Systematic development of an optimized real-time embedded control platform

This paper focuses on the systematic design and development of an optimized embedded system platform from ground up to handle special real-time requirements of control applications. An embedded system is usually embedded as a part of a complete device including hardware and mechanical parts, and both the hardware system and the software system are tailored and optimized to realize specific functions. A microcontroller, the key component in an embedded system, is different from a microprocessor in that it already includes many peripherals on the chip aimed at reduced size and cost of the overall system. An operating system can be transplanted on a microprocessor system for multi-tasking and memory management. The hardware system and the operating system provide a platform for application design. The application programs use the system resources to realize the specific functions. In this paper, the general design pattern is analyzed and the detailed hardware and software designs are presented. The system is based on an ARM7 processor and a real-time operating system was transplanted on it. The abundant system peripherals and resources along with the real-time operating system make the system an ideal platform for embedded control applications.