microprocessors/controllers are available with
integrated UART functionality and they provide built-in instruction
support for serial data transmission and reception.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 129
Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter (UART) (continued)
• Figure illustrates the UART interfacing.

Fig: UART Interfacing

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 130

1-Wire Interface
• 1-wire interface is an asynchronous half-duplex communication protocol
developed by Maxim Dallas Semiconductor.
• It is also known as Dallas 1-Wire protocol.
• It makes use of only a single signal line (wire) called DQ for
communication and follows the master-slave communication model.
• One of the key feature of 1-wire bus is that it allows power to be sent
along the signal wire as well.
• The slave devices incorporate internal capacitor (typically of the order of
800 pF) to power the device from the signal line.
• The 1-wire interface supports a single master and one or more slave
devices on the bus.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 131
1-Wire Interface (continued)
• The bus interface diagram shown in the figure illustrates the
connection of master and slave devices on the 1-wire bus.

Fig: 1-Wire Interface Bus

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 132

1-Wire Interface (continued)
• Every 1-wire device contains a globally unique 64bit identification
number stored within it.
• This unique identification number can be used for addressing
individual devices present on the bus in case there are multiple
slave devices connected to the 1-wire bus.
• The identifier has three parts: an 8 bit family code, a 48 bit serial
number and an 8 bit CRC computed from the first 56 bits.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 133

1-Wire Interface (continued)
• The sequence of operation for communicating with a 1-wire slave device is
listed below:
1. The master device sends a 'Reset' pulse on the 1-wire bus.
2. The slave device(s) present on the bus respond with a 'Presence' pulse.
3. The master device sends a ROM command (Net Address Command followed
by the 64 bit address of the device).
◦ This addresses the slave device(s) to which it wants to initiate a communication.
4. The master device sends a read/write function command to read/write the
internal memory or register of the slave device.
5. The master initiates a Read data/Write data from the device or to the
device.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 134

1-Wire Interface (continued)
• All communication over the 1 -wire bus is master initiated.
• The communication over the 1-wire bus is divided into timeslots of 60
microseconds.
• The 'Reset' pulse occupies 8 time slots. For starting a communication,
the master asserts the reset pulse by pulling the 1-wire bus 'LOW' for at
least 8 time slots (480 µs).
• If a 'slave' device is present on the bus and is ready for communication it
should respond to the master with a 'Presence' pulse, within 60 µs of the
release of the 'Reset' pulse by the master.
• The slave device(s) responds with a 'Presence' pulse by pulling the 1-wire
bus 'LOW' for a minimum of 1 time slot (60 µs).
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 135
1-Wire Interface (continued)
• For writing a bit value of 1 on the 1-wire bus, the bus master pulls the
bus for 1 to 15 µs and then releases the bus for the rest of the time slot.
• A bit value of ‘0' is written on the bus by master pulling the bus for a
minimum of 1 time slot (60 µs) and a maximum of 2 time slots (120 µs).
• To Read a bit from the slave device, the master pulls the bus 'LOW' for 1
to 15 µs.
• If the slave wants to send a bit value ‘1' in response to the read request from
the master, it simply releases the bus for the rest of the time slot.
• If the slave wants to send a bit value '0', it pulls the bus 'LOW' for the rest of
the time slot.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 136

Parallel Interface
• The on-board parallel interface is normally used for communicating with peripheral devices
which are memory mapped to the host of the system.
• The host processor/controller of the embedded system contains a parallel bus and the device
which supports parallel bus can directly connect to this bus system.
• The communication through the parallel bus is controlled by the control signal interface
between the device and the host.
• The Control Signals for communication includes Read/Write signal and device select signal.
• The device normally contains a device select line and the device becomes active only when
this line is asserted by the host processor.
• The direction of data transfer (Host to Device or Device to Host) can be controlled through the
control signal lines for 'Read' and 'Write'.
• Only the host processor has control over the 'Read' and 'Write' control signals.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 137

Parallel Interface (continued)
• The device is normally memory mapped to the host processor and
a range of address is assigned to it.
• An address decoder circuit is used for generating the chip select
signal for the device.
• When the address selected by the processor is within the range
assigned for the device, the decoder circuit activates the chip select
line and thereby the device becomes active.
• The processor then can read or write from or to the device by
asserting the corresponding control line (RD\ and WR\
respectively).
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 138
Parallel Interface (continued)
• The bus interface diagram shown in the figure illustrates the
interfacing of devices through parallel interface.

Fig: Parallel Interface Bus

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 139

Parallel Interface (continued)
• Parallel communication is host processor initiated.
• If a device wants to initiate the communication, it can inform the same
to the processor through interrupts.
• For this, the interrupt line of the device is connected to the interrupt line of
the processor and the corresponding interrupt is enabled in the host
processor.
• The width of the parallel interface is determined by the data bus width
of the host processor.
• It can be 4 bit, 8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit or 64 bit etc.
• The bus width supported by the device should be same as that of the host
processor.
• Parallel data communication offers the highest speed for data transfer.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 140
External Communication Interfaces
• External Communication Interface refers to the different
communication channels/buses used by the embedded system to
communicate with the external world.
• E.g.: RS-232 C & RS-485, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394
(Firewire), Infrared (IR), Bluetooth (BT), Wi-Fi, ZigBee, GPRS, etc.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 141

RS-232 C & RS-485
• RS-232 C (Recommended Standard number 232, revision C) is a legacy,
full duplex, wired, asynchronous serial communication interface.
• The RS-232 interface was developed by the Electronics Industries
Association (EIA) during the early 1960s.
• RS-232 extends the UART communication signals for external data
communication.
• UART uses the standard TTL/CMOS logic (Logic ‘High’ corresponds to bit
value 1 and Logic ‘Low’ corresponds to bit value 0) for bit transmission
whereas RS-232 follows the EIA standard for bit transmission.
• As per the EIA standard, a logic ‘0’ is represented with voltage between +3
and +25V and a logic ‘1’ is represented with voltage between -3 and -25 V.
• In EIA standard, logic ‘0’ is known as 'Space' and logic ‘1’ as ‘Mark’.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 142
RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• The RS-232 interface defines various handshaking and control
signals for communication apart from the 'Transmit' and 'Receive'
signal lines for data communication.
• RS-232 supports two different types of connectors:
• DB-9: 9-Pin connector
• DB-25: 25-Pin connector.

Fig: DB-9 and DB-25 RS-232 Connector Interface

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 143

RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• The pin details for the two connectors are explained in the
following table:

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 144

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 145
RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• RS-232 is a point-to-point communication interface and the devices
involved in RS-232 communication are called 'Data Terminal
Equipment (DTE)' and 'Data Communication Equipment (DCE)’.
• If no data flow control is required, only TXD and RXD signal lines
and ground line (GND) are required for data transmission and
reception.
• The RXD pin of DCE should be connected to the TXD pin of DTE and
vice versa for proper data transmission.
• If hardware data flow control is required for serial transmission,
various control signal lines of the RS-232 connection are used
appropriately.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 146

RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• The Request To Send (RTS) and Clear To Send (CTS) signals co-ordinate the
communication between DTE and DCE.
• Whenever the DTE has a data to send, it activates the RTS line and if the DCE is
ready to accept the data, it activates the CTS line.
• The Data Terminal Ready (DTR) signal is activated by DTE when it is ready to
accept data.
• The Data Set Ready (DSR) is activated by DCE when it is ready for establishing a
communication link.
• DTR should be in the activated state before the activation of DSR.
• The Data Carrier Detect (DCD) control signal is used by the DCE to indicate the
DTE that a good signal is being received.
• Ring Indicator (RI) is a modem specific signal line for indicating an incoming call
on the telephone line.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 147

RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• As per the EIA standard RS-232 C supports baudrates up to 20Kbps
(Upper limit 19.2 Kbps)
• The commonly used baudrates by devices are 300bps, 1200bps, 2400bps,
9600bps, 11.52Kbps and 19.2Kbps.
• 9600 is the popular baudrate setting used for PC communication.
• The maximum operating distance supported by RS-232 is 50 feet at the
highest supported baudrate.
• Embedded devices contain a UART for serial communication and they
generate signal levels conforming to TTL/CMOS logic.
• A level translator IC like MAX 232 from Maxim Dallas semiconductor is used
for converting the signal lines from the UART to RS-232 signal lines for
communication.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 148

RS-232 C & RS-485 (continued)
• RS-232 supports only point-to-point communication and not suitable for multi-
drop communication.
• It uses single ended data transfer technique for signal transmission and thereby
more susceptible to noise and it greatly reduces the operating distance.
• RS-422 is another serial interface standard from EIA for differential data
communication.
• It supports data rates up to 100Kbps and distance up to 400 ft.
• RS-422 supports multi-drop communication with one transmitter device and
receiver devices up to 10.
• RS-485 is the enhanced version of RS-422 and it supports multi-drop
communication with up to 32 transmitting devices (drivers) and 32 receiving
devices on the bus.
• The communication between devices in the bus uses the 'addressing' mechanism to
identify slave devices.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 149

Universal Serial Bus (USB)
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a wired high speed serial bus for data
communication.
• The first version of USB (USB 1.0) was released in 1995.
• The USB communication system follows a star topology with a USB
host at the centre and one or more USB peripheral devices/USB
hosts connected to it.
• A USB host can support connections up to 127, including slave
peripheral devices and other USB hosts.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 150

Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• Figure illustrates the star topology for USB device connection.

Fig: USB Device Connection topology

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 151

Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• USB transmits data in packet format.
• Each data packet has a standard format.
• The USB communication is a host initiated one.
• The USB host contains a host controller which is responsible for
controlling the data communication, including establishing connectivity
with USB slave devices, packetizing and formatting the data.
• There are different standards for implementing the USB Host Control
interface:
• Open Host Control Interface (OHCI)
• Universal Host Control Interface (UHCI)
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 152
Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• The physical connection between a USB peripheral device and master
device is established with a USB cable.
• The USB cable supports communication distance of up to 5 metres.
• The USB standard uses two different types of connector at the ends of
the USB cable for connecting the USB peripheral device and host device.
• 'Type A' connector is used for upstream connection (connection with
host) and Type B connector is used for downstream connection
(connection with slave device).
• The USB connector present in desktop PCs or laptops are examples for
'Type A' USB connector.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 153
Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• Both Type A and Type B connectors contain 4 pins for
communication.
• The Pin details for the connectors are listed in the table given
below.
Pin no: Pin name Description
1 VBUS Carries power (5V)
2 D– Differential data carrier line
3 D+ Differential data carrier line
4 GND Ground signal line

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 154

Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)

Type A Connector Type B Connector Type C Connector

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 155

Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• USB uses differential signals for data transmission.
• It improves the noise immunity.
• USB interface has the ability to supply power to the connecting devices.
• Two connection lines (Ground and Power) of the USB interface are dedicated for
carrying power.
• It can supply power up to 500 mA at 5 V.
• It is sufficient to operate low power devices.
• Mini and Micro USB connectors are available for small form factor devices like
portable media players.
• Each USB device contains a Product ID (PID) and a Vendor ID (VID).
• Embedded into the USB chip by the USB device manufacturer.
• The VID for a device is supplied by the USB standards forum.
• PID and VID are essential for loading the drivers corresponding to a USB device for
communication.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 156
 Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• USB supports four different types of data transfers:
• Control transfer : Used by USB system software to query, configure and issue commands to the USB device.
• Bulk transfer : Used for sending a block of data to a device.
• Supports error checking and correction.
• Transferring data to a printer is an example for bulk transfer.

• Isochronous data transfer : Used for real-time data communication.

• Data is transmitted as streams in real-time.
• Doesn't support error checking and re-transmission of data in case of any transmission loss.
• All streaming devices like audio devices and medical equipment for data collection make use of the isochronous
transfer.

• Interrupt transfer : Used for transferring small amount of data.

• Interrupt transfer mechanism makes use of polling technique to see whether the USB device has any data to send.
• The frequency of polling is determined by the USB device and it varies from 1 to 255 milliseconds.
• Devices like Mouse and Keyboard, which transmits fewer amounts of data, uses Interrupt transfer.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 157

Universal Serial Bus (USB) (continued)
• USB.ORG is the standards body for defining and controlling the
standards for USB communication.
• Presently USB supports different data rates:
• Low-Speed (LS) - 1.5Mbps – USB 1.0
• Full-Speed (FS) - 12Mbps – USB 1.0
• High-Speed (HS) - 480Mbps – USB 2.0
• SuperSpeed (SS) - 5Gbps – USB 3.0
• SuperSpeed+ (SS+) - 10Gbps – USB 3.1, 20 Gbps – USB 3.2

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 158

IEEE 1394 (Firewire)
• IEEE 1394 is a wired, isochronous high speed serial communication bus.
• It is also known as High Performance Serial Bus (HPSB).
• The research on 1394 was started by Apple Inc. in 1985 and the standard for
this was coined by IEEE.
• The implementation of 1394 is available from various players with different
names:
• Firewire is the implementation from Apple Inc
• i.LINK is the implementation from Sony Corporation
• Lynx is the implementation from Texas Instruments

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 159

IEEE 1394 (Firewire) (continued)
• 1394 supports peer-to-peer connection and point-to-multipoint communication
allowing 63 devices to be connected on the bus in a tree topology.
• 1394 is a wired serial interface and it can support a cable length of up to 15 feet for
interconnection.
• The 1394 standard supports a data rate of 400 to 3200 Mbits/second.
• The IEEE 1394 uses differential data transfer.
• It increases the noise immunity.
• The interface cable supports 3 types of connectors, namely; 4-pin connector, 6-pin
connector (alpha connector) and 9 pin connector (beta connector).
• The 6 and 9 pin connectors carry power also to support external devices.
• It can supply unregulated power in the range of 24 to 30V.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 160
IEEE 1394 (Firewire) (continued)

4-pin and 6-pin Connectors 9-pin Connector

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 161

IEEE 1394 (Firewire) (continued)
• The table given below illustrates the pin details for 4, 6 and 9 pin
connectors.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 162

IEEE 1394 (Firewire) (continued)
• There are two differential data transfer lines A and B per connector.
• In a 1394 cable, normally the differential lines of A are connected to B
(TPA+ to TPB+ and TPA– to TPB– ) and vice versa.
• 1394 is a popular communication interface for connecting embedded
devices like Digital Camera, Camcorder, Scanners to desktop computers
for data transfer and storage.
• IEEE 1394 doesn't require a host for communicating between devices.
• For example, you can directly connect a scanner with a printer for printing.
• The data rate supported by 1394 is far higher than the one supported by
USB2.0 interface.
• The 1394 hardware implementation is much costlier than USB
implementation.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 163
Infrared (IrDA)
• Infrared (IrDA) is a serial, half duplex, line of sight based wireless technology
for data communication between devices.
• It is in use from the olden days of communication and you may be very familiar
with it.
• E.g.: The remote control of TV, VCD player, etc. works on Infrared.
• Infrared communication technique uses infrared waves of the electromagnetic
spectrum for transmitting the data.
• It supports point-point and point-to-multipoint communication, provided all
devices involved in the communication are within the line of sight.
• The typical communication range for IrDA lies in the range 10 cm to 1 m.
• The range can be increased by increasing the transmitting power of the IR
device.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 164
Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
• IR supports data rates ranging from 9600bits/second to 16Mbps.
• Depending on the speed of data transmission IR is classified into:
• Serial IR (SIR) – supports data rates ranging from 9600bps to 115.2kbps.
• Medium IR (MIR) – supports data rates of 0.576Mbps and 1.152Mbps.
• Fast IR (FIR) – supports data rates up to 4Mbps.
• Very Fast IR (VFIR) – supports high data rates up to 16Mbps.
• Ultra Fast IR (UFIR) – targeted to support a data rate up to 100Mbps.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 165

Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
• IrDA communication involves a transmitter unit for transmitting the data
over IR and a receiver for receiving the data.
• Infrared Light Emitting Diode (LED) is the IR source for transmitter and at
the receiving end a photodiode acts as the receiver.
• Both transmitter and receiver unit will be present in each device
supporting IrDA communication for bidirectional data transfer.
• Such IR units are known as 'Transceiver’.
• Certain devices like a TV remote control always require unidirectional
communication and so they contain either the transmitter or receiver
unit.
• The remote control unit contains the transmitter unit and TV contains the
receiver unit.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 166
Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
• Infrared Data Association (IrDA ) is the regulatory body responsible for defining
and licensing the specifications for IR data communication.
• IR communication has two essential parts: a physical link part and a protocol
part.
• The physical link is responsible for the physical transmission of data between
devices supporting IR communication
• Protocol part is responsible for defining the rules of communication.
• The physical link works on the wireless principle making use of Infrared for
communication.
• The IrDA specifications include the standard for both physical link and protocol
layer.
• The IrDA control protocol contains implementations for Physical Layer (PHY),
Media Access Control (MAC) and Logical Link Control (LLC).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 167

Infrared (IrDA) (continued)
• IrDA is a popular interface for file exchange and data transfer in low
cost devices.
• IrDA was the prominent communication channel in mobile phones
before Bluetooth's existence.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 168

Bluetooth (BT)
• Bluetooth is a low cost, low power, short range wireless technology
for data and voice communication.
• Bluetooth was first proposed by Ericsson in 1994.
• Bluetooth operates at 2.4GHz of the Radio Frequency spectrum and
uses the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) technique for
communication.
• It supports a data rate of up to 1Mbps and a range of approximately
30 feet for data communication.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 169

Bluetooth (BT) (continued)
• Bluetooth communication has two essential parts – a physical link
part and a protocol part.
• The physical link is responsible for the physical transmission of data
between devices supporting Bluetooth communication
• The protocol part is responsible for defining the rules of
communication.
• The physical link works on the wireless principle making use of RF
waves for communication.
• Bluetooth enabled devices essentially contain a Bluetooth wireless
radio for the transmission and reception of data.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 170
Bluetooth (BT) (continued)
• The rules governing the Bluetooth communication is implemented in the
'Bluetooth protocol stack’.
• The Bluetooth communication IC holds the stack.
• Each Bluetooth device will have a 48 bit unique identification number.
• Bluetooth communication follows packet based data transfer.
• Bluetooth supports point-to-point (device to device) and point-to-multipoint
(device to multiple device broadcasting) wireless communication.
• The point-to-point communication follows the master-slave relationship.
• A Bluetooth device can function as either master or slave.
• When a network is formed with one Bluetooth device as master and more than
one device as slaves, it is called a Piconet.
• A Piconet supports a maximum of seven slave devices.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 171

Bluetooth (BT) (continued)
• Bluetooth is the favourite choice for short range data communication in handheld
embedded devices.
• Bluetooth technology is very popular among cell phone users as they are the easiest
communication channel for transferring ringtones, music files, pictures, media files,
etc. between neighbouring Bluetooth enabled phones.
• The Bluetooth standard specifies the minimum requirements that a Bluetooth device
must support for a specific usage scenario.
• The Generic Access Profile (GAP) defines the requirements for detecting a Bluetooth
device and establishing a connection with it.
• All other specific usage profiles are based on GAP.
• Serial Port Profile (SPP) for serial data communication, File Transfer Profile (FTP) for file
transfer between devices, Human Interface Device (HID) for supporting human interface
devices like keyboard and mouse are examples for Bluetooth profiles.
• The specifications for Bluetooth communication is defined and licensed by the
standards body 'Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)'.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 172
Wi-Fi
• Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity is the popular wireless communication technique for
networked communication of devices.
• Wi-Fi follows the IEEE 802.11 standard.
• Wi-Fi is intended for network communication and it supports Internet Protocol
(IP) based communication.
• It is essential to have device identities in a multipoint communication to
address specific devices for data communication.
• In an IP based communication each device is identified by an IP address, which
is unique to each device on the network.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 173

Wi-Fi (continued)
• Wi-Fi based communications require an intermediate agent called Wi-Fi
router/Wireless Access point to manage the communications.
• The Wi-Fi router is responsible for restricting the access to a network, assigning
IP address to devices on the network, routing data packets to the intended
devices on the network.
• Wi-Fi enabled devices contain a wireless adaptor for transmitting and receiving
data in the form of radio signals through an antenna.
• The hardware part of it is known as Wi-Fi Radio.
• Wi-Fi operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz of radio spectrum and they co-exist with
other ISM band devices like Bluetooth.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 174

Wi-Fi (continued)
• Figure illustrates the typical interfacing of devices in a Wi-Fi
network.

Fig: Wi-Fi Network

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 175

Wi-Fi (continued)
• For communicating with devices over a Wi-Fi network, the device when
its Wi-Fi radio is turned ON, searches the available Wi-Fi network in its
vicinity and lists out the Service Set Identifier (SSID) of the available
networks.
• If the network is security enabled, a password may be required to
connect to a particular SSID.
• Wi-Fi employs different security mechanisms like Wired Equivalency
Privacy (WEP), Wireless Protected Access (WPA), etc. for securing the
data communication.
• Wi-Fi supports data rates ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.73 Gbps depending
on the standards (802.11a/b/g/n) and access/modulation method.
• Depending on the type of antenna and usage location (indoor/outdoor),
Wi-Fi offers a range of 100 to 300 feet.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 176
ZigBee
• ZigBee is a low power, low cost, wireless network communication protocol
based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard.
• ZigBee is targeted for low power, low data rate and secure applications for
Wireless Personal Area Networking (WPAN).
• The ZigBee specifications support a robust mesh network containing multiple
nodes.
• This networking strategy makes the network reliable by permitting messages to
travel through a number of different paths to get from one node to another.
• ZigBee operates worldwide at the unlicensed bands of Radio spectrum, mainly
at 2.400 to 2.484 GHz, 902 to 928 MHz and 868.0 to 868.6 MHz.
• ZigBee supports an operating distance of up to 100 metres and a data rate of
20 to 250 Kbps.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 177
ZigBee (continued)
• In the ZigBee terminology, each ZigBee device falls under any one of the
following ZigBee device category:
• ZigBee Coordinator (ZC)/Network Coordinator
• The ZigBee coordinator acts as the root of the ZigBee network.
• The ZC is responsible for initiating the ZigBee network and it has the capability to
store information about the network.
• ZigBee Router (ZR)/Full function Device (FFD)
• Responsible for passing information from device to another device or to another
ZR.
• ZigBee End Device (ZED)/Reduced Function Device (RFD):
• End device containing ZigBee functionality for data communication.
• It can talk only with a ZR or ZC and doesn't have the capability to act as a mediator
for transferring data from one device to another.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 178

ZigBee (continued)
• The diagram shown in figure gives an overview of ZC, ZED and ZR in
a ZigBee network.

Fig: A ZigBee network model

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 179

ZigBee (continued)
• ZigBee is primarily targeting application areas like home & industrial
automation, energy management, home control/security,
medical/patient tracking, logistics & asset tracking and sensor networks
& active RFID.
• Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), smoke detectors, wireless telemetry,
HVAC control, heating control, lighting controls, environmental controls,
etc. are examples for applications which can make use of the ZigBee
technology.
• The specifications for ZigBee is developed and managed by the ZigBee
Alliance, a non-profit consortium of leading semiconductor
manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs and end-users worldwide.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 180
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a communication technique for
transferring data over a mobile communication network like GSM.
• Data is sent as packets in GPRS communication.
• The transmitting device splits the data into several related packets.
• At the receiving end the data is re-constructed by combining the
received data packets.
• GPRS supports a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 171.2 kbps.
• In GPRS communication, the radio channel is concurrently shared
between several users instead of dedicating a radio channel to a cell
phone user.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 181

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
(continued)
• The GPRS communication divides the channel into 8 timeslots and transmits data over
the available channel.
• GPRS supports Internet Protocol (IP), Point to Point Protocol (PPP) and X.25 protocols
for communication.
• GPRS is mainly used by mobile enabled embedded devices for data communication.
• The device should support the necessary GPRS hardware like GPRS modem and GPRS
radio.
• To accomplish GPRS based communication, the carrier network also should have
support for GPRS communication.
• GPRS is an old technology and it is being replaced by new generation data
communication techniques like EDGE, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),
Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. which offers higher bandwidths for communication.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 182

Embedded Firmware

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 183

Embedded Firmware
• Embedded firmware refers to the control algorithm (Program instructions) and or the
configuration settings that an embedded system developer dumps into the code
(Program) memory of the embedded system.
• It is an un-avoidable part of an embedded system.
• There are various methods available for developing the embedded firmware:
1. Write the program in high level languages like Embedded C/C++ using an Integrated
Development Environment (IDE).
◦ The IDE will contain an editor, compiler, linker, debugger, simulator, etc. IDES are different
for different family of processors/controllers.
◦ For example, Keil µVision 4 IDE is used for all family members of 8051 microcontroller,
since it contains the generic 8051 compiler C51.
2. Write the program in Assembly language using the instructions supported by your
application's target processor/controller.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 184

Embedded Firmware (continued)
• The program written in high level language or assembly code should be converted into
a processor understandable machine code before loading it into the program memory.
• The process of converting the program written in either a high level language or
processor/controller specific Assembly code to machine readable binary code is called
'HEX File Creation’.
• The methods used for 'HEX File Creation' is different depending on the programming
techniques used.
• If the program is written in Embedded C/C++ using an IDE, the cross compiler included in
the IDE converts it into corresponding processor/controller understandable 'HEX File’.
• If Assembly language based programming technique is used, the utilities supplied by the
processor/controller vendors can be used to convert the source code into 'HEX File’.
• Also third party tools are available, which may be of free of cost, for this conversion.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 185

Embedded Firmware (continued)
• For a beginner in the embedded software field, it is strongly recommended to
use the high level language based development technique.
• Writing codes in a high level language is easy
• The code written in high level language is highly portable
• The same code can be used to run on different processor/controller with little or less modification.
• The only thing you need to do is re-compile the program with the required processor's IDE, after
replacing the include files for that particular processor.
• The programs written in high level languages are not developer dependent.
• Any skilled programmer can trace out the functionalities of the program by just having a look at the
program.
• It will be much easier if the source code contains necessary comments and documentation lines.
• It is very easy to debug and the overall system development time will be reduced to
a greater extent.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 186

Embedded Firmware (continued)
• The embedded software development process in assembly language is tedious and
time consuming.
• The developer needs to know about all the instruction sets of the processor/controller
or at least he should carry an instruction set reference manual with him.
• A programmer using assembly language technique writes the program according to
his view and taste.
• Often he may be writing a method or functionality which can be achieved through a
single instruction as an experienced person's point of view, by two or three
instructions in his own style.
• So the program will be highly dependent on the developer.
• It is very difficult for a second person to understand the code written in Assembly
even if it is well documented.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 187

Embedded Firmware (continued)
• Two types of control algorithm design exist in embedded firmware
development:
• The first type of control algorithm development is known as the infinite loop
or 'super loop' based approach, where the control flow runs from top to
bottom and then jumps back to the top of the program in a conventional
procedure.
• It is similar to the while (1) { }; based technique in C.
• The second method deals with splitting the functions to be executed into
tasks and running these tasks using a scheduler which is part of a General
Purpose or Real Time Embedded Operating System (GPOS/RTOS).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 188

Other System
Components

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 189

Other System Components
• The other system components refer to the components/circuits/ICs
which are necessary for the proper functioning of the embedded
system.
• Some of these circuits may be essential for the proper functioning
of the processor/controller and firmware execution.
• E.g.: Watchdog timer, Reset IC (or passive circuit), brown-out
protection IC (or passive circuit), etc.
• Some of the controllers or SoCs integrate these components within
a single IC and doesn't require such components externally
connected to the chip for proper functioning.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 190
Reset Circuit
• The reset circuit is essential to ensure that the device is not operating at
a voltage level where the device is not guaranteed to operate, during
system power ON.
• The reset signal brings the internal registers and the different hardware
systems of the processor/controller to a known state and starts the
firmware execution from the reset vector
• Normally from vector address 0x0000 for conventional
processors/controllers.
• The reset signal can be either active high or active low.
• Since the processor operation is synchronised to a clock signal, the reset
pulse should be wide enough to give time for the clock oscillator to
stabilise before the internal reset state starts.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 191
Reset Circuit (continued)
• The reset signal to the processor can be applied at power ON
through an external passive reset circuit comprising a Capacitor and
Resistor or through a standard Reset IC like MAX810 from Maxim
Dallas.
• Select the reset IC based on the type of reset signal and logic level
(CMOS/TTL) supported by the processor/controller in use.
• Some microprocessors/controllers contain built-in internal reset
circuitry and they don't require external reset circuitry.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 192

Reset Circuit (continued)
• Figure illustrates a resistor capacitor based passive reset circuit for active
high and low configurations.
• The reset pulse width can be adjusted by changing the resistance value R
and capacitance value C.

Fig: RC based reset circuit

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 193

Brown-out Protection Circuit
• Brown-out protection circuit prevents the processor/controller
from unexpected program execution behaviour when the supply
voltage to the processor/controller falls below a specified voltage.
• It is essential for battery powered devices since there are greater
chances for the battery voltage to drop below the required
threshold.
• The processor behaviour may not be predictable if the supply voltage
falls below the recommended operating voltage.
• It may lead to situations like data corruption.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 194

Brown-out Protection Circuit (continued)
• A brown-out protection circuit holds the processor/controller in
reset state, when the operating voltage falls below the threshold,
until it rises above the threshold voltage.
• Certain processors/controllers support built in brown-out
protection circuit which monitors the supply voltage internally.
• If the processor/controller doesn't integrate a built-in brown-out
protection circuit, the same can be implemented using external
passive circuits or supervisor ICs.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 195

Brown-out Protection Circuit (continued)
• Figure illustrates a brown-out circuit implementation using Zener
diode and transistor for processor/controller with active low Reset
logic.
• The Zener diode DZ and transistor Q forms the heart of this circuit.
• The transistor conducts always when the supply voltage VCC is
greater than that of the sum of VBE and VZ (Zener voltage).
• The transistor stops conducting when the supply voltage falls
below the sum of VBE and VZ .
• Select the Zener diode with required voltage for setting the low
threshold value for VCC.
Fig: Brown-out protection
• The values of R1, R2, and R3 can be selected based on the circuit with Active low output
electrical characteristics of the transistor in use.
• Microprocessor Supervisor ICs like DS1232 from Maxim also
provides Brown-out protection.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 196

Oscillator Unit
• A microprocessor/microcontroller is a digital device made up of
digital combinational and sequential circuits.
• The instruction execution of a microprocessor/controller occurs in
sync with a clock signal.
• The oscillator unit of the embedded system is responsible for
generating the precise clock for the processor.
• Analogous to the heart in living beings which produces heart beats.
• Certain processors/controllers integrate a built-in oscillator unit and
simply require an external ceramic resonator/quartz crystal for
producing the necessary clock signals.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 197

Oscillator Unit (continued)
• Quartz crystals and ceramic resonators are equivalent in operation, however they
possess physical difference.
• A quartz crystal is normally mounted in a hermetically sealed metal case with two
leads protruding out of the case.
• Certain devices may not contain a built-in oscillator unit and require the clock pulses
to be generated and supplied externally.
• Quartz crystal Oscillators are available in the form of chips and they can be used for
generating the clock pulses in such cases.
• The speed of operation of a processor is primarily dependent on the clock frequency.
• However we cannot increase the clock frequency blindly for increasing the speed of
execution.
• The logical circuits lying inside the processor always have an upper threshold value for the
maximum clock at which the system can run, beyond which the system becomes unstable
and non functional.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 198

Oscillator Unit (continued)
• The total system power consumption is directly proportional to the
clock frequency.
• The power consumption increases with increase in clock frequency.
• The accuracy of program execution depends on the accuracy of the
clock signal.
• The accuracy of the crystal oscillator or ceramic resonator is
normally expressed in terms of +/-ppm (Parts per million).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 199

Oscillator Unit (continued)
• Figure illustrates the usage of quartz crystal/ceramic resonator and
external oscillator chip for clock generation.

Fig: Oscillator circuitry using quartz crystal and quartz crystal oscillator

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 200

Real-Time Clock (RTC)
• Real-Time Clock (RTC) is a system component responsible for keeping track of
time.
• RTC holds information like current time (In hours, minutes and seconds) in 12
hour/24 hour format, date, month, year, day of the week, etc. and supplies
timing reference to the system.
• RTC is intended to function even in the absence of power.
• RTCs are available in the form of Integrated Circuits from different
semiconductor manufacturers like Maxim/Dallas, ST Microelectronics etc.
• The RTC chip contains a microchip for holding the time and date related
information and backup battery cell for functioning in the absence of power, in
a single IC package.
• The RTC chip is interfaced to the processor or controller of the embedded
system.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 201

Real-Time Clock (RTC) (continued)
• For Operating System based embedded devices, a timing reference is
essential for synchronising the operations of the OS kernel.
• The RTC can interrupt the OS kernel by asserting the interrupt line of the
processor/controller to which the RTC interrupt line is connected.
• The OS kernel identifies the interrupt in terms of the Interrupt Request
(IRQ) number generated by an interrupt controller.
• One IRQ can be assigned to the RTC interrupt and the kernel can perform
necessary operations like system date time updation, managing software
timers, etc. when an RTC timer tick interrupt occurs.
• The RTC can be configured to interrupt the processor at predefined
intervals or to interrupt the processor when the RTC register reaches a
specified value (used as alarm interrupt).

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 202

Watchdog Timer
• A watchdog timer, or simply a watchdog, is a hardware timer for
monitoring the firmware execution and resetting the system
processor/microcontroller when the program execution hangs up.
• Depending on the internal implementation, the watchdog timer
increments or decrements a free running counter with each clock
pulse and generates a reset signal to reset the processor if the
count reaches zero for a down counting watchdog, or the highest
count value for an up counting watchdog.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 203

Watchdog Timer (continued)
• If the watchdog counter is in the enabled state, the firmware can
write a zero (for up counting watchdog implementation) to it before
starting the execution of a piece of code (which is susceptible to
execution hang up) and the watchdog will start counting.
• If the firmware execution doesn't complete due to malfunctioning,
within the time required by the watchdog to reach the maximum
count, the counter will generate a reset pulse and this will reset the
processor.
• If the firmware execution completes before the expiration of the
watchdog timer you can reset the count by writing a 0 (for an up
counting watchdog timer) to the watchdog timer register.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 204

Watchdog Timer (continued)
• Most of the processors implement watchdog as a built-in component and provides
status register to control the watchdog timer (like enabling and disabling watchdog
functioning) and watchdog timer register for writing the count value.
• If the processor/controller doesn't contain a built in watchdog timer, the same can be
implemented using an external watchdog timer IC circuit.
• The external watchdog timer uses hardware logic for enabling/disabling, resetting the
watchdog count, etc. instead of the firmware based 'writing' to the status and
watchdog timer register.
• The Microprocessor supervisor IC DS1232 integrates a hardware watchdog timer in it.
• In modern systems running on embedded operating systems, the watchdog can be
implemented in such a way that when a watchdog timeout occurs, an interrupt is
generated instead of resetting the processor.
• The interrupt handler for this handles the situation in an appropriate fashion.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 205
Watchdog Timer (continued)
• Figure illustrates the implementation of an external watchdog timer based
microprocessor supervisor circuit for a small scale embedded system.

Fig: Watchdog timer for firmware execution supervision

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 206

PCB and Passive Components
• Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is the backbone of every embedded system.
• After finalising the components and the inter-connection among them, a schematic
design is created and according to the schematic, the PCB is fabricated.
• PCB acts as a platform for mounting all the necessary components as per the design
requirement.
• Also it acts as a platform for testing the embedded firmware.
• Apart from the subsystems mentioned already, passive electronic components like
resistor, capacitor, diodes, etc. are also found on the board.
• They are the co-workers of various chips contained in the embedded hardware.
• They are very essential for the proper functioning of your embedded system.
• For example for providing a regulated ripple-free supply voltage to the system, a regulator
IC and spike suppressor filter capacitors are very essential.
Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 207
References
1. Shibu K V, “Introduction to Embedded Systems”, Tata McGraw Hill, 2009.
2. Raj Kamal, “Embedded Systems: Architecture and Programming”, Tata
McGraw Hill, 2008.

Shrishail Bhat, Dept. of ECE, AITM Bhatkal 208