Computers as Components: Principles of Embedded Computer Systems Design

Book by Wolf, Wayne

"This book will prove invaluable as a means for acquiring knowledge in this important and newly emerging field. It will also serve as a reference in actual design practice and be a trusted companion in the design adventures ahead."

- From the foreword by Lynn Conway, Professor Emerita,
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan

"This book is the first to bring embedded systems technology and techniques together under a single cover. The author provides a practical overview of the many interrelated issues that must be addressed during the complete design cycle of an embedded computer system."

- Randolph E. Harr, Director of Research, Advanced Technology Group (ATG),
Synopsys, Inc.

The vast majority of existing computers are embedded in the myriad of intelligent devices and applications-not in desktop machines. We are witnessing the emergence of a new discipline with its own principles, constraints, and design processes.

Computers as Components is the first book to teach this new discipline. It unravels the complexity of these systems and the tools and methods necessary for designing them. Researchers, students, and savvy professionals, schooled in hardware or software, will value the integrated engineering design approach to this fast emerging field.

• Demonstrates concepts and techniques using two powerful real-world processors as case studies throughout the book: the ARM processor and the SHARC DSP (digital signal processor).
  
• Illustrates the major concepts of each chapter with real-world design examples such as software modems, telephone answering machines, and video accelerators.
  
• Teaches the basics of UML (Unified Modeling Language) and applies it throughout the text to help you visualize stages in the design process.
  
• Illustrates real-time operating systems using the POSIX real-time extensions and Linux.
  
• Describes performance analysis and optimization of embedded software, including the effects of caches.
  
• Includes two CD-ROMs with evaluation software: One contains the ARM Developer Suite; the other contains VisualDSP for the SHARC DSP family of processors.