What is an Embedded Operating System?

• Posted on January 26, 2022
• in Software development
• by jbadmin

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One important effort is the ARTEMIS initiative of the European Commission [1]. This program started with a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) [8] and has grown to a significant activity, including a strong industrial association, named ARTEMISIA, which conducts research and development in the area of embedded systems. Figure 1-2, a figure from the ARTEMIS SRA [8], shows one view of the embedded systems area organized by research domains and application contexts. In Figure 1-2, horizontal bars constitute technological areas involved in embedded systems development and vertical bars indicate application contexts where embedded systems are used and are expected to penetrate applications in the future. Clearly, the organization and semantics of application contexts change as time progresses and new applications and services are developed.

Quite often they will have a few push-buttons and a small display and some LEDs. A more complex system may have a touch screen, allowing the meaning of the buttons to change with each screen as in smart phones. Embedded systems control many of the common devices in use today, such as card readers in hotel door locks or several things in a car.

Automated teller machines

Communications protocols designed for use in embedded systems are available as closed source from companies including InterNiche Technologies and CMX Systems. Software development requires use of a cross compiler, which runs on a computer but produces executable code for the target device. Debugging requires use of an in-circuit emulator, and debugging hardware such as JTAG or SWD debuggers.

• The expected growth is partially due to the continued investment in artificial intelligence (AI), mobile computing and the need for chips designed for high-level processing.
• Unless restricted to external debugging, the programmer can typically load and run software through the tools, view the code running in the processor, and start or stop its operation.
• The embedded systems perform basic operations inside IoT devices, such as transferring data over a network without human interaction.
• Automobiles, electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles increasingly use embedded systems to maximize efficiency and reduce pollution.
• They include a real-time operating system that monitors, reacts, and manages an outside environment represented by a dedicated type of operating system, RTOS.

Embedded systems comprise hardware and software that work together to perform specific tasks. They rely on microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory, input/output communication interfaces, and a power supply to function. An embedded system contains a microprocessor or microcontroller that is typically designed to perform computation for real-time operations.

Additional software components

An embedded system can be thought of as a computer hardware system having software embedded in it. An embedded system can be an independent system or it can be a part of a large system. An embedded system is a microcontroller or microprocessor based system which is designed to perform a specific task. For example, a fire alarm is an embedded system; it will sense only smoke. An alternative view of concurrency that seems much better suited to embedded systems is implemented in synchronous/reactive languages [6] such as Esterel [7], which are used in safety-critical real-time applications.

Although this approach leads to highly reliable programs, it is too static for some networked embedded systems. It requires that mutations be handled more as incremental compilation than as process scheduling, and incremental compilation for these languages proves to be challenging. We need an approach somewhere in between that of Esterel and that of today’s real-time operating systems, with the safety and predictability of Esterel and the adaptability of a real-time operating system. Embedded and real-time systems share many properties with smart objects.

What are embedded systems?

Real-time operating systems often support tracing of operating system events. A graphical view is presented by a host PC tool, based on a recording of the system behavior. The trace recording can be performed in software, by the RTOS, or by special tracing hardware. RTOS tracing allows developers to understand timing and performance issues of the software system and gives a good understanding of the high-level system behaviors. Trace recording in embedded systems can be achieved using hardware or software solutions.

In contrast, a smart object such as a wireless temperature sensor deprived of its communication abilities would no longer be able to fulfill its purpose. Traditionally, at least until the late 1990s, embedded systems were thought to be synonymous with real-time control systems. Real-time control systems are computer-based systems used to control physical processes such as the pressure of a nozzle, the rudder of a ship, or the temperature of a radiator. In these control systems, an embedded computer typically is used to control the signals to an actuator that controls the phenomenon to be controlled. For a control system to work, it is imperative that the embedded computer produces signals to control the actuator with precise timing.

Types of microcontrollers

By increasing the reliability and performance, some systems are mass-produced; this largely helps the economic area. Important to stress is that the independent functionality of standalone embedded systems does not apply to all embedded systems. Many embedded systems are functional and purposeful only as integrated parts of larger mechanical, electrical, or electronic systems. As embedded systems get bigger, things that used to be only on general-purpose computers or even mainframes are now becoming common on embedded systems. This includes protected memory space, and open programming environment including Linux, NetBSD, etc.

Microcontrollers include the microprocessor as well as simple peripheral equipment so the system can be smaller and cheaper. Usually these parts include Flash memory and support for serial ports, USB, etc. An embedded system is a computer embedded in something other than a computer. Under this definition, any system that has a microprocessor is an embedded system with the exception of PCs, laptops, and other equipment readily identified as a computer.

Embedded software architectures

Sometimes this is to use less space or less power, sometimes it is to be cheaper. General-purpose computers will use microprocessors that read 32-bit or 64-bit words and run at speeds measured in GHz, but embedded processors are usually 4 to 32 bits and run at speeds usually measured in tens of MHz (a hundred times slower). (But the programs are also smaller and do not check for things that are not used). Although the traditional definition of an embedded system focuses on its real-time aspects, not all embedded systems have real-time requirements. With the widespread adoption of microcontrollers in everyday items such as TV remote controls, wireless car keys, and toys, a new class of embedded systems has emerged. These systems do not have the same strict real-time requirements as the traditional embedded control systems, but are built using the same type of hardware.

Their components are mass-produced in large quantities for industrial automation, consumer electronics, and automotive applications. Not all standalone embedded systems are mobile embedded systems, but all mobile embedded systems are standalone embedded systems. A real-time operating system (RTOS) is put to use where an enormous number of events, mostly external to the computer, need to be approved and processed by a specific deadline. It includes telephone switching, flight control, and industrial control. We mentioned at the beginning four differentiating characteristics of embedded systems compared to servers and workstations.

Networking Embedded System

Software developers often have access to the complete kernel (OS) source code. Some use specially-built small and simple operating systems that start very quickly, others do not need one at all. Embedded systems are not adapted as easily, but they are built to perform their tasks much more reliably. Because the hardware is simpler, it is also often cheaper to build and runs faster. Sometimes they are built as a set, like the various parts of a car – the radio, the throttle control, the pollution control, etc.[2] Sometimes they can communicate to the internet or a cell-phone network and they may have a USB reader or other connections. An embedded system is a computer that has been built to solve only a few very specific problems and is not easily changed.[1] The word embedded means it is built into the system.

Microcontroller applications

Broadly speaking, embedded systems have received more attention to testing and debugging because a great number of devices using embedded controls are designed for use, especially in situations where safety and reliability are top priorities. In many instances, however, programmers embedded system definition need tools that attach a separate debugging system to the target system via a serial or other port. In this scenario, the programmer can see the source code on the screen of a general-purpose computer, just as would be the case in the debugging of software on a desktop computer.

Some examples of embedded systems:

The power supply component is an electrical unit responsible for powering up the electrical load of the embedded system. While a 5V power supply is generally required, the range can go from 1.8V to 3.3V, depending on the application. An embedded systems engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and managing embedded systems in products.