Although framework technology has proven its worth as a software reuse technique in many domains, there have been reservations regarding its application in embedded systems, mostly due to limited CPU and memory resources. Recent hardware advances, however, have changed this picture. This book shows how object-oriented software frameworks can be applied to embedded control systems. A case study of a framework using a set of application dependent design patterns for the orbit control system of satellites is presented.

With the omnipresence of micro devices in our daily lifes embedded software has gained tremendous importance in both science and industry. This volume contains 34 invited papers from the First International Workshop on Embedded Systems. They present latest research results from different areas of computer science that are traditionally distinct but relevant to embedded software development (such as, for example, component based design, functional programming, real-time Java, resource and storage allocation, verification). Each paper focuses on one topic, showing the inter-relationship and application to the design and implementation of embedded software systems.

The vast majority of control systems built today are embedded; that is, they rely on built-in, special-purpose digital computers to close their feedback loops. Embedded systems are common in aircraft, factories, chemical processing plants, and even in cars–a single high-end automobile may contain over eighty different computers. The design of embedded controllers and of the intricate, automated communication networks that support them raises many new questions—practical, as well as theoretical—about network protocols, compatibility of operating systems, and ways to maximize the effectiveness of the embedded hardware. This handbook, the first of its kind, provides engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, and students a broad, comprehensive source of information and technology to address many questions and aspects of embedded and networked control. Separated into six main sections—Fundamentals, Hardware, Software, Theory, Networking, and Applications—this work unifies into a single reference many scattered articles, websites, and specification sheets. Also included are case studies, experiments, and examples that give a multifaceted view of the subject, encompassing computation and communication considerations.