CO3053 – Embedded Systems
3. Embedded System Development Process
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 2
Learning Outcome
▪ Students are expected to be able to …
▫ Describe each step in the process
▫ Sort the steps in the process in correct order
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 3
Embedded System Design – Challenges
▪ Increasing application complexity
▫ Large systems with legacy functions
▫ Flexibility requirements
▫ Examples: multimedia, automotive, mobile communication
▪ Increasing target system complexity
▫ Mixture of different technologies, processor types, and design styles
▫ Large systems-on-a-chip combining components from different sources (IP market)
▪ Numerous constraints and design objectives
▫ Examples: cost, power consumption, timing constraints, dependability
▪ Reduced and overlapping design cycles
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 4
Embedded System Requirements
▪ Reactive systems
▫ The system never stops.
▫ The system responds to signals produced
by the environment.
▪ Real-time systems
▫ Timing constraints on task execution.
▫ Hard and soft constraints.
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 5
Embedded System Development Process
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 6
Requirements Gathering
▪ Understand the problem statement and scope definition.
▪ Identify Functional and nonfunctional requirements
▫ Multimode or multifunctional system
▫ Size, cost, weight, etc.
▪ Determine deployment parameters
▫ Application domain and operational environment
▫ Legal and regulatory requirements
▫…
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 7
Requirements Analysis
▪ Identify the variables in performance, hardware, firmware, software, …
▪ Estimate cost, complexity
▪ Determine tradeoff
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 8
System Design
▪ System architecture
▫ Block diagram
▪ Hardware-software partitioning
▪ Hardware and software selection
▫ Hardware platform
▫ Programming language
▫ Operating system
▫ Development tools
▪ Prototyping and testing strategy
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 9
System Implementation
▪ Hardware Implementation (if needed) & Coding
▪ Cross-platform development
▫ Usually, the ES is not strong enough ➠ need another platform to build application (usually use
PC), and the application/OS is executed on ES.
▫ Cross: developed on one platform, run on another platform
▪ Cross-compiler: the compiler run on one platform (PC), and it produce
executable file to run on another platform (ES)
▪ Porting: reproduce an application/OS which is developed for a platform to run
on another platform
▫ Ex:We want to reproduce a Linux distribution to run on our ARM platform
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 10
Testing
▪ Unit & Integration testing
▪ Verify the Software on the Host System
▫ Compile and assemble the source code into object file
▫ Use a simulator to simulate the working of the system
▪ Verify the Software on the Target System
▫ Download the program using a programmer device
▫ Use an Emulator or on chip debugging tools to verify the software
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 11
Integration & Optimization
▪ System integration
▫ Involve the actual integration of the hardware and software modules to
produce the full working system.
▪ System optimization (if required)
▫ Optimize trade-off parameters such as cost or performance.
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 12
Deployment and Maintenance
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CO3053 – Lecture Notes 13
Example: Engine Control Unit (ECU)
▪ Task: control the torque produced by the engine by the timing fuel
injection and spark.
▫ Control Injection Time
▪ Major constraints
▫ Low fuel consumption
▫ Low exhaust emission
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 14
ECU Control Injection Time – Analysis
▪ 3 Sub Tasks
▫ Compute air flow
▫ Compute injection time
▫ Control actuators (torque)
Air Flow Compute injection Injection
Compute air flow Time
Control actuators
time
▪ Engine speed ▪ Engine temperature Control
▪ Air temperature ▪ Look-up table Signal
▪ Air pressure
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 15
ECU – Design Option #1
▪ Use a single CPU to
▫ Process input data
▫ Compute outputs
▫ Control actuators
Analog A/D
inputs Actuations
32 bit CPU
Digital
inputs
May not meet timing requirements
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 16
ECU – Design Option #2
▪ Combine CPU and FPGA
▫ Use CPU to
Process input data
Compute outputs
▫ Use FPGA to control actuators
Analog A/D
inputs
Actuators
16 bit CPU FPGA
Digital
inputs
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 17
ECU – Design Option #3
▪ Combine DSP, CPU, FPGA
▪ Use DSP to process input data
▪ Use CPU to computes outputs
▪ Use FPGA to control actuators
Analog
inputs A/D DSP
Actuators
8 bit CPU FPGA
Digital
inputs
anhpham@[Link]
CO3053 – Lecture Notes 18
Question and Discussion
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