Continue to Site

Welcome to EDAboard.com

Welcome to our site! EDAboard.com is an international Electronics Discussion Forum focused on EDA software, circuits, schematics, books, theory, papers, asic, pld, 8051, DSP, Network, RF, Analog Design, PCB, Service Manuals... and a whole lot more! To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

"Embedded\Real Time" Processors vs "Application" Processors

Status
Not open for further replies.

shaiko

Advanced Member level 5
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
2,644
Helped
303
Reputation
608
Reaction score
297
Trophy points
1,363
Activity points
18,302
What are the main differences between:
"Embedded\Real Time" and "Application" Processors ?

I can list the following:

1.Cost - Embedded Processors are generally cheaper.
2.Frequency - Application processors are faster.
3.Power - Application processors are more power hungry.

Any other key differences ?
*Please keep it as scientific as possible -
Saying: "Application Processors are higher performance than Embedded\Real Time processors" is like saying nothing. Please detail.
 

Different use-cases. It's like a dessert spoon and a tea-spoon. They both technically perform similar functions,
but a dessert spoon would be overkill for stirring your coffee.
They are following market requirements.
Embedded processors can be cheaper because of the equipment they will be placed in will sell at low cost
Embedded processors can be lower frequency because they perform a dedicated task usually
Embedded processors can be less power hungry because they may be intended for very low power equipment.
And so on..
 
Last edited:

What I've seen driving the definitions is the gate count of the processors and thus the power consumption.

Embedded processors have been simpler. They lack performance-tweaking extras like integer divide instructions, branch prediction logic, floating-point instructions or instruction/data caches. They are aimed at running smaller fixed-in-place programs. Using fewer gates means:

* More space on-chip for peripherals and memory, for increased functions in a microcontroller or FPGA.

* Chip can be manufactured in an older, larger geometry silicon process, making it cheaper.

Application processors use more gates to put the performance-enhancing stuff in described above. They are aimed at running larger programs. Might also have an mmu so it can run a protected os, multi-tasking etc.

If memory serves, Altera NIOS II and later ARM Cortex processors look at it this way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shaiko

    shaiko

    Points: 2
    Helpful Answer Positive Rating
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Part and Inventory Search

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top