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January 16, 2020
The first biochip was invented by an American company namely Affymetrix, and the product of this company is GeneChip (DNA microarrays). These products comprise the number of individual DNA sensors used for sensing defects. Biochip plays an essential role in the field of biology research like systems biology as well as disease biology while the number of clinical applications is rising. It is a set of microarrays which are placed on a strong surface of a substrate to allow thousands of reactions to be performed in less time. The development of biochip mainly includes the combination of molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics. Biochips are used for analyzing organic molecules connected with a live organism. This article discusses about a Biochip, its types,their uses, disadvantages, and its applications.

What is a Biochip?

A biochip is a set of diminished microarrays that are placed on a strong substrate that allows many experiments to be executed at the same time to obtain a high throughput in less time. This device contains millions of sensor elements or biosensors. Not like microchips, these are not electronic devices. Each and every biochip can be considered as a microreactor that can detect a particular analyte like an enzyme, protein, DNA, biological molecule or antibody. The main function of this chip is to perform hundreds of biological reactions in a few seconds like decoding genes (a sequence of DNA).

Working Principle of a Biochip:

The working of Biochip mainly includes the following steps.
  1. Step1: The operator generates a low-power electromagnetic field through radio signals
  2. Step2: The fixed biochip gets turn on
  3. Step3: The activated chip transmits the identification code reverse to the operator through radio signals
  4. Step4: Reader strengthens the received code to change it into digital form and finally exhibits it on LCD.

Components of BioChips

The Biochip comprises two components namely the transponder as well as reader.

1) Transponder

Transponders are two types’ namely active transponder and passive transponder. This is a passive transponder which means that it doesn’t contain any of its own energy or battery whereas in passive, it is not active until the operator activates it by giving it a low electrical charge. This transponder consists of four parts such as antenna coil, computer microchip, glass capsule, and a tuning capacitor.
  • The computer microchip stores a unique identification (UID) number that ranges from 10 digits to 15 digits long.
  • The antenna coil is very small, primitive and this type of antenna is used to send and receive the signals from the scanner or reader.
  • The charging of the tuning capacitor can be done with the small signal i.e, 1/1000 of a watt which is sent by the operator.
  • The glass capsule holds the antenna coil, capacitor, and microchip, and it is made with a biocompatible material namely soda lime glass.

2) Reader

The reader comprises of a coil namely “exciter” and it forms an electromagnetic field through radio signals. It offers the required energy (<1/1000 of a watt) to activate the biochip.  The reader carries a receiving coil for receiving the ID number or transmitted code sent back from the excited implanted biochip.
Types of Bio chips

1) DNA Microarray

A DNA microarray or DNA biochip is a set of tiny DNA spots fixed to a strong surface. A researcher utilizes to calculate the expression levels for a large number of genes. Every DNA mark comprises picomoles of particular genes which are termed as probes. These can be a short segment of a genetic material under high rigidity situations. Usually, probe-target hybridization is noticed and counted by recognition of fluorophore or chemiluminescence labeled targets to decide the relative quantity of nucleic acid series in the target. Innovative arrays of nucleic acid were macro arrays about 9 cm X 12 cm and the initially automated icon based analysis was published in the year 1981.

2) Microfluidic Chip

Microfluidic biochips or lab-on-a-chip are a choice to usual biochemical laboratories and are transforming several applications like DNA analysis, molecular biology procedures, proteomics which is known as the study of proteins and diagnostic of diseases (clinical pathology). These chips are becoming more complex by using 1000’s of components, but those components are designed physically called as bottom-up full-custom plan, which is a very large workforce.

3) Protein Microarray

A protein microarray or protein chip method is used to follow the actions as well as connections of proteins, and to find out their function on a large scale. The main advantage of protein microarray is that we can track a large number of proteins in parallel. This protein chip comprises of a surface for supporting like microtitre plate or bead, nitrocellulose membrane, the glass slide. These are automated, rapid, economical, very sensitive, consumes less quantity of samples. The first methodology of protein chips was introduced in antibody microarrays of scientific publication in the year 1983. The technology behind this chip was quite easy to develop for DNA microarrays, which have turned into the most generally used microarrays.

Biochips Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of biochip include the following.
  • The biochip is used to rescue the sick
  • Very small in size, powerful and faster.
  • Biochips are useful in finding the lost people
  • Biochips can be used to identify the persons individually
  • Biochips perform thousands of biological reactions in a few seconds.
The disadvantages of biochip include the following.
  • Biochips are expensive
  • Biochip raises dangerous problems of individual privacy.
  • Biochip marks the end of human being liberty and self-respect.
  • There will be a chance of turning every person into a controlled person
  • Biochips can be fixed into the human’s body without their interference.

Biochips Applications

The applications of biochip include the following.
  • By using this chip we can trace a person or animal anywhere in the world.
  • This chip is used to store and update the information of a person like medical financial and demographics.
  • A biochip leads to safe E-commerce systems
  • These chips are effective in restoring the records of medical, cash, passport, etc.
  • The biochip can be applicable in the medical field as a BP sensor, glucose detector, and oxygen sensor.
From the above-discussed information finally, we can conclude that biochips are accurate, fast, and miniaturized. The biochip space lies at the intersection between chip manufacturing, molecule biology, genomics, and signal processing. The market for Biochips and its applications has been increased in a number of core research regions. 
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January 15, 2020



Social media has grown staggeringly in the last few years. You would rarely find someone who is not active on at least one social media platform. So the question that arises is, is social media helping you in your life or causing more damage than you’d think? Let’s look at some pros and cons.

Advantages of Social Media:

  • Global Connectivity: Social media has no geographical boundaries and you can connect with people worldwide whether it is to seek a new job, locate a long-lost friend, or share ideas.
  • Business Promotion: Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly becoming more cost-effective tools in bringing your new start-up or business to people’s attention.
  • Real-time News Updates: Gone are the days of waiting for the newspaper to let you know about the events that happened a day before. If you want to know what’s going on in the world right this very second, all you have to do is go to Twitter.
  • Meet Like-minded People: Social media allows us the luxury of coming across people who share our likes and dislikes – be it movie fans, fellow football fanatics, or book lovers.
  • Social Awareness: Social media also helps in creating awareness and brings about a positive change in the way people lead their lives.

Disadvantages of Social Media:

  • Cyberbullying: It is easy for anyone to create a fake id and bully someone on the internet without leaving a trace.
  • Identity Theft: The information you post on the net can be easily accessed by anyone smart enough to hack into your account and impersonate you thereby making your life a living nightmare.
  • Privacy Invasion: Remember how when you install an app on your phone you ‘Allow Access’ to a list of things? Yep, that is precisely how social networking eats into your privacy and sells your personal information to major corporations.
  • Time Waster: Studies have proved how with increasing time spent on social media we are always glued to our gadgets to the point where it has started affecting our mental peace and health.
  • Inappropriate Content: Unless the parents use a web filter or monitor the activities of their children, there is no way to prevent their child from being exposed to any inappropriate or pornographic material.

The moral of the story is, you are responsible for your own safety. Be cautious.
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January 15, 2020

Technology is taking over our world, we live in an age where most, if not all of us use technological devices all day, everyday. From mobile phones, to iPads, to laptops and TVs, we’re constantly using technology. There are even forms of technology that we use during our sleep, fitness watches that track our sleep and the likes.
But what are the effects of living in a technological world? There’s no denying that we love each and every new technological advance, but here are some positive and negative effects of using technology every day that you should know.

Positive Effects

Learning has never been easier
Education used to be something that only the elite few had access to, but with the internet holding all the knowledge you could possibly need, and internet access on a whole range of devices, learning has never been easier.
There are thousands of websites and applications solely dedicated to sharing information with people, and teaching youngsters new things. With so many technological resources, there’s no excuse for lack of knowledge anymore. So long as you have access to a technological device, you’ve got access to all the information you could ever need.
As for accessing a device, this doesn’t even have to be costly anymore. Devices have become so well used, that you can buy devices such as kindles, iPads and even laptops for next to nothing. Technology is the most advanced it’s ever been, and if you know where to look, it’s also the cheapest it’s ever been. Plus, if money is the issue, most libraries and educational institutions have their own devices that you can use for free.

We can talk to anyone, anywhere, any time
Easy communication is perhaps the best advantage of living in a technological world. Long distance friendships, relationships and work collaborations can all thrive with 24-hour access to instant messaging sites and applications.
We can send messages, have phone calls and even video chats with anyone we like, no matter where they are in the world, and without having to worry about racking up a huge phone bill thanks to Wi-Fi being global.

Negative Effects

Some of us become too dependent on technology
Technology is so incredibly easy to use, that we can find ourselves becoming dependent on it for even the smallest tasks.
If we have questions or problems that need solving, we might find that rather than trying to find answers for ourselves, and learning in the process of doing so, we simply rely on Google to tell us what we’re looking for. Basically, it’s easy to be lazy.
Many might find that their social lives are social media bound. We spend so much time on social media sites, socializing and communicating that way that it’s easy to lose touch with real life socializing skills. Talking and making friends from behind a screen is much easier than feigning confidence in face to face situations. Sometimes those that have the biggest online presence struggle in person, without the help of a technological wall. This can even lead to further problems, like isolation.
There are also extreme forms of internet dependence that can occur. We all enjoy a scroll through Facebook or a flick through some trashy article, but those that become dependent on the internet might mindlessly scroll for hours, and struggle to be away from some technological device or another for any period of time.

Technology interferes with our sleep
Looking at your phone or watching TV before bed can make it much more difficult to get a good night’s sleep. When we look at screens, the blue light they produce simulates sunlight, and so our minds produce serotonin, the hormone that wakes us up. So whilst a quick browse online or through a social media site might seem harmless, it might actually cost you more hours in sleep than its worth.
Aside from the scientific reason behind technology interfering with sleep, there’s also the fact that it’s easy to lose track of time when browsing. One minute turns into ten, and before you know it you’ve spent an hour or so fiddling with your technological device. When this happens before bed, it can interrupt your sleep pattern and cause you to feel unrested throughout the day.

It becomes difficult to screen content
Most technological devices have access to the internet, and so it can be difficult to monitor and screen appropriate content for young people using them. There are always parental controls, but there will always be content that slips through the net, and so nowadays we see young people much more exposed to inappropriate images, websites and content. There’s also the fact that most young people are now more technologically savvy than older generations, so if they want to find something online, the restrictions aren’t particularly difficult to get around.
There are also issues surrounding false news. With more and more applications and websites reporting on supposed news, and even some joke news stories going around, it can be difficult to know what to believe. This can cause arguments when it comes to discussions about current affairs, and embarrassment to those who were tricked into believing false stories. Perhaps worst of all though, young people often use news stories as evidence for projects and exams, and false information could sabotage their grades.
To sum up…
There are of course downsides to this new technological age, but when we consider the advantages and developments that technology has brought about, there’s no question that we wouldn’t be without it.
Technology has helped us progress so much in terms of education, communication, and even international relations, as people from all over the world can now work together easily and effectively.
The negative effects of this new technological world can be avoided if we simply look out for them, and make sure we use technology in a safe and sensible way.
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January 15, 2020

At present, in every electrical and electronic device which we use in our daily life consists of integrated circuits which are manufactured by utilizing the semiconductor device fabrication process. The electronic circuits are created on a wafer made up of pure semiconductor materials such as silicon and other semiconductor compounds with multiple steps involving photo lithography and chemical processes.The process of semiconductor manufacturing was started from Texas in early 1960’s and then extended all over the world.

BiCMOS Technology

This is one of the major semiconductor technologies and is a highly developed technology, in 1990’s incorporating two separate technologies, namely bipolar junction transistor and CMOS transistor in a single modern integrated circuit. So, for the better indulgent of this technology, we can have glance at CMOS technology and Bipolar technology in brief.

CMOS Technology

It is a complementary of MOS technology or CSG (Commodore Semiconductor Group) which was started as source for manufacturing the electronic calculators. After that complementary of MOS technology called CMOS technology is used for developing the integrated circuits such as digital logic circuits along with microcontrollers and microprocessors. CMOS technology affords benefit of less power dissipation and low noise margin with high packing density.

Bipolar Technology

Bipolar transistors are part of integrated circuits and their operation is based on two types of semiconductor material or depends on both types of charge carriers holes and electrons.These are generally classified into two types as PNP and NPN,classified based on doping of its three terminals and their polarities. It affords high switching as well as input/output speed with good noise performance.

BiCMOS Logic

It is a complex processing technology that provides NMOS and PMOS technologies amalgamated each other with the advantages of having very low power consumption bipolar technology and high speed over CMOS technology.MOSFETs grant high input impedance logic gates and bipolar transistors provide high current gain.

14 Steps for BiCMOS Fabrication

The BiCMOS fabrication combines the process of fabrication of BJT and CMOS, but merely variation is a realization of the base.The following steps show the BiCMOS fabrication process.
Step 1:  P-Substrate is taken .

Step 2:  The p-substrate is covered with the oxide layer

Step 3: A small opening is made on the oxide layer

Step 4: N-type impurities are heavily doped through the opening

Step 5: The P – Epitaxy layer is grown on the entire surface

Step 6: Again, entire layer is covered with the oxide layer and two openings are made through this oxide layer.

Step 7: From the openings made through oxide layer n-type impurities are diffused to form n-wells

Step 8: Three openings are made through the oxide layer to form three active devices.

Step 9: The gate terminals of NMOS and PMOS are formed by covering and patterning the entire surface with Thinox and Polysilicon.

Step 10: The P-impurities are added to form the base terminal of BJT and similar, N-type impurities are heavily doped to form emitter terminal of BJT, source and drain of NMOS and for contact purpose N-type impurities are doped into the N-well collector.

Step 11: To form source and drain regions of PMOS and to make contact in P-base region the P-type impurities are heavily doped.

Step 12: Then the entire surface is covered with the thick oxide layer.

Step 13: Through the thick oxide layer the cuts are patterned to form the metal contacts.

Step 14: The metal contacts are made through the cuts made on oxide layer and the terminals are named as shown in the below figure.

In the fabrication process some layers are used such as channel stop implant, thick layer oxidation and guard rings.

The fabrication will be theoretically difficult for including both the technologies CMOS and bipolar. Parasitical bipolar transistors are produced inadvertently is a problem of fabrication while processing p-well and n-well CMOS. For the fabrication of BiCMOS many additional steps added for fine tuning of bipolar and CMOS components. 

The high impedance nodes if any, may cause the surface leakage currents and to avoid the flow of current in places where the current flow is restricted these guard rings are used.

Advantages of BiCMOS technology

  • Analog amplifier design is facilitated and improved by using high impedance CMOS circuit as input and remaining are realized by using bipolar transistors.
  • BiCMOS is essentially vigorous to temperature and process variations offering good economical considerations (high percentage of prime units) with less variability in electrical parameters.
  • High load current sinking and sourcing can be provided by BiCMOS devices as per requirement.
  • Since it is a grouping of bipolar and CMOS technologies we can use BJT if speed is a critical parameter and we can use MOS if power is a critical parameter and it can drive high capacitance loads with reduced cycle time.
  • It has low power dissipation than bipolar technology alone.
  • This technology found frequent applications in analog power managing circuits and amplifier circuits such as BiCMOS amplifier.
  • It is well appropriate for input/ouput intensive applications, offers flexible inputs/outputs (TTL, CMOS and ECL).
  • It has the advantage of improved speed performance compared to CMOS technology alone.
  • Latch up invulnerability.
  • It has the bidirectional capability (source and drain can be interchanged as per requirement).

Drawbacks of BiCMOS technology

  • The fabrication process of this technology is comprised of both the CMOS and bipolar technologies increasing the complexity.
  •  Due to increase in the complexity of the fabrication process, the cost of fabrication also increases.
  • As there are more devices, hence, less lithography.

BiCMOS technology and Applications

  • It can be analyzed as AND function of high density and speed.
  • This technology is used as an alternate of the previous bipolar, ECL and CMOS in the market.
  • In some applications (in which there is finite budget for power) the BiCMOS speed performance is better than the that of bipolar.
  • This technology is well suited for the intensive input/output applications.
  • The applications of BiCMOS were initially in RISC microprocessors rather than traditional CISC microprocessors.
  • This technology excels its applications, mainly in two areas of microprocessors such as memory and input/output.
  • It has a number of applications in analog and digital systems, resulting in the single chip spanning the analog-digital boundary.
  • It overpass the gap permitting course of action and circuit margins to be crossed.
  • It can be used for sample and hold applications as it provides high impedance inputs.
  • This is also used in applications such as adders, mixers, ADC and DAC.
  •  To conquer the limitations of bipolar and CMOS operational amplifiers the BiCMOS processes are used in designing the operational amplifiers. In Operational amplifiers, high gain and high frequency characteristics are desired. All these desired characteristics can be gained by using these BiCMOS amplifiers.

The BiCMOS technology along with its fabrication, advantages, disadvantages and applications are discussed in brief in this article. 
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January 14, 2020

Gasoline is already the fuel of the past. It might not seem that way as you fill up on your way to work, but the petroleum used to make it is gradually running out. It also pollutes air that's becoming increasingly unhealthy to breathe, and people no longer want to pay the high prices that oil companies are charging for it. Automobile manufacturers know all of this and have spent lots of time and money to find and develop the fuel of the future.
The search is on, but what will this fuel of the future be? Ready-made fuels like petroleum are becoming more difficult to find and automobile manufacturers are turning to greener energy sources like batteries. These batteries can be charged with energy and placed in a car where that energy can be released. As good as that idea might seem, some manufacturers think air could become an even better energy source.
Air? At first glance, the idea of running a car on air seems almost too good to be true. If we can use air as fuel, why think about using anything else? Air is all around us. Air never runs out. Air is nonpolluting. Best of all, air is free.Unfortunately, air alone can't be used as a fuel. First, energy has to be stored in it by squeezing the air tightly using a mechanical air compressor. Once the compressed air is released, it expands. This expanding air can be used, for example, to drive the pistons that power an engine. The idea of using compressed air to power a vehicle isn't new: Early prototypes of an air-powered vehicle go back to the middle of the 19th century, even before the invention of the internal combustion engine.

How Compressed Air Can Fuel a Car

The laws of physics dictate that uncont­ained gases will­ fill any given space. The easiest way to see this in action is to inflate a balloon. The elastic skin of the balloon holds the air tightly inside, but the moment you use a pin to create a hole in the balloon's surface, the air expands outward with so much energy that the balloon explodes. Compressing a gas into a small space is a way to store energy. When the gas expands again, that energy is released to do work. That's the basic principle behind what makes an air car go.­ ­

The first air cars will have air compressors built into them. After a brisk drive, you'll be able to take the car home, put it into the garage and plug in the compressor. The compressor will use air from around the car to refill the compressed air tank. Unfortunately, this is a rather slow method of refueling and will probably take up to two hours for a complete refill. If the idea of an air car catches on, air refueling stations will become available at ordinary gas stations, where the tank can be refilled much more rapidly with air that's already been compressed. Filling your tank at the pump will probably take about three minutes .

The first air cars will almost certainly use the Compressed Air Engine (CAE) developed by the French company, Motor Development International (MDI). Air cars using this engine will have tanks that will probably hold about 3,200 cubic feet (90.6 kiloliters) of compressed air. The vehicle's accelerator operates a valve on its tank that allows air to be released into a pipe and then into the engine, where the pressure of the air's expansion will push against the pistons and turn the crankshaft. This will produce enough power for speeds of about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour. When the air car surpasses that speed, a motor will kick in to operate the in-car air compressor so it can compress more air on the fly and provide extra power to the engine. The air is also heated as it hits the engine, increasing its volume to allow the car to move faster.

Air car advantages

One major advan­tage of using compressed air to power a car's engine is that a pure compressed air vehicle produces no pollution at the tailpipe. More specifically, the compressed air cars we're likely to see in the near future won't pollute at all until they reach speeds exceeding 35 miles per hour. That's when the car's internal air compressor will kick in to achieve extra speed. The motor that runs this air compressor will require fuel that'll produce a small amount of air pollution. Some fuel (you can use eco-friendly biofuels or fossil fuels) will also be used to heat the air as it emerges from the tank. The newest compressed air engines also offer drivers the option of using fossil fuels or biofuels to heat the air as it enters the engine. Nonetheless, this technology represents a marked improvement over cars powered by internal combustion engines that produce significant amounts of pollution at any speed.

Air cars are also designed to be lighter than conventional cars. The aluminum construction of these vehicles will keep their weight under 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms), which is essential to making these vehicles fuel efficient and will help them go faster for longer periods of time.

Another advantage of air cars is that the fuel should be remarkably cheap, an important consideration in this era of volatile gas prices. Some estimates say that the cars will get the equivalent of 106 miles (171 kilometers) per gallon, although compressed air will probably not be sold by the gallon. A more meaningful estimate is that it may take as little as $2 worth of electricity to fill the compressed air tank, though you'll also need gasoline to power the electric motor that compresses air while driving .

The vehicles themselves also will be relatively cheap. Zero Pollution Motors, which plans to release the first air cars in the United States and estimates a sticker price of about $17,800, which would make these cars affordable to budget-conscious American buyers.

Air Car Disadvantages

While an air car produces no pollution running on already compressed air in its tank, pollution is nonetheless produced when the air is compressed, both while the car is moving and while it's being refueled. As we mentioned earlier, the vehicle's air compressor will probably run on gasoline, and this gas will produce pollution when burned.

The air compressor at the gas station will probably be powered by electricity. The production of that electricity may or may not pollute, depending on how that electricity is generated. For example, coal-powered electricity could produce substantial amounts of pollution. Cleaner sources of electricity, such as nuclear power or hydropower, will result in far less pollution. According to the Web site Gas 2.0, an air car in the United States would create about .176 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per mile based on the average mix of electric power sources during refueling. By comparison, a Toyota Prius Hybrid, which combines a battery-powered electric motor with an internal combustion engine, generates about 0.34 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile. So, while the air car is not quite pollution free, it still represents an improvement over one of the most popular hybrid cars on the market.

Distance could also become a disadvantage, depending on your travel habits. The distance that an air car can cover without refueling is crucial because very few filling stations will have compressed air pumps available at first. If you only plan to use your air car for short commutes -- distances less than 100 miles --will be fine. However, the one-to-two hour wait for the car's built-in air compressor to compress a tank full of air could become a problem on cross-country trips. Zero Pollution Motors -- the American arm of MDI and the company likeliest to produce the first air car for the U.S. market -- aims to have a car available soon able to travel between 800 and 1,000 miles on one tank of air plus 8 gallons of gas. Early prototypes, however, have traveled distances closer to 120 miles -- good enough for your daily commute, but not quite adequate for longer trips.

What will happen if an air car suffers damage in an accident? After all, compressed air tanks can be dangerous. To reduce this danger, the air tanks are made of carbon fiber and are designed to crack, rather than shatter, in a crash. This crack would allow the "fuel" to escape harmlessly into the surrounding air. Manufacturers feared that air escaping from one end of the tank could produce a rocket-like effect and propel the car on a jet of air. The valve on the cars' fuel tanks has been placed on the side to minimize this effect.

Despite these precautions, there is some concern that the air cars' lightweight construction might make it difficult for them to pass stringent American safety requirements and that this could hold up the arrival of air cars in the U.S. marketplace. 
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January 14, 2020

An embedded system is a combination of computer software and hardware which is either fixed in capability or programmable.An embedded system can be either an independent system, or it can be a part of a large system. It is mostly designed for a specific function or functions within a larger system. For example, a fire alarm is a common example of an embedded system which can sense only smoke.

Example of Embedded Systems

Laser Printer

Laser Printers are using embedded systems to manage various aspect of the printing. Apart from performing the main task of printing, it has to take user inputs, manage communication with the computer system, to handle faults, and sense papers left on the tray, etc.
Here, the main task of the microprocessor is to understand the text and control the printing head in such a way that it discharges ink where it is needed.
To perform this, it needs to decode the different files given to it and understand the font and graphics. It will consume substantial CPU time to process the data as well as it has to take user inputs, control motors, etc.

History of Embedded system

Here, are important milestones from the history of embedded system:
  • In 1960, embdded system was first used for developing Apollo Guidance System by Charles Stark Draper at MIT.
  • In 1965, Autonetics, developed the D-17B, the computer used in the Minuteman missile guidance system.
  • In 1968, the first embedded system for a vehicle was released.
  • Texas Instruments developed the first microcontroller in 1971.
  • In 1987, the first embedded OS, VxWorks, was released by Wind River.
  • Microsoft's Windows embedded CE in 1996.
  • By the late 1990s, the first embedded Linux system appeared.
  • The embedded market reach $140 billion in 2013.
  • Analysts are projecting an Embedded market larger than $40 billion by 2030.

Characteristics of an Embedded System

Following are important characteristics of an embedded system:
  • Requires real time performance
  • It should have high availability and reliability.
  • Developed around a real-time operating system
  • Usually, have easy and a diskless operation, ROM boot
  • Designed for one specific task
  • It must be connected with peripherals to connect input and output devices.
  • Offers high reliability and stability
  • Needed minimal user interface
  • Limited memory, low cost, fewer power consumptions
  • It does not need any secondary memory in computer.

Important terminologies used in embedded system

Here, are important terms used in embedded system.

Reliability:

This measure of the survival probability of the system when the function is critical during the run time.

Fault-Tolerance:

Fault-Tolerance is the capability of a computer system to survive in the presence of faults.

Real-Time:

Embedded system must meet various timing and other constraints. They are imposed on it by the real-time natural behavior of the external world.
For example, an airforce department which keeps track of incoming missile attacks must precisely calculate and plan their counter-attack due to hard real-time deadline. Otherwise, it'll get destroyed.

Flexibility:

It's building systems with built-in debugging opportunities which allows remote maintenance.
For example, you are building a spacecraft which will land on another planter to collect various types of data and send collected detail back to us. If this spacecraft went insane and lost the control, we should be able to make some important diagnostic. So, flexibility is vital while designing an embedded system.

Portability:

Portability is a measure of the ease of using the same embedded software in various environments. It requires generalized abstractions between the application program logic itself and the low-level system interfaces.

What is Microcontroller?

A microcontroller is a single-chip VLSI unit which is also called microcomputer. It contains all the memory and I/O interfaces needed, whereas a general-purpose microprocessor needs additional chips to offered by these necessary functions. Microcontrollers are widely used in embedded systems for real-time control applications.

What is a Microprocessor?

A microprocessor is a single chip semiconductor device. Its CPU contains a program counter, an ALU a stack pointer, working register, a clock timing circuit. It also includes ROM and RAM, memory decoder, and many serial and parallel ports.

Architecture of the Embedded System

Below is basic architecture of the Embedded System:

1) Sensor:

Sensor helps you to measures the physical quantity and converts it to an electrical signal. It also stores the measured quantity to the memory. This signal can be ready by an observer or by any electronic instrument such as A2D converter.

2) A-D Converter:

A-D converter (analog-to-digital converter) allows you to convert an analog signal sent by the sensor into a digital signal.

3) Memory:

Memory is used to store information. Embedded System majorly contains two memory cells 1) Volatile 2) Non volatile memory.

4) Processor & ASICs:

This component processes the data to measure the output and store it to the memory.

5) D-A Converter:

D-A converter (A digital-to-analog converter) helps you to convert the digital data fed by the processor to analog data.

6) Actuator:

An actuator allows you to compare the output given by the D-A converter to the actual output stored in it and stores the approved output in the memory.

Types of Embedded System

Three types of Embedded Systems are:
  • Small Scale
  • Medium Scale
  • Sophisticated

Small Scale Embedded Systems:

This embedded system can be designed with a single 8 or 16-bit microcontroller. It can be operated with the help of a battery. For developing small scale embedded system, an editor, assembler, (IDE), and cross assembler are the most vital programming tools.

Medium Scale Embedded Systems:

These types of embedded systems are designed using 16 or 32-bit microcontrollers. These systems offer both hardware and software complexities. C, C++, Java, and source code engineering tool, etc. are used to develop this kind of embedded system.

Sophisticated Embedded Systems

This type of embedded systems have lots of hardware and software complexities. You may require IPS, ASIPS, PLAs, configuration processor, or scalable processors. For the development of this system, you need hardware and software co-design & components which needs to combine in the final system.

Application of Embedded Systems

Following are an important application of Embedded system:
Robotic science:
  • Ground Vehicles
  • Drones
  • Underwater Vehicles
  • Industrial Robots
Medical
  • Dialysis Machine
  • Infusion Pumps
  • Cardiac Monitor
  • Prosthetic Device
Automotive
  • Engine Control
  • Ignition System
  • Brake System
Networking
  • Router
  • Hubs
  • Gateways
  • Electronics Instruments
Home Devices:
  • TVs
  • Digital Alarm
  • Air Conditioner
  • DVD Video Player
  • Cameras
Automobiles
  • Fuel Injection
  • Lighting System
  • Door Locks
  • Air Bags
  • Windows
  • Parking Assistant System
  • Anti-stealing Alarms Whippers Motion
Industrial Control
  • Robotics
  • Control System
  • Missiles
  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Space Stations
  • Shuttles

Advantages of Embedded System

Here, are Pros/benefits of using Embedded System:
  • It is able to cover a wide variety of environments
  • Less likely to encore errors
  • Embedded System simplified hardware which, which reduces costs overall.
  • Offers an enhanced performance
  • The embedded system is useful for mass production.
  • The embedded system is highly reliable.
  • It has very few interconnections.
  • The embedded system is small in size.
  • It has a fast operation.
  • Offers improved product quality.
  • It optimizes the use of system resources.
  • It has a low power operation.

Disadvantages of Embedded System

Here, are important cons/ drawbacks of using Embedded system.
  • To develop an embedded system needs high development effort.
  • It needs a long time to market.
  • Embedded systems do a very specific task, so it can't be programmed to do different things.
  • Embedded systems offer very limited resources for memory.
  • It doesn't offer any technological improvement.
  • It is difficult to backup of embedded files.

Summary

  • Embedded system requires real time performance
  • Reliability measure of the survival probability of the system when the function is critical during the run time.
  • Fault-Tolerance is the capability of a computer system to survive in the presence of faults.
  • Embedded system must meet various timing and other constraints.
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