Book Image

Embedded Systems Architecture

By : Daniele Lacamera
Book Image

Embedded Systems Architecture

By: Daniele Lacamera

Overview of this book

Embedded systems are self-contained devices with a dedicated purpose. We come across a variety of fields of applications for embedded systems in industries such as automotive, telecommunications, healthcare and consumer electronics, just to name a few. Embedded Systems Architecture begins with a bird's eye view of embedded development and how it differs from the other systems that you may be familiar with. You will first be guided to set up an optimal development environment, then move on to software tools and methodologies to improve the work flow. You will explore the boot-up mechanisms and the memory management strategies typical of a real-time embedded system. Through the analysis of the programming interface of the reference microcontroller, you'll look at the implementation of the features and the device drivers. Next, you'll learn about the techniques used to reduce power consumption. Then you will be introduced to the technologies, protocols and security aspects related to integrating the system into IoT solutions. By the end of the book, you will have explored various aspects of embedded architecture, including task synchronization in a multi-threading environment, and the safety models adopted by modern real-time operating systems.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

Chapter 2. Work Environment and Workflow Optimization

The first step toward a successful software project is choosing the right tools. Embedded development requires a set of hardware and software instruments that make the developer's life easier, and may significantly improve productivity and cut down the total development time. This chapter is meant to provide a description of the tools, and give advice on how to use them, to improve the workflow. The first section gives an overview of the workflow in native C programming, and gradually reveals the changes necessary to translate the model to an embedded development environment. Then, the GCC toolchain, a set of development tools to build the embedded application, is introduced through the analysis of its components. Finally, in the last two sections, strategies of interaction with the target are proposed, to provide mechanisms for the debug and validation of the embedded software running on the platform.

The topics covered in this chapter...