Implementation-Aware Embedded Control Systems
Karl-Erik Årzén, Anton Cervin, Dan Henriksson · Birkhäuser Boston eBooks · 2005
The current pervasive and ubiquitous computing trend has increased the emphasis on embedded and networked computing within the engineering community. Today embedded computers already by far outnumber desktop computers. Embedded systems are often found in consumer products and are therefore subject to hard economic constraints. Some examples are automotive systems and mobile phones. The pervasive nature of these systems generates further constraints on physical size and power consumption. These product-level constraints give rise to resource constraints on the computing platform level, for example, limitations on computing speed, memory size, and communication bandwidth. Due to economic considerations, this is true in spite of the fast development of computing hardware. In many cases, it is not economically justified to add an additional CPU or to use a processor with more capacity than what is required by the application. Cost also favors general-purpose computing components over specially designed hardware and software solutions.Control systems constitute an important subclass of embedded computing Systems—so important that, for example, within automotive systems, computers commonly go under the name electronic control units (ECUs). A top-level modern car contains more than 50 ECUs of varying complexity. Most of these ECUs implement different feedback control tasks, for instance, engine control, traction control, anti-lock braking, active stability control, cruise control, and climate control.