A CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR EMBEDDED
CONTROL SYSTEMS
Jukka Karjalainen " )
Technical Research Centre of Finland, Computer Technology Laboratory,
P.O.Box 181, SF-90101 Oulu, Finland
+358 81 346 488
Abstract
T h i s paper p r e s e n t s some i n f o r m a l d e f i n i t i o n s of embed-
ded systems. From t h e p o i n t of view of a c o n t r o l com-
p u t e r s t r u c t u r e , embedded c o n t r o l systems are d i v i d e d
i n t o s i x d i f f e r e n t classes and some key c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
and t y p i c a l examples of each proposed class are g i v e n .
The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of embedded c o n t r o l systems are
grouped i n t o e i g h t d i f f e r e n t p r o p e r t i e s and t h e t y p i -
cal numbers o r c a t e g o r i e s of each c h a r a c t e r i s t i c are
p r e s e n t e d . The c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n are
combined i n o r d e r t o d e f i n e a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n scheme f o r
embedded c o n t r o l systems. The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of s i x
proposed classes a r e shown i n t h e form of e i g h t t a b l e s .
KEYWORDS: embedded systems, c o n t r o l systems, r e a l - t i m e
s y s t e m s , c o n t r o l computers, microcomputers i n automa-
t i o n , c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , modelling
") The work was done w h i l e t h e a u t h o r was a v i s i t i n g
s c i e n t i s t a t the I n s t i t u t e f o r . E l e c t r o n i c s . t h e Federal
I n s t i t u t e o f Technology, ETH, Zuerich. S w i t z e r l a n d .
Introduction
During t h e last f i f t e e n y e a r s t h e development of micro-
p r o c e s s o r and memory t e c h n o l o g i e s has made i t p o s s i b l e
t o a p p l y computer t e c h n o l o g i e s i n many d i v e r s e a p p l i c a -
t i o n s . Computers are i n t e g r a l p a r t s of larger s y s t e m s ,
r a n g i n g from a s i m p l e e l e c t r o n i c toy t o a l a r g e c o n t r o l
system f o r a n u c l e a r power p l a n t [7,9]. These micropro-
c e s s o r based systems are o f t e n c a l l e d embedded systems.
Embedded systems are o f t e n h a r d real-time systems,
which have time c r i t i c a l e x t e r n a l i n t e r f a c e s [12] and
h i g h r e l i a b l i t y . a v a i l a b i l i t y and m a i n t a i n a b i l i t y re-
quirements. Usually a l s o , components o f embedded s y s -
tems have many p h y s i c a l c o n s t r a i n t s [13]. such as
w e i g h t , volume, h e a t d i s s i p a t i o n e t c .
The term "embedded computer system" w a s i n t r o d u c e d by
t h e U.S. Department o f Defence [5] t o d e n o t e one t h a t
i s l o g i c a l l y i n c o r p o r a t e d i n a l a r g e r system - e . g . an
e l e c t r o m e c h a n i c a l d e v i c e , a t a c t i c a l system, a s h i p , an
a i r c r a f t , or a communication system - whose primary
f u n c t i o n i s n o t computation. According t o Zave [ l 3 .
141. an embedded system is one f o r which p r o p e r t i e s o f
t h e p h y s i c a l world appear somehow i n i t s mandatory re-
q u i r e m e n t s . The common element among embedded systems
is t h a t t h e i r s u c c e s f u l o p e r a t i o n depends d i r e c t l y on
cognisance o f , and a d a p t a t i o n t o , p h y s i c a l p r o p e r t i e s
of t h e i r environments. Buehrer [3] d e f i n e s an embedded
system as a p r o c e s s i n g f a c i l i t y having a v a r i e t y of i n -
p u t s from t h e environment and a v a r i e t y of o u t p u t s t o
t h e environment.
I n t h i s paper w e examine an embedded system from t h e
p o i n t of view of i t s computer s t r u c t u r e . W e deal with
an embedded c o n t r o l computer system, whose d e f i n i t i o n
w e modify based on e a r l i e r d e f i n i t i o n s as follows:
An embedded control computer system is a part of
a larger technical system, whose primary function
is not computation nor text processing but veru
close interaction with an unintelligent environ-
ment in absolute time-critical limits. The tasks
of the control computers of an embedded control
system are to read measurement data from input
lines and/or commands from a user, to process
them according to application specific algorithms
and to send the results to output control lines
and/or to a user. Programming done by a user of
an embedded system is usually restricted to the
modifications of activities according to prede-
fined tasks designed by the manufacturer of the
s ys tem .
Computer a r c h i t e c t u r e s have been c l a s s i f i e d i n many
ways [ l , 4 . 6. 8, 111, b u t t h e s e schemes are n o t s u i t -
a b l e f o r t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of embedded c o n t r o l com-
p u t e r systems. I n some s p e c i a l f i e l d s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
schemas have been d e f i n e d , a s i n image p r o c e s s i n g ap-
p l i c a t i o n s , w h e r e systems have been d i v i d e d i n t o gen-
e r a l purpose a r c h i t e c t u r e s and f u n c t i o n a l l y d e d i c a t e d
a r c h i t e c t u r e s [15]. Zave 1141 i n t r o d u c e s a requirement-
l e v e l system c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , where computer systems are Control systems are u s u a l l y d i v i d e d h i e r a r c h i c a l l y i n t o
d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e t y p e s : embedded systems, d a t a pro-
c e s s i n g systems and s u p p o r t systems. Smith [lo] has d i f f e r e n t f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e c a s e of
c l a s s i f i e d microcomputers i n t o g e n e r a l purpose micro- l a r g e c o n t r o l systems, as shown i n f i g u r e 1. Although
computers, d e d i c a t e d microprocessors and development
s y s terns. the system of figure 1 includes four hierarchical
levels, l a r g e systems can have from one l e v e l up t o
The purpose of our paper i s t o propose d i f f e r e n t
classes of embedded c o n t r o l systems and t o s p e c i f y t h e seven or even more depending on an a p p l i c a t i o n f i e l d .
most i m p o r t a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of each d e f i n e d class. U s u a l l y , simple m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r systems and microcon-
I n s e c t i o n 1 embedded c o n t r o l systems are d i v i d e d i n t o
s i x d i f f e r e n t groups and t y p i c a l product examples of t r o l l e r systems c o n s i s t of one f u n c t i o n a l c o n t r o l lei,el
each group are given. I n s e c t i o n 2 d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c t e r - or they are parts of the lowest control le\el
i s t i c s of embedded c o n t r o l systems are proposed by
d e f i n i n g them as e i g h t groups of p r o p e r t i e s . S e c t i o n 3 ( s e n s o r / a c t o r l e v e l ) of a l a r g e r system. The c o n t r o l l e r
combines s e c t i o n s one and two and i n t r o d u c e s a clas- system usually includes two control leiels
s i f i c a t i o n scheme f o r embedded c o n t r o l systems. S e c t i o n
4 p r e s e n t s t h e concluding remarks about our c l a s s i f i c a - (sensor/actor l e v e l and p r o c e s s i n g / c o n t r o l l e v e l ) and
t i o n scheme. contains several (simple) microcontroller systems at
t h e lowest fuctional level. The medium scale contr-ol
1. CLASSIFICATION OF EMBEDDED CONTROL SYSTEMS system, which typically c o n s i s t s of three functlonal
l e v e l s , comprises of s e v e r a l c o n t r o l l e r systems and a t
I n t h i s s e c t i o n , w e c l a s s i f y embedded c o n t r o l systems the lowest functional l e v e l microcontroller systems
i n t o s i x d i f f e r e n t classes according t o t h e i r computer Figure 1 shows that there exists both horizontal
s t r u c t u r e and o t h e r r e l e v a n t p r o p e r t i e s . Our p o i n t of ( i n t r a - l e v e l ) and v e r t i c a l ( i n t e r - l e v e l ) communication
view i s based on t h e c o n t r o l computers of an e n t i r e between f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l s . The u s e r i n t e r f a c e of a con-
c o n t r o l system. The classes are as f o l l o w s : t r o l system i s u s u a l l y a t t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l of a s y s -
1 Simple m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r system t e m , b u t i n some a p p l i c a t i o n s human/machine i n t e r a c t i o n
2 M i c r o c o n t r o l l e r system may happen a t many f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l s , when t h e & r e s p o n s e
3 C o n t r o l l e r system time requirements of a u s e r i n t e r f a c e v a r y c o n s i d e r a o l y
4 Medium scale c o n t r o l system a t different levels
5 Large c o n t r o l system
6 S p e c i a l purpose c o n t r o l system.

Figure 1 Hierarchical levels of a large control system

IECON '88 I 4 2 8
The p r o d u c t s o f t h e f i r s t class o f embedded c o n t r o l an upper c o n t r o l l e v e l . R e l i a b i l i t y and a v a i l a b i l i t y
systems. s i m p l e m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r systems, are manufac- are often important factors. The control software
t u r e d i n l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s a t low c o s t . T h e i r p h y s i c a l amounts t o hundreds of k i l o b y t e s , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t ad-
s i z e i s u s u a l l y v e r y small and power consumption t e n d s vanced d e s i g n languages and t o o l s ought t o be used.
t o be v e r y l i m i t e d . They a r e based on a one c h i p micro- L i f t c o n t r o l systems, p a t i e n t monitoring systems, c a s h
computer implementation. where t h e s t r u c t u r e of c o n t r o l t e r m i n a l systems, f i r e and b u r g l a r d e t e c t i o n and alarm
software i s r a t h e r straightforward, possibly c o n s i s t i n g system's. medical a n a l y z e r s , p l a n t v e n t i l a t i o n c o n t r o l
of a small number of c o n c u r r e n t p r o c e s s e s . Electronic systems, automatic t e l l e r machines, mine d r i l l i n g ma-
toys, smart cards, watches and keypad/display-con- c h i n e s , c o n t r o l systems f o r welding manipulators, air
t r o l l e r s are some t y p i c a l c u r r e n t examples o f simple t r a f f i c c o n t r o l systems and p r o c e s s s t a t i o n s of a large
m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r systems. automation system are some examples of medium scale
c o n t r o l systems.
Although m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r systems are a l s o o f t e n based
on a one c h i p microcomputer implementation, t h e y have The f i f t h c l a s s of c o n t r o l systems is r e p r e s e n t e d by
more f e a t u r e s and p r o c e s s i n g power than simple micro- l a r g e c o n t r o l systems, p a r t s of which show a l l t h e f e a -
c o n t r o l l e r systems. They are 8 or 16 b i t microcomput- t u r e s of o t h e r c l a s s e s , and also some e x t r a c h a r a c t e r -
ers, whose control s o f t w a r e comprises o f 4 t o 16 i s t i c s . A large c o n t r o l system c o n s i s t s of from t e n s to
kbytes. The a v a i l a b l e memory c a p a c i t y i s l i m i t e d and hundreds o f p r o c e s s o r s , and i t c o n t a i n s a f a s t communi-
a p p l i c a t i o n programming may s t i l l be done a t assembler c a t i o n subsystem, e . g . a c o l l e c t i o n of b u s s e s . Besides
l e v e l . The hardware a r c h i t e c t u r e i s v e r y s i m p l e , b u t f a s t numerical p r o c e s s i n g , symbolic p r o c e s s i n g c a p a b i l -
response time requirements are v e r y t i g h t i n some ap- i t i e s are needed, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e f u t u r e . The c o n t r o l
p l i c a t i o n s . Cameras, domestic a p p l i a n c e machines, r a d i - software amounts to Mbytes, that means advanced
a t i o n m e t e r s , r a d i o t e l e p h o n e s , c a r d r e a d e r s , dashboard methods, t o o l s and s p e c i a l development environments are
computers, programmable l o g i c c o n t r o l l e r s ( P L C s ) , s l i d e used. Because the life-cycle may extend beyond ten
projectors, hard d i s k c o n t r o l l e r s and I / O - c o n t r o l l e r s years, maintenance a s p e c t s and s o f t w a r e c o n f i g u r a t i o n
of a larger system belong t o t h e class of embedded management become v e r y important f a c t o r s . Telephone ex-
m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r systems. change systems, a i r b o r n e warning and c o n t r o l systems,
p r o c e s s automation systems, c o n t r o l systems of paper
The t h i r d c l a s s , c o n t r o l l e r systems, c o n s i s t s o f gen- machines, energy d i s t r i b u t i o n c o n t r o l systems and l a r g e
e r a l purpose 8 o r 16 b i t microcomputers with a l l t h e alarm systems are t y p i c a l examples of large control
t y p i c a l p a r t s of a c o n t r o l computer. The p r o c e s s i n t e r - s y s tems .
f a c e c o n t a i n s both analog and d i g i t a l l i n e s and commu-
n i c a t i o n c a p a b i l i t i e s are needed. I n many a p p l i c a t i o n s The s i x t h c l a s s o f embedded c o n t r o l systems i s c a l l e d
real-time requirements a r e v e r y t i g h t and t h e minimum s p e c i a l purpose c o n t r o l system, because t h e y have some
response time requirements are i n t h e range of mil- a p p l i c a t i o n s p e c i f i c p r o p e r t i e s , which a r e n o t included
l i s e c o n d s . The c o n t r o l s o f t w a r e , which i s based on a i n o t h e r classes. They u s u a l l y c o n s i s t o f g e n e r a l pur-
simple real- time k e r n e l , amounts t o t e n thousands k i l o - pose computer p a r t s as w e l l as s p e c i a l p r o c e s s o r p a r t s .
b y t e s and h i g h l e v e l languages are used i n programming. They perform a p p l i c a t i o n s p e c i f i c a l g o r i t h m s and have
T y p i c a l examples in this c l a s s are t e r m i n a l s , laser high processing c a p a b i l i t i e s f o r those s p e c i f i c appli-
printers, a d v e r t i s i n g d i s p l a y systems, e l e c t r o n i c en- c a t i o n s . Processed d a t a i s huge and i n a d d i t i o n t o sym-
gine controllers, i n d u s t r i a l furnace c o n t r o l l e r s . oil b o l i c processing capabilities, f a s t number crunching
content analyzers. servo controllers, ticket automa- c a p a b i l i t i e s are needed. Production volumes are low and
t o n s , mobile r a d i o t e l e p h o n e s , P I D - c o n t r o l l e r s . AC mo- customized f e a t u r e s are of great importantance. Image
t o r - c o n t r o l l e r s and i n d u s t r i a l weighing machines. p r o c e s s i n g systems, advanced r o b o t c o n t r o l systems, ad-
vanced welding control systems, simulation/emulation
The next c l a s s of embedded c o n t r o l systems a r e medium environments and c o n t r o l systems i n space a p p l i c a t i o n s
s c a l e c o n t r o l systems, which u s u a l l y c o n s i s t o f s e v e r a l a r e examples of s p e c i a l purpose c o n t r o l systems.
8 and 16 b i t microcomputers. Athough they are manufac-
t u r e d i n series p r o d u c t i o n , some customization f e a t u r e s 2. CHARACTERIZATION OF EMBEDDED CONTROL SYSTEMS
a r e o f t e n r e q u i r e d . The amount of I / O - l i n e s can be up
t o one thousand and minimum response times are i n t h e Jn t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of embedded con-
range o f milliseconds. Fast communication lines are? trol computer systems are defined. W
e divide these
used between subcomputers and a l s o t o connect them to c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i n t o e i g h t groups as follows:
IECON '88 I429
 2.2 Processor c a p a b i l i t i e s
Hardware a r c h i t e c t u r e
Processor c a p a b i l i t i e s
Software c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s The p r o c e s s o r c a p a b i l i t i e s express t h e p r o c e s s i n g prop-

Performance c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s e r t i e s of t h e most powerful p r o c e s s o r s of a system. The

R e l i a b i l i t y and s a f e t y c a p a b i l i t i e s a r e a s follows:

Environmental c o n d i t i o n s
Physical c o n s t r a i n t s 1' Word l e n g t h

Other c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . T h i s p r o p e r t y i s t h e number of b i t s i n a word of a pro-

c e s s o r . T y p i c a l v a l u e s a r e 4, 8, 1 6 , 32 or specLa1 num-

2.1 Hardware a r c h i t e c t u r e b e r of bits.

The hardware a r c h i t e c t u r e s p e c i f i e s t h e b a s i c charac- 2 S i z e of p h y s i c a l memory

t e r i s t i c s of t h e system a r c h i t e c t u r e of embedded con- The s i z e of p h y s i c a l memory g i v e s t h e m o u n t of main

trol systems. The hardware a r c h i t e c t u r e i n c l u d e s t h e memory i n t h e processor u n i t . Typical v a l u e s a r e 2 kB,

following p r o p e r t i e s : 8 k B , 64 k B , 256 k B , 1 M B , 8 MB and more than 8 MB.

1 Number of p r o c e s s o r s 3 I n s t r u c t i o n set
The number of processors gives the number of pro- This p r o p e r t y c h a r a c t e r i z e s t h e v e r s a t i l i t y of t h e i n -
gramnable p r o c e s s o r s of a system. Typical v a l u e s are 1, s t r u c t i o n s e t of t h e processor. I t can be c h a r a c t e r i z e d
5, 10, 50, 100 o r more than 100 p r o c e s s o r s . by a szmple, medium or compZex i n s t r u c t i o n s e t . The
simple i n s t r u c t i o n set means t h a t t h e amount of d i f f e r -
2 Interconnection s t r u c t u r e e n t i n s t r u c t i o n s i s small and a p r o c e s s o r has q u i t e few
The i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s t r u c t u r e d e s c r i b e s how d i f f e r e n t a d d r e s s i n g modes. A processor with t h e complex i n s t r u c -
i n t e r n a l processing p a r t s a t each h i e r a r c h i c a l level t i o n set c o n t a i n s many hundred i n s t r u c t i o n s and s e v e r a l
are connected. Typical means a r e single processor bus, d i f f e r e n t a d d r e s s i n g modes, a s well a s , some high l e v e l
multiprocessor bus, serial busses and special busses. i n s t r u c t i o n s . A p r o c e s s o r with a medium i n s t r u c t i o n s e t
i s between p r o c e s s o r s with t h e simple and complex i n -
3 Mass memory s i z e struction set.
T h i s p r o p e r t y g i v e s t h e amount of t h e secondary s t o r a g e
of a system. Typical v a l u e s a r e 10 MB, 100 MB, 1 GB and 4 P r o c e s s i n g speed
more than 1 GB. This p r o p e r t y i s a measure of how many i n s t r u c t i o n s a
p r o c e s s o r can perform i n one second. T y p i c a l v a l u e s a r e
4 I/O-lines 0.1, 0.5, I, 5, 10, 50 and more than 50 MIPS.
This p r o p e r t y s t a t e s t h e amount of i n p u t / o u t p u t l i n e s
of a system. Typical numbers of I/O-lines a r e 8, 16, 5 F l o a t i n g p o i n t processing speed
3 2 , 128, 512, 1024 and more than 1024 lines. This p r o p e r t y i s a measure of how many f l o a t i n g p o i n t
o p e r a t i o n s a processor can perform i n one second. Typr-
5 Communication a r c h i t e c t u r e c a l values a r e 10 W L O P S , 100 W L O P S , 1 MFLOPS, 10
The communication a r c h i t e c t u r e d e s c r i b e s how d i f f e r e n t MFLOPS and more than 1 0 MFLOPS.
f u n c t i o n a l u n i t s communicate with o t h e r u n i t s o r e x t e r -
n a l systems. Typical a l t e r n a t i v e s a r e slow serial lines 6 Symbolic p r o c e s s i n g speed
(speed < 20 k b i t s / s e c ) . tast serial lines (speed > 20 This p r o p e r t y i s a measure of how many l o g i c a l i n f e r -
kbrts/sec). SLOW LocaL area n e t w o r k s ( L A N s ) (speed i 5 ences a p r o c e s s o r can perform i n one second. Typical
Mbits/sec) and fast L A N s (speed > 5 Mbits/sec). v a l u e s a r e 0.1 k L I P S , 1 k L I P S , 10 R L I P S , 100 k L I P S and
1 MLIPS.
6 U s e r interface
The u s e r i n t e r f a c e o u t l i n e s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e hu- 7 V i r t u a l memory/protection scheme
man/machine interface. Usual means are simple key- This p r o p e r t y c h a r a c t e r i z e s t h e v i r t u a l memory and p r o -
pad(/display) unit, keyboard and dispZay terminal, ad- t e c t i o n c a p a b i l i t i e s of a processor. I t can be s i m p l c
vanced (graphic) interface and special interfaces. o r advanced. The advanced scheme means t h a t a processol
has a paged and/or segmented memory with p r o t e c t i o n ca
p a b i l l t i e s a s w e l l as many p r i o r i t y l e v e l s . A process0

IECON '88 I 4 3 0
with t h e simple scheme has only very l i m i t e d v i r t u a l simple e m u l a t o r s . A development system i n c l u d e s assem-
memory/protection c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . blers, HLL's. e m u l a t o r s , and o t h e r c o n v e n t i o n a l t o o l s .
An advanced development system s u p p o r t s s o f t w a r e con-
8 Pipeline/cache f i g u r a t i o n management, a u t o m a t i c code g e n e r a t i o n , elec-
T h i s p r o p e r t y c h a r a c t e r i z e s p i p e l i n e and cache f e a t u r e s t r o n i c m a i l , etc. I n some c a s e s advanced o r special de-
of a p r o c e s s o r . The advanced p i p e l i n e l c a c h e p r o p e r t i e s velopment environments are used.
i n c l u d e p i p e l i n e f e a t u r e s , i n s t r u c t i o n and d a t a caches.
A p r o c e s s o r with t h e simple p r o p e r t i e s has u s u a l l y o n l y 6 Software c o n f i g u r a t i o n management
a small i n s t r u c t i o n cache or queue. T h i s p r o p e r t y c h a r a c t e r i z e s methods and systems used i n
s o f t w a r e c o n f i g u r a t i o n management (SCM). I n a modest
2.3 Software c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s method o n l y s i m p l e t o o l s are a v a i l a b l e . I n an advanced
method t h e whole s o f t w a r e development and p r o d u c t i o n
The software characteristics of an embedded system system i s based on t h e concept of SCM.
s p e c i f y t h e amount and t h e complexity of the control
s o f t w a r e as w e l l as t h e methods, t o o l s and systems used 2.4 Performance c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
t o d e s i g n t h e c o n t r o l s o f t w a r e . The s o f t w a r e c h a r a c t e r -
i s t i c s are as f o l l o w s : The performance characteristics indicate performance
measures of a whole c o n t r o l system. The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
1 Amount of c o n t r o l s o f t w a r e are as f o l l o w s :
This property gives the amount of absolute control
s o f t w a r e as l i n e s of s o u r c e code. T y p i c a l v a l u e s are 1 C o n t r o l c y c l e time
1 000, 10 000, 100 000 and 1 000 000 code lines. T h i s p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s how l o n g t h e c o n t r o l c y c l e is
allowed to l a s t by an e x t e r n a l process/environment.
2 O p e r a t i n g system T y p i c a l v a l u e s are 1 s, 100 ms, 10 ms, 1 ms and 0.1 ms.
T h i s p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s t h e v e r s a t i l i t y of t h e o p e r a t - In a h i e r a r c h i c a l system t h e r e are d i f f e r e n t cycle
i n g system a t t h e h i g h e s t f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l of a system. times a t d i f f e r e n t f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l s of a system.
A simple kernel c o n t a i n s o n l y t h e b a s i c f e a t u r e s of t h e
o p e r a t i n g system and i t s s i z e i s a few k b y t e s . The n e x t 2 Rate of i n p u t d a t a
c a t e g o r y i s a real-time operating system with t h e s i z e T h i s p r o p e r t y g i v e s a measure f o r t h e i n p u t d a t a rate
of t e n s of k b y t e s . An advanced operating system has a l l that a c o n t r o l system must be a b l e t o p r o c e s s . The
the features of the multiuser operating systems of range i s v e r y e x t e n s i v e : from less than 1 b i t / s e c to
minicomputers. more than 100 Mbits/sec.

3 Complexity of c o n t r o l a l g o r i t h m s 2.5 R e l i a b i l i t y and s a f e t y

T h i s p r o p e r t y e x p r e s s e s how complicated t h e c o n t r o l a l -
gorithms of a system are. Simple c o n t r o l a l g o r i t h m s are I n some cases t h e r e l i a b i l i t y and s a f e t y of control
based on simple serial and c o n t r o l s t r a t e g i e s . Medium systems are v e r y important c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The charac-
c o n t r o l a l g o r i t h m s have some f e a t u r e s of an a d a p t i v e t e r i z a t i o n of t h e s e is following:
control. Advanced a l g o r i t h m s a r e t h e combinations of
d i f f e r e n t l i n e a r , n o n - l i n e a r , a d a p t i v e and p a r a l l e l a l - 1 Reliability
g o r i thms . T h i s p r o p e r t y g i v e s a measure of t h e l e v e l of r e l i a b i l -
i t y of a c o n t r o l system. T y p i c a l c a t e g o r i e s are normal,
4 Languages and t o o l s high and very high. The normal c a t e g o r y means that
This property describes how versatile languages and t h e r e are no s p e c i a l r e l i a b i l i t y requirements. The h i g h
t o o l s are i n developing an a p p l i c a t i o n s o f t w a r e f o r a r e l i a b i l i t y l e v e l means t h a t t h e down-time of a system
system. Assemblers, high level languages (HLL), ad- causes i n moderate, recoverable losses ( t h i s is the
vanced toots ( s p e c i f i c a t i o n languages, d e s i g n languages m o d i f i c a t i o n of t h e c a t e g o r i e s p r e s e n t e d by Boehm [Z]).
e t c . ) are t y p i c a l examples of d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s . The very high r e l i a b l i t y l e v e l means t h a t t h e f a i l u r e
of a c o n t r o l system a f f e c t s h i g h f i n a n c i a l l o s s e s .
5 Development environments
T h i s p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s t h e kind of development e n v i - 2 Safety
ronment used i n developing t h e Lontrol s o f t w a r e . A mod- T h i s p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s t h e importance of s a f e t y . The
est devezopment system contains O I ~ L assemblers and c a t e g o r i e s a r e normal, high and very hlgh. The normal
IECON '88I 4 3 1
category that the failureof a control system that every d e l i v e r e d system i n c l u d e s customized fea-

cannot cause any r i s k t o human l i f e . I n t h e case OF tures Of Its Own.

high category t h e f a i l u r e of a c o n t r o l system can cause

some r i s k t o human l i f e . while i n t h e very high cate- modifications

gory t h e r i s k i s very h;gh. This p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s how o f t e n hardware and/or s o f t -

ware m o d i f i c a t i o n s a r e c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e l i f e c y c l e of

2.6 Environmental c o n d i t i o n s a d c o n t r o l system. The category seldom means t h a t t h e

amount of m o d i f i c a t i o n s i s low, while t h e category f r e -

The environmental stresses g r e a t l y a f f e c t t h e s t r u c t u r e quently that are made continously

and d e s i g n of a c o n t r o l computer system. These charac- during the life cyc1e Of a system.

t e r i s t i c s d e a l with c o n t r o l computer systems under op-

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT CLASSES OF EMBEDDED
e r a t i o n and a r e a s follows: CONTROL SYSTEMS

1 S i z e and weight I n t h i s s e c t i o n , w e combine t h e c l a s s e s and t h e charac-

This p r o p e r t y t e l l s t o what degree t h e s i z e and weight t e r i s t i c s of embedded c o n t r o l systems i n o r d e r t o de-
of a system have an a f f e c t when designing a c o n t r o l f i n e a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n scheme f o r d i f f e r e n t kind of e m -
system. A v e r y small category means t h a t s p e c i a l compo- bedded c o n t r o l systems.
nents technologies, e.g. hybrid or custom design c i r -
c u i t t e c h n o l o g i e s , must be used. A small category de- I n t a b l e 1 t h e hardware c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e d i f f e r -
n o t e s t h a t t h e s i z e and weight p a r t l y a f f e c t s t h e se- e n t c l a s s e s of embedded c o n t r o l systems a r e shown. For
l e c t i o n of a v a i l a b l e component t e c h n o l o g i e s . The normal each of the classes t h e v a l u e s or t h e p r o p e r t i e s of
s i z e and weight means t h a t they do n o t l i m i t t h e s e l e c - number of p r o c e s s o r s , i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s t r u c t u r e , mass
t i o n of component t e c h n o l o g i e s . memory s i z e , I / O - l i n e s , communication a r c h i t e c t u r e and
user interface are outlined.
2 Power consumption
T h i s p r o p e r t y s p e c i f i e s i f t h e power supply i s l i m i t e d . The p r o c e s s o r c a p a b i l i t i e s of each c l a s s a r e summarized
A v e r y limited category denotes t h e power consumption i n t a b l e 2 t h a t g i v e s t y p i c a l v a l u e s or p r o p e r t i e s of
of a computer system must be very low ( e . g . l e s s t h a n word l e n g t h , s i z e of p h y s l c a l memory, i n s t r u c t i o n s e t ,
10 m W ) . A small category means t h a t power supply i s p r o c e s s i n g s p e e d s , v i r t u a l memory/protection scheme and
limited to a c e r t a i n small v a l u e (e.g. 500 mW). A pipeline/cache c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
normal category denotes t h a t power supply i s n o t re-
st r i c t e d . The s o f t w a r e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a l l c l a s s e s of embedded
c o n t r o l systems a r e p r e s e n t e d i n t a b l e 3. The v a l u e s or
2.8 Other c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s p r o p e r t i e s a r e given f o r t h e amount of c o n t r o l s o f t -
ware, o p e r a t i n g system, complexity of c o n t r o l algo-
T h i s group of characteristics includes other relevant r i t h m s , languages and tools, development environments
p r o p e r t i e s of c o n t r o l systems and they a r e a s follows: and software

1 Cost Table 4 p r e s e n t s t h e v a l u e s of c o n t r o l c y c l e time and

The c o s t g i v e s t h e p r i c e range of t h e computer p a r t s of rate of input data (performance c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ) of
a c o n t r o l system. Typical v a l u e s a r e $1, $ 2 0 , $100, each c l a s s . Table 5 g i v e s s a f e t y and r e l i a b l i t y proper-
$1000, $10000, $100000, M$l and PlSlO. t i e s f o r d i f f e r e n t c l a s s e s . Table 6 d e a l s with t h e en-
vironmental conditions of embedded control systems.
2 Annual production volume Size and weight as well as power consumption con-
T h i s p r o p e r t y d e s c r i b e s how many c o n t r o l systems a com- s t r a i n t s a r e shown i n t a b l e 7 . The c o s t , annual produc-
pany manufactures in a year. Typical values are t i o n volumes, customization and maintenance modifica-
singles, lo's, 100's, lOOO's, 10000's and 100000's. t i o n requirements of each embedded c o n t r o l system a r e
gillen i n t a b l e 8
3 Customization
This p r o p e r t y expresses how important customization i s .
A medium category denotes t h a t a c o n t r o l system pos-
s e s s e s some customized Features. A high category means

IECON '88 / 432

As can be s e e n from t h e t a b l e s 1 t o 8 t h e r e are no of c o n t r o l systems is very e x t e n s i v e and depending on
exact boundaries between the different classes of an a p p l i c a t i o n f i e l d t h e requirements and c h a r a c t e r i s -
embedded control system. Some characteristics of t i c s of a c o n t r o l system can be d i v e r s i f i e d .
d i f f e r e n t c l a s s e s o v e r l a p t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , b u t for
t h e most p a r t , each class has c l e a r l y d e f i n e d f i g u r e s We have shown t h a t from t h e p o i n t of view of a c o n t r o l
and p r o p e r t i e s of i t s own f o r a l l t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . computer s t r u c t u r e i t is p o s s i b l e t o d e f i n e s i x d i f f e r -
ent classes and to s p e c i f y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s f o r each
4. CONCLUSIONS class. Although some characteristics of different
classes may o v e r l a p , each class c o n t a i n s q u i t e c l e a r l y

I n t h i s paper w e have proposed a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n scheme d e f i n e d p r o p e r t i e s of its own.

for embedded c o n t r o l computer systems. The c l a z s i f i c a -

t i o n scheme i s based on t h e c o n t r o l computer s t r u c t u r e
of an embedded c o n t r o l system and t h e r e l e v a n t proper-
t i e s of c o n t r o l computers. The spectrum of a p p l i c a t i o n s

I
CLASS OF EM-
HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE
BEDDED CONTROL Number of Interconnection Mass me- w- Communication User
COMPUTER SYSTEM processors structure mory size lines architecture interface

SIMPLE
MICROCONTROLLER
no external bus ...16 very simple

MICRO-
CONTROLLER 1 single processor bus 10...64 slow serial lines ke ypadldisplay

CONTROLLER singlelmultiprocessor slow and fast keypadldisplay or

L.10
SYSTEM bus+ senal bus 20...128 serial keyboard/display

MEDIUM SCALE 3.30 bus + ...80 MB slow and fast serial k e y b a d d i s p l a y or

CONTROL SYSTEM serial busses lines + slow LANs simple graphical

LARGE CONTROL 'low and fast serial advanced graphical

SYSTEM
10...5oo many multiprocessor
and serial busses
.,.loooMB ...10000 lines+slow and fast and
LANs
SPECIAL PURPOSE several general multiprocessor bus + slow and fast serial
CONTROL SYSTEM purpose+special special busses 10...300 MB lo-..lOOo lines + slow 'Wid

Table 1 Characteristicsof hardware architecture.

I
PROCESSOR CAPABILITIES
CLASS OF EM-
BEDDED CONTROL Instruction F'rocessing Floating point Symbolic pro- Virtual memory/ Pipeline/
Word length Size Of
COMPUTER SYSTEF physical memory set speed processing speed cessing speed protect. scheme cache
I
SIMPLE 418 bits ...0.1 M I P S
MICROCONTROLLE

MICRO- 0.1 ...0.5 MIPS

CONTROLLER
I I I I I
CONTROLLER
SYSTEM

MEDIUM SCALE 16 bits simple

LARGE CONTROL 32 bits 0.5...16 MB 0.5...5 MIPS 0.1.3 MFLOPS 5...100 kLWS advanced advanced
SYSTEM

SPECIAL PURPOSE 0.5...2 MIPS+

0.5 ...10 FLOPS 10...100kLIPS advanced
CONTROL SYSTEM and special and special

Table 2 Characteristicsof processor capabilities.

IECON '88I 433
CLASS OF EM- I SOFTWARE CHARACTERISRCS I
Operating Complexity of Languages
control aleorithms and tools
Development
environments
Software configura-
tion managemcnt I
SIMPLE
MICROCONTROLLE
R]
500...2 000 lines 1- simple I assemblers modest deve-
lopment system I -
MICRO-
CONTROLLER
1000 .10 000
lines
simple 1 qsemblers, HLL's I development system I I
CONTROLLER
SYSTEM
1 'y;;,:," 1 simple kemt medium 1 assemblers, HLL's I development system I modest 1
advanced deve-
advanced HLL's+advanced tools lopment system modest or advanced

advanced development advanced

advanced advanced tools environment

medium advanced+special tools ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ $ p m e n t modest

Table 3 Software characteristics.

CLASS OF EM- PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISRCS RELIABILITY AND SAFETY CHARACTERISTICS

BEDDED CONTROL
COMPUTER SYSTEM Control cycle time Rate of input data Reliability Safety

SIMPLE
MICROCONTROLLER 0.1...0.5 sec ...100 bits/sec normal normal

MICRO
CONTROLLER 5 0100msand
2.2sec 5 000 bits/sec normal normal

CONTROLLER
SYSTEM
I 1...100 ms and
0.2...2 sec --1
1 000...500 000 bitsisec normal or high normal or high

MEDIUM SCALE
CONlXOL SYSTEM
\ 1...100 ms and
05.. 5 sec 10 000...2 000 000 bitsisec normal to very high normal to high

1...100 ms and
1...20 sec ...20 Mbits/sec I normal to very high normal to very high

SPECIAL PURPOSE 5 m s . . 1 sec

CONTROL SYSTEM and special . 100Mb1t.s/sec normal high

Table 4 and 5 C3am3enStics of perfmance, relmbility and .afery

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS

CLASS OF EM-
BEDDED CONTROL Electncal Climate Mechanical
COMPUTER SYSTEM conditions conditions conditions Size and weight Power consumption
~

SIMPLE normal normal normal or harsh

MICROCONTROLLER very small very limited

MICRO- normal or harsh normal or harsh normal or harsh

CONTROLLER small limited

CONTROLLER harsh harsh normal or harsh

SYSTEM small normal or limited

E D I U M SCALE normal and harsh normal and harsh normal and harsh normal normal
CONTROL SYSTEM
L m G E CONTROL
SYSTEM normal and harsh normal and harsh noma1 and harsh 1 normal normal

SPECIAL PURPOSE normal and spccial normal and spccial normal and special normal and special normal a i d special
CONTROL SYSTEM

Tdblc 6 dnd 7 Ch,uacwri\iics of cn\ ironrncntal contlitions m l physicdl constraints

IECON '88/ 434

 CLASS OF EM- OTHER CHARACTERISTICS
BEDDED CONTROL Production Maintenance
COMPUTER SYSTEM Cost volume Customization modifications

SIMPLE
$1..SO >lo0 000
MICROCONTROLLER

MICRO- $30...1000 10 000...500 000

CONTROLLER

CONTROLLER
$5 OO...20 000 1OO0...100 000 medium
SYSTEM

MEDIUM SCALE k$10..SO0 500...10 000 medium or high seldom

CONTROL SYSTEM

LARGE CONTROL k$200 ...M U 0 10...1000 high frequently

SYSTEM

SPECIAL PURPOSE
k$20. ..200 1o... 1000 high
CONTROL SYSTEM

Table 8 Other characteristics.

Acknowledgements W. Haendler, The Impact of C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Schemes

on P a r a l l e l Computer A r c h i t e c t u r e , P r o c . 1977
I n t . Conf. on P a r a l l e l P r o c e s s i n g , pp. 7-15.
The a u t h o r wishes t o thank P r o f . A l b e r t Kuendig and D r .
N.K. Sinha, e d . , Microprocessor-Based C o n t r o l
Richard Buehrer f o r h e l p f u l and e n c o u r a g i n g d i s c u s s i o n s Systems, D . R e i d e l P u b l i s h i n g Company, Dordrecht.
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IECON '88I 4 3 5