Industry-Standard Embedded Platforms

One characteristic of an embedded system is that it is self contained, requiring no user input to get started. There are some exceptions to that rule, which are discussed in this chapter. A problem with developing all parts of an embedded system is that all the interfaces—Ethernet, FDDI, and RS-232—must be developed along with the system. One must design an interface circuit (or board) and cannot take advantage of off-the-shelf boards and driver software. One platform, however, allows using existing parts—the personal computer (PC) platform, the IBM PC/AT, and its derivatives. If an embedded system is designed around a PC, one can get interface boards, disk drive interfaces, A/D and D/A interfaces, and a number of other components from existing vendors and often with driver software.