A little about embedded system

The world being sophisticated, we people are being lazy day by day. Today we want control on every thing without moving an inch, and this is possible only with the use of embedded system. Knowingly or unknowingly, it has penetrated in human life that no one has ever imagined. Mobile devices(Cell phones, wrist watches, IPods), home appliances( ACs, refrigerator, microwave ovens), industries(Robotics, motion controllers, AC/DC drives, stepper motor controller, sensors, invertors), space application, military applications and satellite applications are the major field where embedded system commonly used.

Knowing the area of implementation, it will be more interesting for us to know what embedded system is.
An embedded system is a combination of computing hardware, software and perhaps additional mechanism or other parts, designed to perform a specific function. Here, we design hardware for specific purpose and software are embedded to perform the mission. The word embedded reflects the fact that these systems are usually an integral part of a larger system i.e. it is a component within some larger system. We think, our computer is a single & complete embedded system, which is really wrong. The PC consists of several embedded systems, each of which is made with their own autonomous hardware and software for a dedicated purpose. For example, it has keyboard, mouse, display device, modem, sound card, graphic card and many more. Each of these devices contains a processor and software that guides them move on its way to obtain the specific goal.
However, being familiar with many electronic devices, we are not able to feel the presence of embedded system because at an instant of designing, the existence of processor and software are made exotic to the user.The working principle of embedded system depends upon software coded in it. This software can be written in any platform of programming but at the end they are converted to low level language for compilation. Embedded software can’t usually be run on other embedded system without significant modification. Each system is guided specially for the particular application to make the design simple and reduce the system cost. So unnecessary circuitry is eliminated and hardware resources are shared whenever possible. Further, to store code of the software, we need a ROM whose size is determined the complexity of the system. Similarly, for the temporary storage of run time data, a RAM memory is used. All the embedded system also contains some types of inputs and outputs. For example, in a microwave oven, input is given through the panel and temperature probe, and the output may be either communication signals or display.

Embedded system is a rapidly growing technology. Researches are being held to enhance the quality, decrease the cost and broaden the field of embedded system. The embedded system conference in Silicon Valley, in 2008 is assumed to be major issue in the world of embedded system where 350 world wide exhibitors will show us tomorrow’s embedded technology solutions ( http://www.cmpegevents.com/web/esv/exposition/).