Examples of embedded systems

To recap, ‘embedded’ is a computing term, applicable in an industrial context. Sometimes standalone, and sometimes a part of a larger system, they are small computers endowed with specific tasks.

Embedded systems combine hardware and software, the former consisting of memory, timers, processors and more. The latter, software, is a compilation of coding that lives within the hardware.

Real-time

Wearables are an example of real-time embedded systems. These cyber-physical systems are portable and (indicative of their name) are worn on people. Covering a range of purposes, such as health tracking with augmented sensing.

Wearable embedded systems face challenges such as size and energy requirements, which in turn cause issues relating to wireless connectivity given their remote nature.

Wearables use a real-time operating system (RTOS) which can be subdivided into ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ real-time systems. The former operates within a few hundred milliseconds – this kind of reaction is  on par with that of a human. The latter provides responses predicted within tens of milliseconds or less.

Embedded systems for wearables devices often seem to behave larger than what’s actually going on inside.

Standalone

Converting digital or analogue signals, you’re likely to find a standalone embedded system in a washing machine or microwave. As a human feeds commands through the appliance, the system processes the input (such as duration, heat or speed) and performs the task.

Other such examples includes a calculator which requires the user to input information but can output the result on its own.

Networked

Embedded networks underscore the internet of things (IoT) which connects series of devices across homes and buildings, sometimes further. Networking embedded systems can be done through microcontrollers in a closed system or using ethernet connectivity.

Networks are a group of connected computers (minimum of two) which can share data and information. A programme runs inside of another device. Though embedded systems are traditionally intended to be a single device, with the rise of smart connectivity we are seeing more networks.

Mobile

There’s apparent crossover within types of embedded networks, as a wearable device is wireless and seemingly mobile. However, in this context when we talk about mobile embedded systems we refer to high-performance microcontrollers. Mobile embedded systems occur in phones and portable music players.

Depending on the size of the embedded system, its processing capabilities will vary. The smaller it is then of course the less memory it will have and the more limited its coding will be. As you get larged systems, you can use a variety of coding languages and larger memory capabilities.

The largest mobile embedded system (aka ‘sophisticated’) can perform more complex tasks but require huge memory. Examples include, touchscreens and touchpads.