Sri Eshwar College Of Engineering

Department Of Electrical And Electronics Engineering

EE6602 -Embedded Systems 2 Marks With Answer Key

Year/Sem: III EEE/VI Sem Faculty Incharge : R.Hariharan AP/EEE

UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

1. Define Embedded System. What are the components of embedded system?

An Embedded system is one that has computer hardware with software embedded in it as one of its most
important component.
The three main components of an embedded system are
1. Hardware
2. Main application software
3. RTOS
OR
An embedded system employs a combination of hardware & software (a "computational engine") to
perform a specific function; is part of a larger system that may not be a "computer"; works in a reactive
and time-constrained environment

2. In what ways CISC and RISC processors differ?

CISC RISC
1. It provides number of addressing modes It provides very few number of addressing modes
2. It has a micro programmed unit with a It has a hard wired unit without a control memory
control memory
3. An easy compiler design Complex compiler design
4. Provides precise and intensive calculations Provides precise and intensive calculations faster
slower than a RISC than a RISC
3. Define system on chip (SOC) with an example.
Embedded systems are being designed on a single silicon chip called system on chip. SOC is a new
design innovation for embedded system
Ex. Mobile phone.
4. Give any two uses of VLSI designed circuits
A VLSI chip can embed IPs for the specific application besides the ASIP or a GPP core. A system on a
VLSI chip that has all of needed analog as well as digital circuits.
Eg. Mobile phone.
5. List the important considerations when selecting a processor.
 Instruction set
 Maximum bits in an operand
 Clock frequency
 Processor ability
6. What are the types of embedded system?
 Small scale embedded systems
 Medium scale embedded systems
 Sophisticated embedded systems
7. Classify the processors in embedded system?
a). General purpose processor
 Microprocessor
 Microcontroller
 Embedded processor
 Digital signal processor

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  Media processor
b).Application specific system processor
c). Multiprocessor system using GPP and ASSP GPP core or ASIP core integrated into either an ASIC or a
VLSI circuit or an FPGA core integrated with processor unit in a VLSI chip.
8. What are the important embedded processor chips?
 ARM 7 and ARM 9
 i 960
 AMD 29050
9. Name some DSP used in embedded systems?
 TMS320Cxx
 SHARC
 5600xx
10. Name some of the hardware parts of embedded systems?
 Power source
 Clock oscillator circuit
 Timers
 Memory units
 DAC and ADC
 LCD and LED displays
 Keyboard/Keypad
11. What are the various types of memory in embedded systems?
 RAM (internal External)
 ROM/PROM/EEPROM/Flash
 Cache memory
12. What are the points to be considered while connecting power supply rails with embedded
system?
 A processor may have more than two pins of Vdd and Vss
 Supply should separately power the external I/O driving ports, timers, and clock
 From the supply there should be separate interconnections for pairs of Vdd and Vss pins analog
ground analog reference and analog input voltage lines.
13. What is watch dog timer?
Watch dog timer is a timing device that resets after a predefined timeout.
14. What are the two essential units of a processor on a embedded system?
 Program Flow control Unit
 Execution Unit
15. What does the execution unit of a processor in an embedded system do?
The EU includes the ALU and also the circuits that execute instructions for a program control task. The
EU has circuits that implement the instructions pertaining to data transfer operations and data conversion
from one form to another.
16. Give examples for general purpose processor.
 Microcontroller
 Microprocessor
17. Define microprocessor.
A microprocessor is a single VLSI chip that has a CPU and may also have some other units for example
floating point processing arithmetic unit pipelining and super scaling units for faster processing of
instruction.
18. Define Real Time Clock (RTC)?
Real time clock is a clock which once the system stats does not stop and cant be reset and its
count value cannot be reloaded.
19. Define Time-out or Time Overflow?

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A state in which the number of count inputs exceeded the last acquirable value and on reaching
that state, an interrupt can be generated.
20. Why do we need at least one timer in an ES?
The embedded system needs at least on timer device. It is used as a system clock.
21. What is a PIC?
PIC refers to Programmable Intelligent Computer. PIC is microprocessor lies inside a personal
computer but significantly simpler, smaller and cheaper. It can be used for operating relays,
measuring sensors etc.
22. What are the main elements inside a PIC?
 Processing engine,
 Program memory,
 Data memory and
 Input / Output.
23. What are the types of program memory in a PIC?
 Read-only,
 EPROM and
 EEPROM,
 Flash
24. Define a System.
A way of doing one or more tasks according to a program.
25. What are the typical characteristics of an embedded system? Typical characteristics:
Perform a single or tightly knit set of functions; Increasingly high-performance & real-time
constrained; Power, cost and reliability are often important attributes That influence design;
Application specific processor design can be a significant component of some embedded systems.
Other characteristics:
 Application specific
 Digital signal processing in ECS
 Reactive
 Real-time
 Distributed
26. What are the advantages and disadvantages of embedded system?
Advantages: Customization yields lower area, power, cost.
Disadvantages: Higher HW/software development overhead design, compilers, debuggers, etc., may
result in delayed time to market.
27. What are the applications of an embedded system? Embedded Systems: Applications: 
 Consumer electronics, e.g., cameras, camcorders, etc., 
 Consumer products, e.g., washers, microwave ovens, etc., 
 Automobiles (anti­lock braking, engine control, etc.,) 
 Industrial process controllers & avionics/defense applications 
 Computer/Communication products, e.g., printers, FAX machines, etc., 
 Emerging multimedia applications & consumer electronics 
28. What are the complicating factors in embedded design? 
Complicating factors in the design of embedded systems
 Many of the subtasks in design are intertwined. 
 Allocation depends on the partitioning, and scheduling presumes a certain allocation. 
 Predicting the time for implementing the modules in hardware or software is not very
easy, particularly for tasks that have not been performed before. 

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

 29. What are the real­time requirements of an embedded system? 
Hard­real time systems: where there is a high penalty for missing a deadline e.g., control
systems for aircraft/space probes/nuclear reactors; refresh rates for video, or DRAM. Soft real
time systems: where there is a steadily increasing penalty if a deadline is missed.
e.g., laser printer: rated by pages­per­minute, but can take differing times to print a page
(depending on the \"complexity\" of the page) without harming the machine or the customer.
30. What are the functional requirements of embedded system? 
 Data Collection
 Sensor requirements 
 Signal conditioning 
 Alarm monitoring 
 Direct Digital Control
 Actuators
 Man­Machine Interaction informs the operator of the current state of the controlled object
assists the operator in controlling the system. 
31. What are the main components of an embedded system? Three main components of 
embedded systems: 
1. The Hardware 
2. Application Software 
3. RTOS 
32. Define embedded microcontroller. 
An embedded microcontroller is particularly suited for embedded applications to perform
dedicated task or operation. 
Example: 68HC11xx, 8051, PIC, 16F877, etc., 
33. Explain digital signal processing in embedded system continued digitization of signals
increasing the role of DSP in ES. 
• Signals are represented digitally as sequence of "samples" 
• ADC’s are moving closer to signals 
34. What are the various classifications of embedded systems? 
a. Small scale embedded systems 
b. Medium scale embedded systems 
c. Sophisticated embedded systems 
35. What are the two essential units of a processor on an embedded system? 
a. Program flow control unit (CU) 
b. Execution unit (EU) 
36. What does the execution unit of a processor in an embedded system do? 
The execution unit implements data transfer and data conversion. It includes ALU and 
circuits that execute instruction for jump, interrupt, etc.,
37.  Give examples for general purpose processor.
 Microprocessor 
 Microcontroller 
 Embedded processor 
 Digital Signal Processor 

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  Media Processor 
38. Define microprocessor. 
A microprocessor fetches and processes the set of general­purpose instructions such as data
transfer,   ALU   operations,   stack   operations,   I/O   operations   and   other   program   control
operations. 
39. When is Application Specific System processors (ASSPs) used in an embedded system? 
An ASSP is dedicated to real­time video processing applications such as video conferencing,
video compression and decompression systems. It is used as an additional processing unit for
running application specific tasks in the place of processing using embeddedsoftware. 

40. What is the need for LCD and LED displays? 
Uses of LCD and LED display: 
a. It is used for displaying and messaging. 
b. Example: Traffic light status indicator, remote controls,signals, etc., 
c. The   system   must   provide   necessary   circuit   and   software   for   the   output   to   LCD
controller. 
41. Define ROM image. 
ROM image in a system memory consists of: 
Boot­up  program,  stack  address  pointer,  program   counter  address  pointer,   application
tasks, ISRs, input data, RTOS and vector addresses. 
Bytes at each address must be defined to create ROM image. 
42. Define device driver.
A device driver is software for controlling, reading, sending a byte of stream of bytes from/to the
device.
43. Give some examples :
small scale embedded systems : 68HC05, PIC 16F8x, 8051.
medium scale embedded systems : 80251, 80x86, 80196,68HC11xx .
sophisticated embedded systems : ARM7, Power PC, Intel 80960.
44. What are the various embedded system requirements Types of requirements imposed by
embedded applications:
Functional requirements
Temporal requirements
Dependability requirements
45. What are the temporal requirements?
Tasks may have deadlines
Minimal latency jitter
Minimal error detection latency
Timing requirements due to tight software control loops
Human interface requirements.
46. Give the classification of embedded system.
Multi-dimensional classifications
Hard versus software systems
47. Define FPGAs
Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) can be used to implement just about any hardware design.
One common use is to prototype a lump of hardware that will eventually find its way into an ASIC.
48. Define PLDs
At the low end of the spectrum are the original Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs). These were the
first chips that could be used to implement a flexible digital logic design in hardware. In other words, you

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could remove a couple of the 7400-series TTL parts (ANDs, ORs, and NOTs) from your board and
replace them with a single PLD. Other names you might encounter for this class of device are
Programmable Logic Array (PLA), Programmable Array Logic (PAL), and Generic Array Logic (GAL).
49. Define bus.
Buses: The exchange of information. Information is transferred between units of the microcomputer
by collections of conductors called buses. There will be one conductor for each bit of information to be
passed, e.g., 16 lines for a 16 bit address bus. There will be address, control, and data buses
50. What are the classifications of I/O devices?
• Synchronous serial input and output
• Asynchronous serial UART input and output
• Parallel one bit input and output
• Parallel port input and output
51. Give some examples for serial input I/O devices.
Audio input, video input, dial tone, transceiver input, scanner, serial IO bus input, etc.,
52. What do you meant by bus arbitration?
Bus Arbitration
Most processors use special control lines for bus arbitration, ie, controlling the use of the address and
data bus,
 An input which the DMAC uses to request the bus
 An output(s) indicating the bus status
 An output indicating acceptance of the DMAC\'s bus request
• What are the two characteristics of synchronous communication?
• Bytes/frames maintain constant phase difference and should not be sent at random time intervals.
No handshaking signals are provided during the communication.
• Clock pulse is required to transmit a byte or frame serially. Clock rate information is transmitted
by the transmitter.
53.What do you mean by asynchronous communication?
The most basic way of sharing data is by copying the data in question to each server. This will only
work if the data is changed infrequently and always by someone with administrative access to all the
servers in the cluster.
54.What are the characteristics of asynchronous communication?
• Variable bit rate - need not maintain constant phase difference
• Handshaking method is used
• Transmitter need not transmit clock information along with data bit stream
55.What are the three ways of communication for a device?
• Separate clock pulse along with data bits
• Data bits modulated with clock information
• Embedded clock information with data bits before transmitting
56.Expand a) SPI b) SCI
SPI - SERIAL PERIPHERAL INTERFACE
SCI - SERIAL COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
57.What are the features of SPI?
• SPI has programmable clock rates
• Full-duplex mode
• Crystal clock frequency is 8MHz
• Open drain or totempole output from master to slave
58. Define software timer.
A software timer is software that executes the increase/decrease count value on an interrupt from
timer or RTC. Software timer is used as virtual timing device.
59.What are the forms of timer?
• Hardware interrupt timer
• Software timer
• User software controlled hardware timer

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 • RTOS controlled hardware timer
• UP/DOWN count action timer
• One-shot timer (No reload after overflow and finished states)
60. Define RTC
RTC Stands for Real Time Systems. Once the system starts, do not stop/reset and the count value
cannot be reloaded.
61. What is I2C?
Inter- Integrated Circuit (2-wire/line protocol) which offers synchronous communication. Standard
speed: 100Kbps and High speed: 400 Kbps, the bits in I2C corresponding are SDA - Serial Data Line and
SCL - Serial Clock line.
62.What is a CAN bus? Where is it used?
CAN stands for Controller Area Network. Serial line, bi-directional bus used in automobiles.
Operates at the rate of 1Mbps.
63.What is USB? What are the features of USB protocol?
USB - Universal Serial Bus Operating speed - upto 12 Mbps in fast mode and 1.5Mbps in low-speed
mode.
The features of the USB protocol are:
A device can be attached, configured and used, reset, reconfigured and used, detached and reattached,
share the bandwidth with other devices.
64.What are the four types of data transfer used in USB?
• Controlled transfer
• Bulk transfer
• Interrupt driven data transfer
• Iso-synchronous transfer
65. Mention some advanced bus standard protocols;
• GMII (Gigabit Ethernet MAC Interchange Interface)
• XGMI (10 Gigabit Ethernet MAC Interchange Interface)
• CSIX-1 6.6 Gbps
• Rapid IO interconnect specification v1.1 at 8 Gbps

UNIT II EMBEDDED NETWORKING

1. Differentiate synchronous communication and iso-synchronous communication.

Synchronous communication
When a byte or a frame of the data is received or transmitted at constant time intervals with
uniform phase difference, the communication is called synchronous communication.
Iso-synchronous communication
Iso -synchronous communication is a special case when the maximum time interval can be
varied.
2. What are the two characteristics of synchronous communication?
Bytes maintain a constant phase difference
The clock is not always implicit to the synchronous data receiver.
3. What are the three ways of communication for a device?
 Iso-synchronous communication
 synchronous communication
 Asynchronous communication
4. Expand a) SPI b) SCI
 SPI—serial Peripheral Interface
 SCI—Serial Communication Interface
5. Define software timer.

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This is software that executes and increases or decreases a count variable on an interrupt from a
timer output or form a real time clock interrupt. A software timer can also generate interrupt on
overflow of count value or on finishing value of the count variable.
6.What is I2C?
I2C is a serial bus for interconnecting ICs .It has a start bit and a stop bit like an UART. It has
seven fields for start,7 bit address, defining a read or a write, defining byte as acknowledging
byte, data byte, NACK and end.
7. What are the bits in I2C corresponding to?
It has seven fields for start,7 bit address, defining a read or a write, defining byte as
acknowledging byte, data byte, NACK and end
8. What is a CAN bus? Where is it used?
CAN is a serial bus for interconnecting a central Control network. It is mostly used in
automobiles. It has fields for bus arbitration bits, control bits for address and data length data
bits, CRC check bits, acknowledgement bits and ending bits.
9. What is USB? Where is it used?
USB is a serial bus for interconnecting a system. It attaches and detaches a device from the
network. It uses a root hub. Nodes containing the devices can be organized like a tree structure. It
is mostly used in networking the IO devices like scanner in a computer system.
10. What are the features of the USB protocol?
A device can be attached, configured and used, reset, reconfigured and used, share the bandwidth
with other devices, detached and reattached.
11. Explain briefly about PCI and PCI/X buses.
PCI and PCI/X buses are independent from the IBM architecture .PCI/X is an extension of PCI
and support 64/100 MHZ transfers. Lately, new versions have been introduced for the PCI bus
architecture.
12. Why are SPCI parallel buses important?
SPCI serial buses are important for distributed devices. The latest high speed sophisticated
systems use new sophisticated buses.
13. What is meant by UART?
 UART stands for universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter.
 UART is a hardware component for translating the data between parallel and serial
interfaces.
 UART does convert bytes of data to and from asynchronous start stop bit.
 UART is normally used in MODEM.
14. What does UART contain?
 A clock generator.
 Input and Output start Registers
 Buffers.
 Transmitter/Receiver control.
15. What is meant by HDLC?
 HDLC stands for “High Level Data Link Control”.
 HDLC is a bit oriented protocol.
 HDLC is a synchronous data Link layer.
16. Name the HDLC’s frame structure?

17.List out the states of timer?

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

There are eleven states as follows
 Reset state
 Idle state
 Present state
 Over flow state
 Over run state
 Running state
 Reset enabled state / disabled
 Finished state
 Load enabled / disabled
 Auto-reload enabled / disabled
 Service routine execution enabled / disabled
18. Name some control bit of timer?
 Timer Enable
 Timer start
 Up count Enable
 Timer Interrupt Enable
19. What is meant by status flag?
Status flag is the hardware signal to be set when the timer reaches zeros.
20.List out some applications of timer devices?
 Real Time clock
 Watchdog timer
 Input pulse counting
 TDM
 Scheduling of various tasks
21.State the special features on I2C?
 Low cost
 Easy implementation
 Moderate speed (upto 100 kbps).
22.What are disadvantages of I2C?
 Slave hardware does not provide much support
 Open collector drivers at the master leads to be confused
23.What are the two standards of USB?
 USB 1.1
 USB 2.0
24.Draw the data frame format of CAN?

25. What is the need of Advanced Serial High Speed Buses?

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

If the speed in the rate of „Gigabits per second‟ then there is a need of Advanced Serial High
Speed Buses.
26.What is meant by ISA?
 ISA stands for Industry standard Architecture.
 Used for connecting devices following IO addresses and interrupts vectors as per IBM pc
architecture.
27.What is meant by PCI-X?
 PCI X offers more speed over PCI.
 30 times more speed than PCI.
28.Define CPCI?
 CPCI stands for Compact peripheral component Interfaces.
 CPCI is to be connected via a PCI.
 CPCI is used in the areas of Telecommunication Instrumentation abd data communication
applications.
29.Define half-duplex communication.
Transmission occurs in both the direction, but not simultaneously.
30. Define full duplex communication.
Transmission occurs in both the direction, simultaneously

UNIT III – EMBEDDED FIRMWARE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

1. What are the states of a process?
 Running
 Ready
 Waiting
2. What is the function in steady state?
Processes which are ready to run but are not currently using the processor are in the 'ready' state.
3. Define scheduling.
This is defined as a process of selection which says that a process has the right to use the
processor at given time.
4. What is scheduling policy?
It says the way in which processes are chosen to get promotion from ready state to running state.
5. Define hyper period?
It refers the duration of time considered and also it is the least common multiple of all the
process.
6. What is schedulability?
It indicates any execution schedule is there for a collection of process in the system's
functionality.
7. What are the types of scheduling?
1. Time division multiple access scheduling.
2. Round robin scheduling.
8. What is cyclostatic scheduling?
In this type of scheduling, interval is the length of hyper period 'H'. For this interval, a cyclostatic
schedule is separated into equal sized time slots.
9. Define round robin scheduling?
This type of scheduling also employs the hyperperiod as an interval. The processes are run in the
given order.
10. What is scheduling overhead?

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

It is defined as time of execution needed to select the next execution process.
11. What is meant by context switching?
The actual process of changing from one task to another is called a context switch.
12. Define priority scheduling?
A simple scheduler maintains a priority queue of processes that are in the runnable state.
13. What is rate monotonic scheduling?
Rate monotonic scheduling is an approach that is used to assign task priority for a preemptive
system.
14. What is critical instant?
It is the situation in which the process or task posses‟ highest response time.
15. What is critical instant analysis?
It is used to know about the schedule of a system. Its says that based on the periods given, the
priorities to the processes has to be assigned.
16. Define earliest deadline first scheduling?
This type of scheduling is another task priority policy that uses the nearest deadline as the
criterion for assigning the task priority.
16. What is the need for quality assurance (QA)?
The quality assurance (QA) process is vital for the delivery of a satisfactory system.
17. What are the observations about quality management based on ISO 9000?
Process is crucial, Documentation is important & Communication is important
18. What are the five levels of maturity in capability maturity model?
Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed and Optimizing are the five levels of maturity in CMM.
19. What is a design review?
Design review is a simple, low-cost way to catch bugs early in the design process. A design
review is simply a meeting in which team members discuss a design, reviewing how a
component of the system works.
20. Give the members of the design review team.
Designers, Review leader, Review scribe and Review audience are the members of the design
review team.
21. What is the role of a review scribe in a design review?
The review scribe records the minutes of the meeting so that designers and others know which
problems need to be fixed.
22. Give the role of the review leader in a design review team.
The review leader coordinates the pre-meeting activities, the design review itself, and the post-
meeting follow-up. During the meeting, the leader is responsible for ensuring that the meeting
runs smoothly.
23. What are the potential problems to be looked for by the audience of a design review
meeting?
Is the design team’s view of the component’s specification consistent with the overall system
specification, or has the team misinterpreted something? Is the interface specification correct?
Does the component’s internal architecture work well?
Are there coding errors in the component?
Is the testing strategy adequate?
24. What is a design flow?
A design flow is a sequence of steps to be followed during a design.
25. Define successive refinement design methodology.
In successive refinement design methodology, the system is built several times. A first system is
used as a rough prototype, and successive models of the system are further refined. This

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

methodology makes sense when you are relatively unfamiliar with the application domain for
which you are building the system
26. What are the phases in water fall development model?
The waterfall development model consists of five major phases; they are requirements analysis,
architecture, coding, testing and maintenance.
27. What are the elements of concurrent engineering?
Cross-functional teams, Concurrent product realization, Incremental information sharing and use,
Integrated project management & Early and continual supplier involvement.
28. What are requirements and specification?
Requirements are informal descriptions of what the customer wants, while specifications are
more detailed, precise, and consistent descriptions of the system that can be used to create the
architecture.
29. What are the several tests met by a good set of requirements?
The several tests that should be met by a good set of requirements are Correctness,
Unambiguousness, Completeness, Verifiability, Consistency, Modifiability and Traceability.
30. What is IDC mechanism?
It is necessary for a 'process to get communicate with other process' in order to attain a specific
application in an operating system.
31. What are the two types of communication?
1. Blocking communication
2. Non blocking communication
32. Give the limitations of polling technique.
The polling technique, however, has limitations.
• It is wasteful of the processors time, as it needlessly checks the status of all devices all the time.
• It is inherently slow, as it checks the status of all I/O devices before it comes back to check any
given one again.
• When fast devices are connected to a system, polling may simply not be fast enough to satisfy the
minimum service requirements. Priority of the device is determined
33. What are the advantages of Assembly language?
It gives the precise control of the processor internal devices and full use of processor
specific features in its instruction sets and addressing modes.
The machine codes are compact, which requires only small memory.
Device drivers need only few assembly instructions.
34. What are advantages of high level languages?
o Data type declaration
 Type checking
 Control structures
 Probability of non-processor specific codes
 Define In -line assembly
 Inserting an assembly code in between is said to be in-line assembly.
35. What is the use of MACRO function?
A macro function executes a named small collection of codes, with the values passed by
the calling function through its arguments. It has constant saving and retrieving overheads.
36. What is the use of interrupt service routines or device drivers?
It is used for the declaration of functions and datatypes, typedef and executes named set
of codes. ISR must be small (short), reentrant or must have solution for shared data problem.
37. What are the datatypes available in C language?

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 Char - 8 bit; byte - 8 bit; short - 16 bit; unsigned short - 16 bit; unsigned int - 32 bit; int
32 bit; long double - 64 bit; float - 32 bit; double - 64
38. Define stack.
A structure with a series of elements which uses LIFO mode.
An element can be pushed only at the top and only one pointer is used for POP.
Used when an element is not accessible through pointer and index, but only through
LIFO.
39. Define Exception handling
Exceptions are used to report error conditions. Exception handling is built upon three
keywords: 1.try 2.catch 3.throw
40. What is a Preprocessor Directive?
A preprocessor directive starts with ‘#’ sign. The following are the types of preprocessor
directives:
1. Preprocessor global variables
2. Preprocessor constants y
41.What is Multiple Inheritance?
Inheritance is the process by which objects of one class acquire the properties of objects
of another class. In OOP, the concept of inheritance provides the idea of reusability.

UNIT 1V – RTOS BASED EMBEDDED SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

1. Name the important terms of RTOS?

 Task State Scheduler
 Shared data Reentrancy
2. Define process.
Process is a computational unit that processes on a CPU under the control of a scheduling kernel
of an OS. It has a process structure, called Process control block. A process defines a sequentially
executing program and its state.
3. What is meant by PCB?
Process Control Block‟ is abbreviated as PCB.PCB is a data structure which contains all the
information and components regarding with the process.
4. Draw the process state transitions?

5. Define task and Task state.

A task is a set of computations or actions that processes on a CPU under the control of a
scheduling kernel. It also has a process control structure called a task control block that saves at
the memory. It has a unique ID. It has states in the system as follows: idle, ready, running,
blocked and finished.

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6. Define Task Control Block (TCB)
A memory block that holds information of program counter, memory map, the signal
dispatch table, signal mask, task ID, CPU state and a kernel stack.
7. What is a thread?
Thread is a concept in Java and UNIX and it is a light weight sub process or process in an
application program. It is controlled by the OS kernel. It has a process structure, called thread
stack, at the memory. It has a unique ID .It have states in the system as follows: stating, running,
blocked and finished.
8. Define Inter process communication.
An output from one task passed to another task through the scheduler and use of signals,
exception, semaphore, queues, mailbox, pipes, sockets, and RPC.
9. What is shared data problem?
If a variable is used in two different processes and another task if interrupts before the
operation on that data is completed then the value of the variable may differ from the one
expected if the earlier operation had been completed .This ids known as shared data problem.
10. Define Semaphore.
Semaphore provides a mechanism to let a task wait till another finishes. It is a way of
synchronizing concurrent processing operations. When a semaphore is taken by a task then that
task has access to the necessary resources. When given the resources unlock. Semaphore can be
used as an event flag or as a resource key.
11. Define Mutex.
A phenomenon for solving the shared data problem is known as semaphore. Mutex is a
semaphore that gives at an instance two tasks mutually exclusive access to resources.
12. Differentiate counting semaphore and binary semaphore.
Binary semaphore
When the value of binary semaphore is one it is assumed that no task has taken it and that
it has been released. When the value is 0 it is assumed that it has been taken.
Counting semaphore
Counting semaphore is a semaphore which can be taken and given number of times.
Counting semaphores are unsigned integers.
13. What is Priority inversion?
A problem in which a low priority task inadvertently does not release the process for a
higher priority task.
14. What is Deadlock situation?
A set of processes or threads is deadlocked when each process or thread is waiting for a
resource to be freed which is controlled by another process.
15. Define Message Queue.
A task sending the multiple FIFO or priority messages into a queue for use by another
task using queue messages as an input.
16. Define Mailbox and Pipe.
A message or message pointer from a task that is addressed to another task.
17. Define Socket.
It provides the logical link using a protocol between the tasks in a client server or peer to
peer environment.
18. Define Remote Procedure Call.
A method used for connecting two remotely placed methods by using a protocol. Both
systems work in the peer to peer communication mode and not in the client server mode.

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

19. What are the goals of RTOS?
 Facilitating easy sharing of resources
 Facilitating easy implantation of the application software
 Maximizing system performance
 Providing management functions for the processes, memory, and I/Os and for other
functions for which it is designed.
 Providing management and organization functions for the devices and files and file like
devices.
 Portability
 Interoperability
 Providing common set of interfaces.
20. What is RTOS?
An RTOS is an OS for response time controlled and event controlled processes. RTOS is
an OS for embedded systems, as these have real time programming issues to solve.
21. List the functions of a kernel.
 Process management
 Process creation to deletion
 Processing resource requests
 Scheduling
 IPC
 Memory management
 I/O management
 Device management
22. What are the two methods by which a running requests resources?
 Message
 System call
23.What are the functions of device manager?
 Device detection and addition
 Device deletion
 Device allocation and registration
 Detaching and deregistration
 Device sharing
24. List the set of OS command functions for a device
 Create and open
 Write
 Read
 Close and delete
25. Define task and Task state.
A task is a program that is within a process. It has the following states:
1. Ready
2. Running
3. Blocked
4. Idle

26. Define (TCB)

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

 The TCB stands for Task Control Block which holds the control of all the tasks within the
block. It has separate stack and program counter for each task.

27. What is a thread?

A thread otherwise called a lightweight process (LWP) is a basic unit of CPU utilization,
it comprises of a thread id, a program counter, a register set and a stack. It shares with
other threads belonging to the same process its code section, data section, and operating
system resources such as open files and signals.
28. What are the benefits of multithreaded programming?

The benefits of multithreaded programming can be broken down into four major
categories:
• Responsiveness
• Resource sharing
• Economy
• Utilization of multiprocessor architectures
29. Compare user threads and kernel threads. User threads Kernel threads
User threads are supported above the kernel and are implemented by a thread library at
the user level Kernel threads are supported directly by the operating system
Thread creation & scheduling are done in the user space, without kernel intervention.
Therefore they are fast to create and manage Thread creation, scheduling and
management are done by the operating system.
Therefore they are slower to create & manage compared to user threads Blocking system
call will cause the entire process to block If the thread performs a blocking system call,
the kernel can schedule another thread in the application for execution

30. Define RTOS.

A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system that has been developed for
real-time applications. It is typically used for embedded applications, such as mobile
telephones, industrial robots, or scientific research equipment.
31. Define task and task rates.
An RTOS facilitates the creation of real-time systems, but does not guarantee that they
are real-time; this requires correct development of the system level software. Nor does an
RTOS necessarily have high throughput — rather they allow, through specialized
scheduling algorithms and deterministic behavior, the guarantee that system deadlines
can be met. That is, an RTOS is valued more for how quickly it can respond to an event
than for the total amount of work it can do. Key factors in evaluating an RTOS are
therefore maximal interrupt and thread latency

32. Define CPU scheduling.

CPU scheduling is the process of switching the CPU among various processes. CPU
scheduling is the basis of multi-programmed operating systems. By switching the CPU
among processes, the operating system can make the computer more productive.
33. Define Synchronization.
Message passing can be either blocking or non-blocking. Blocking is considered to be
synchronous and non-blocking is considered to be asynchronous.
34. Define Inter process communication.

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

 Inter-process communication (IPC) is a set of techniques for the exchange of data among
multiple threads in one or more processes. Processes may be running on one or more
computers connected by a network. IPC techniques are divided into methods for message
passing, synchronization, shared memory, and remote procedure calls (RPC). The method
of IPC used may vary based on the bandwidth and latency of communication between the
threads, and the type of data being communicated.
35. Define Semaphore.
A semaphore ‘S’ is a synchronization tool which is an integer value that, apart from
initialization, is accessed only through two standard atomic operations; wait and signal.
Semaphores can be used to deal with the n-process critical section problem. It can be also
used to solve various synchronization problems.
The classic definition of ‘wait’ wait (S){
while (S<=0);
S--;
}
The classic definition of ‘signal’ signal (S){
S++;
}
36. What is a semaphore?
Semaphores -- software, blocking, OS assistance solution to the mutual exclusion
problem basically a non-negative integer variable that saves the number of wakeup
signals sent so they are not lost if the process is not sleeping another interpretation we
will see is that the semaphore value represents the number of resources available
37. Give the semaphore related functions.
A semaphore enforces mutual exclusion and controls access to the process critical
sections. Only one process at a time can call the function fn..
SR Program: A Semaphore Prevents the Race Condition.
SR Program: A Semaphore Prevents Another Race Condition.
38. When the error will occur when we use the semaphore?
 When the process interchanges the order in which the wait and signal operations on the
semaphore mutex.
 When a process replaces a signal (mutex) with wait (mutex).
 When a process omits the wait (mutex), or the signal (mutex), or both.
39. Differentiate counting semaphore and binary semaphore.
Binary Semaphore:
The general-purpose binary semaphore is capable of addressing the requirements of both
forms of task coordination: mutual exclusion and synchronization.
A binary semaphore can be viewed as a flag that is available (full) or unavailable
(empty). Counting semaphores are another means to implement task synchronization and
mutual exclusion.
Counting Semaphore:
The counting semaphore works like the binary semaphore except that it keeps track of the
number of times a semaphore is given. Every time a semaphore is given, the count is
incremented; every time a semaphore is taken, the count is decremented. When the count
reaches zero, a task that tries to take the semaphore is blocked. As with the binary
semaphore, if a semaphore is given and a task is blocked, it becomes unblocked.
However, unlike the binary semaphore, if a semaphore is given and no tasks are blocked,

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

 then the count is incremented. This means that a semaphore that is given twice can be
taken twice without blocking.
40. What is priority inheritance?
Priority inheritance is a method for eliminating priority inversion problems. Using this
programming method, a process scheduling algorithm will increase the priority of a
process to the maximum priority of any process waiting for any resource on which the
process has a resource lock.
41. Define Message Queue.
A message queue is a buffer managed by the operating system. Message queues allow a
variable number of messages, each of variable length, to be queued. Tasks and ISRs can
send messages to a message queue, and tasks can receive messages from a
message queue (if it is nonempty). Queues can use a FIFO (First In, First Out) policy or
it can be based on priorities. Message queues provide an asynchronous communications
protocol.

42. Define Mailbox and Pipe.

A mailboxes are software-engineering components used for interprocess communication,
or for inter-thread communication within the same process. A mailbox is a combination
of a semaphore and a message queue (or pipe).

Message queue is same as pipe with the only difference that pipe is byte oriented while
queue can be of any size.

43. Define Socket.

A socket is an endpoint for communications between tasks; data is sent from one socket
to another.

44. Define Remote Procedure Call.

Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) is a facility that allows a process on one machine to call a
procedure that is executed by another process on either the same machine or a remote
machine. Internally, RPC uses sockets as the underlying communication mechanism.

45. What is preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling?

 Under non-preemptive scheduling once the CPU has been allocated to a process, the
process keeps the CPU until it releases the CPU either by terminating or switching to
the waiting state.
 Preemptive scheduling can preempt a process which is utilizing the CPU in between
its execution and give the CPU to another process.
46. What are the various scheduling criteria for CPU scheduling?
The various scheduling criteria are
 CPU utilization
 Throughput
 Turnaround time
 Waitingtime
 Response time
47. Define throughput?

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

 Throughput in CPU scheduling is the number of processes that are completed per unit
time. For long processes, this rate may be one process per hour; for short transactions,
throughput might be 10 processes per second.
48. What is turnaround time?
Turnaround time is the interval from the time of submission to the time of completion of
a process. It is the sum of the periods spent waiting to get into memory, waiting in the ready
queue, executing on the CPU, and doing I/O.
49. Define deadlock.
A process requests resources; if the resources are not available at that time, the process
enters a wait state. Waiting processes may never again change state, because the resources they
have requested are held by other waiting processes. This situation is called a deadlock.
50. What are conditions under which a deadlock situation may arise?
A deadlock situation can arise if the following four conditions hold simultaneously in a
system: 1.Mutual exclusion, 2.Hold and wait,3.No pre-emption,4.Circular wait

51. Name some application for the VxWorks RTOS.
1.  Automobiles
2. Avionics
3. Consumer electronics
4. Medical devices
5. Military
6. Aerospace
7.  Networking

52. What are the various features of VxWorks?
1. High performance
2. Host and target based development approach
3. Supports advanced processor architecture
4. Hard real­time applications

53. What are the basic functions of VxWorks?
1. System level functions
2. Task service functions
3. Task control functions
4. IPCs
5. Network and IO functions

UNIT V – EMBEDDED SYSTEM APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

1. What is MBasic Compiler Software?

From version 5.3.0.0 onward, Basic Micro offers one version of its MBasic compiler, the
“Professional” version. MBasic runs under Microsoft‟s Windows operating system in any
version from Windows 95 to Windows XP. The computer requires an RS-232 port for connection
to the ISP-PRO programmer board.
2. Define pseudo-code.
Pseudo-code is a useful tool when developing an idea before writing a line of true code or when
explaining how a particular procedure or function or even an entire program
3. What is design technology?
Design technology involves the manner in which we convert our concept of desired system

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE

functionality into an implementation. Design methodologies are used in taking the decisions at
the time of designing the large systems with multiple design team members.
4. What are the goals of design process? (Apr/May 2011)
A design process has several important goals beyond function, performance, and power. They
are time to market, design cost and quality
5. What does the acronym CRC stands for?
CRC stands for Classes, Responsibilities and Collaborators.
 Classes - define the logical groupings of data and functionality.
 Responsibilities - describe what the classes do.
 Collaborators -are the other classes with which a given class works.
6. What are the steps to be followed in a CRC card methodology?
 Develop an initial list of classes:, Write an initial list of responsibilities and collaborators
 Create some usage scenarios, Walk through the scenarios Refine the classes,
responsibilities, and collaborators
7. Why is the verification of specification very important?
Verifying the requirements and specification is very important for the simple reason that bugs in
the requirements or specification can be extremely expensive to fix later on. A bug introduced in
the requirements or specification and left until maintenance could force an entire redesign of the
product
8. What is prototype?
Prototype is the model of the system being designed. Prototypes are a very useful tool when
dealing with end users—rather than simply describe the system to them in road, technical terms,
a prototype can let them see, hear, and touch at least some of the important aspects of the system.

R.Hariharan AP /EEE - SECE