what Embedded System means??

[mhamed]

Hi every one
I am a new in FPGA and starting to learn spartan-II of Xilinx but there is some words in it i donot understand that can anybody explain them.or introduce a site for them:
embedded system
GNU
MicroBlaze
Platform
if anyone can each of these understandig words for me i will be very tanksful of him.
thanks

 

[eltonjohn]

Embedded system meas a dedicated system capable of controlling some resources . The name originated in the early days of the microcontroller .
When it was now obvious that some complex and very particuliar needs could now be controlled by a small and "Embedded" system ..Embedded is a name for dedicated .NOT A GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER .. your PC won't qualify as such ,because of some unnecessary components ( NOT OPTIMIZED ) So you see any OPTIMIZED control system capable of managing an enviroment of RESOURCES is a EMBEDDED SYSTEM
In the early computer days the FACT that a computer did it was enough for a TERM .
one more thing embedded is not ANYMORE a narrow description
It may imply an OS .or not . PERIPHERALS that are not used,..But some system targuetted to CONTROL some NOT COMUN RESOURCES .
it can be battery powerd or NOT .. !
i have some embedded platform with a $2 chip and i have one that RUNS WINDOWS CE ! and is $1200
Don't forget is equal to OPTIMIZED no UNECESSARY EXPENSIVE CRAP!

 

[delay]

As the word implies it meas the system is generally "embedded" into a larger system that could very well be mechtronic or electromechanical such as a missle or could be purely electrical such as a handheld personal diary. In a certain way it is an intelligent electronic system that could comprise of mirco/controller/processor, FPGA, or other decision making device. An embedded system has certain aspects such as it usually has real time processing, it is normally small and uses few available resourses for memory and storage, it is often fast and it is a specialized computer doing specific stuff i.e., it cannot run everyday computer software although that is changing now with the newer PDA and cell phones that have common software for both PC and embedded devices. Embedded systems used to be stand alone in past but then again that has changed with devices for example that run Windows CE that have a user interface.

That's about it.