Operating
Systems:
Internals Chapter 13
and
Design Embedded Operating
Principles Systems
Eighth Edition
By William Stallings
Embedded System
Refers to the use of electronics and software within a product that is
designed to perform a dedicated function
in many cases, embedded systems are part of a larger system or
product
antilock braking system in a car would be an example
Software Auxiliary
Systems
FPGA/ Memory (power,
ASIC cooling)
Human Diagnostic
Processor
interface port
A/D D/A
conversion Conversion
Electromechanical
backup and safety
Sensors Actuators
External
environment
Figure 13.1 Possible Organization of an Embedded System
Characteristics of
Embedded OS
Real-time operation
Reactive operation
Configurability
I/O device flexibility
Streamlined protection mechanisms
Direct use of interrupts
Developing an Embedded OS
Two general approaches:
• take an existing OS and adapt it for the
embedded application
• design and implement an OS intended
solely for embedded use
Adapting an Existing OS
An existing commercial OS can be used for an embedded system by
adding:
real time capability
streamlining operation
adding necessary functionality
Advantage:
• familiar interface
Disadvantage:
• not optimized for real-time
and embedded applications
Purpose-Built Embedded OS
Typical characteristics include:
fast and lightweight process or thread switch
scheduling policy is real time and dispatcher module is part of scheduler
small size
responds to external interrupts quickly
minimizes intervals during which interrupts are disabled
provides fixed or variable-sized partitions for memory management
provides special sequential files that can accumulate data at a fast rate
Two examples are:
• eCos
• TinyOS
To deal with timing
constraints, the kernel:
Timing • provides bounded
Constraints execution time for
primitives
• maintains a real-time clock
• provides for special alarms
and timeouts
• supports real-time queuing
disciplines
• provides primitives to
delay processing by a fixed
amount of time and to
suspend/resume execution
Embedded Linux
A version of Linux running in an embedded system
Embedded devices typically require support for a specific set of
devices, periphrals, and protocols, depending on the hardware that
is present in a given device and the intended purpose of that device
An embedded Linux distribution is a version of Linux to be
customized for the size and hardware constraints of embedded
devices
includes software packages that support a variety of services and
applications on those devices
an embedded Linux kernel will be far smaller than an ordinary
Linux kernel
Cross Compiler
A key differentiator between desktop/server and embedded Linux
distributions is that desktop and server software is typically
compiled on the platform where it will execute
Embedded Linux distributions are usually compiled on one
platform but are intended to be executed on another
the software used for this purpose is referred to as a cross-compiler
Embedded Linux File
Systems
File system must be as small as possible
Commonly used examples:
cramfs
a simple read-only file system that is designed to minimize size by
maximizing the efficient use of underlying storage
files are compressed in units that match the Linux page size
squashfs
a compressed, read-only file system that was designed for use on low
memory or limited storage size environments
jffs2
a log-based file system that is designed for use on NOR and NAND flash
devices with special attention to flash-oriented issues such as wear-leveling
ubifs
provides better performance on larger flash devices and also supports write
caching to provide additional performance inprovements
yaffs2
provides a fast and robust file system for large flash devices
Advantages of
Embedded Linux
Advantages of using Linux as the basis for an embedded OS
include the following:
vendor independence
the platform provider is not dependent on a particular vendor to
provide needed features and meet deadlines for deployment
varied hardware support
Linux support for a wide range of processor architectures and
peripheral devices makes it suitable for virtually any embedded
system
low cost
the use of Linux minimizes cost for development and training
open source
the use of Linux provides all of the advantages of open source
software
Android
Android
Focus of Android lies in the
vertical integration of the
Linux kernel and the Android
user-space components
an embedded OS based on a Linux
Many embedded Linux kernel
developers do not consider
Android to be an instance of more of a platform OS that can
support a variety of applications that
embedded Linux vary from one platform to the next
from the point of view of these
developers, a classic embedded a vertically integrated system,
device has a fixed function, including some Android specific
modification to the Linux kernel
frozen at the factory
TinyOS
Streamlines to a very minimal OS for embedded systems
Core OS requires 400 bytes of code and data memory combined
Not a real-time OS
There is no kernel
There are no processes
OS doesn’t have a memory allocation system
Interrupt and exception handling is dependent on the peripheral
It is completely nonblocking, so there are few explicit synchronization
primitives
Has become a popular approach to implementing wireless sensor network
software
Wired link
Internet Wireless link
Sensor
Sensor and relay
Base
Host PC station
Sensor
and relay Sensor
Sensor
and relay
Sensor
and relay
Sensor
Figure 13.2 Typical Wireless Sensor Network Topology
TinyOS Goals
With the tiny distributed sensor application in mind, the following
goals were set for TinyOS:
allow high concurrency
operate with limited resources
adapt to hardware evolution
support a wide range of applications
support a diverse set of platforms
be robust
TinyOS Components
Embedded software systems built
with TinyOS consist of a set of
modules (called components),
each of which performs a simple Examples of standardized
task and which interface with components include:
each other and with hardware in
limited and well-defined ways • single-hop networking
The only other software module • ad-hoc routing
is the scheduler • power management
Because there is no kernel there is • timers
no actual OS • nonvolatile storage control
The application area of interest is
the wireless sensor network
(WSN)
module TimerM {
StdControl Timer
provides {
TimerM interface StdControl;
interface Timer;
Clock }
uses interface C lock as Clk;
} ...
(a) TimerM component
StdControl Timer
Components -- Tasks
A software component implements one or more tasks
Each task in a component is similar to a thread in an ordinary OS
Within a component tasks are atomic
once a task has started it runs to completion
A task cannot: A task can:
• be preempted by another • perform computations
task in the same • call lower-level
component and there is components (commands)
no time slicing • signal higher-level events
• block or spin wait • schedule other tasks
Components -- Commands
A command is a nonblocking request
a task that issues a command does not block or spin wait for a reply
from the lower-level component
Is typically a request for the lower-level component to perform some
service
The effect on the component that receives the command is specific to
the command given and the task required to satisfy the command
A command cannot preempt the currently running task
A command does not cause a preemption in the called component
and does not cause blocking in the calling component
Components -- Events
Events in TinyOS may be tied either directly or indirectly to hardware
events
Lowest-level software components interface directly to hardware
interrupts
may be external interrupts, timer events, or counter events
An event handler in a lowest-level component may handle the
interrupt itself or may propagate event messages up through the
component hierarchy
A command can post a task that will signal an event in the future
in this case there is no tie of any kind to a hardware event
(a) TimerM component
StdControl Timer
configuration TimerC {
provides {
interface StdControl;
interface Timer;
}
StdControl Timer }
TimerM
implementation {
Clock components TimerM, HWClock;
StdControl = TimerM.StdControl;
Timer = TimerM.Timer;
TimerM.Clk -> HWClock.Clock;
}
Clock
HWClock
(b) TimerC configuration
Figure 13.3 Example Component and Configuration
TinyOS Scheduler
Operates across all components
Only one task executes at a time
The scheduler is a separate component
it is the one portion of TinyOS that must be present in any system
Default scheduler is a simple FIFO queue
Scheduler is power aware
puts processor to sleep when there is no task in the queue
Surg
eM
Timer SendMsg LEDs ADC
Pho Tim Mul LED
to er tiho s
p
Clock SendMsg
Qu
Cloc HW send eued ReceiveMsg
k
G
Comeneric
m
(a) Simplified view of the Surge Application
StdControl
Main SurgeM
StdControl ADC Timer SndMsg LEDs
StdControl ADC StdControl Timer StdControl SndMsg LEDs
Photo TimerC Multihop LEDsC
(b) Top-level Surge Configuration
LED = light-emitting diode
ADC = analog-to-digital converter
Figure 13.4 Example TinyOS Application
TinyOS Resource Interface
TinyOS provides a simple but powerful set of conventions for dealing
with resources
Dedicated
• a resource that a subsystem needs exclusive access to at all times
• no sharing policy is needed
• examples include interrupts and counters
Virtualized
• every client of a virtualized resource interacts with it as if it were a dedicated resource
• an example is a clock or timer
Shared
• abstraction that provides access to a dedicated resource through an arbiter component
• arbiter determines which client has access to the resource at which time
Resource Resource Resource-specific
Resource Requested Configure interfaces
Resource-specific
interfaces
Shared Resource
Arbiter Resource-specific
Info interfaces
Resource Resource Arbiter Resource-specific
Resource Requested Configure Info interfaces
Arbiter Dedicated Resource
Figure 13.5 Shared Resource Configuration
Summary
Embedded systems
TinyOS
Characteristics of embedded
Wireless sensor networks
operating systems
TinyOS goals
Adapting an existing
commercial operating system TinyOS components
Purpose-built embedded TinyOS scheduler
operating system TinyOS resource interface
Embedded Linux
Kernel size
Compilation
Embedded Linux file systems
Advantages of embedded
Linux
Android
