What is an Embedded system?

Hi guys, what's up? Did you hear the term embedded system and wondered what exactly it means

Then you have come to the right place. In this video, I will show you what embedded systems are

and what are the forms they come in. Are you ready? So let's begin

Embedded systems come in a wide variety of sizes and complexities, and hence are a bit

hard to define. Let's try to get a basic understanding of what an embedded system really is and how to

classify them. A simpler definition would be, an embedded system is a special purpose computer, custom

built to serve a specific purpose. Let me quote an example for you

A calculator is a special purpose computer as compared to a laptop

So what are special purpose computers? To understand that, let's first look at the other end of the spectrum, which is general

purpose computers. General-purpose computers are those that we use every day, like our

desktops, laptops and Macs. Even our smartphone and tablets are more towards the general-purpose

end of the spectrum, which means they have more than one specific purpose. For example

Even though the smartphone main purpose is communication Through emails text voice and videos They are designed for other purposes like hearing songs listening audio books seeing videos reading e browsing over the internet we all do that gaming and my favorite taking pictures

Now that we have seen what general purpose computers are, let's get back to special purpose ones

Special purpose computers are very specific to serve a particular function. A popular example is a calculator

It's one and only job is to do calculations. Now the question is, what is the need of a calculator when we have a computer

What is the point of having a special purpose computer when we have general purpose ones

every year. Millions of calculators are being sold worldwide because people doesn't have always a need of a general purpose computer

General purpose computers are sometimes an overkill. If you're running a small grocery shop

it's better to use a calculator than a MacBook Pro. Yeah, that makes sense

General purpose computers are expensive. A simple calculator costs 10 bucks. compared to a 400 bucks laptop or a PC

General purpose computers can't do everything. If you are serious about photography

then it's better to use DSLR than a smartphone so that you can get better quality pictures Who doesn like better quality pictures right Embedded system can come in different flavors The embedded systems can be broadly classified into three categories

Subsystems, standalone systems, networked systems. Let's first look at the class of the embedded system called as embedded subsystems

systems. The term embedded means placed inside something bigger. This flavor of

embedded system is usually a part of a larger system. In fact, this is from where

the term embedded system was originally coined. A popular example include a

digital dashboard in your car. Here the car is the larger system and the display

is embedded inside the car. Other examples include the timing and display

circuits of your microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers. Even part of a

computer like keyboard and a mouse are basically embedded systems. Independently these embedded systems are useless but they aid to a larger

system to do their task. Next let's have a look at another class of embedded

system called as standalone embedded system. What are these standalone embedded systems? It's a device that can perform its function independently as the name

suggests Examples include USB drivers which are used to store data MP3 players which can play music digital cameras which can take pictures and digital watches which tells us the

time. Although they are not embedded into something bigger, the components used

and the techniques used to build these systems belong to the same class as the

subsystem class of embedded systems and hence are viewed as embedded systems too

Lastly, we have the class of embedded system called as network embedded system

A famous example of this type of system is home automation. Here several sensors are placed throughout your home and their collective duty is to

perform home automation. This is the latest trend in this field and more products are developed in this class

of embedded system which combine electronics, programming and networking all together. There is a special subclass of this class where this network spans throughout the globe

This type of system is popularly known as the Internet of Things or IoT for short

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