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

Summary


Memory management in an embedded system is the source of the most critical bugs, and for this reason particular attention must be dedicated to designing and implementing the correct solutions for the platform in use, and application purposes. The execution stack should be carefully placed, sized, and delimited when possible.

Systems not providing dynamic allocations are safer, but most embedded systems benefit from dynamic allocation techniques. Programmers must be aware that errors in memory handling can be critical for the system, and very difficult to spot, so extra care is required when the code handles dynamically allocated pointers.

The MPU can be a valid tool to enforce access permissions and attributes on memory regions, and can be used for several purposes. In the example shown, we implemented an MPU-based mechanism to enforce a physical boundary for the stack pointer.

In the next chapter, we examine other common components included in modern microcontrollers. We learn how...