ABSTRACT
The world of electronics has witnessed a dramatic growth of its applications in the last few decades. From telecommunications to entertainment, from automotives to banking, almost any aspect of our everyday life employs some kind of electronic components. In most cases, these components are computer-based systems, which are not, however, used or perceived as a computers. For instance, they often do not have a keyboard or a display to interact with the user, and they do not run standard operating systems and applications. Sometimes, these systems constitute a self-contained product themselves (e.g., a mobile phone), but they are frequently embedded inside another system, for which they provide better functionalities and performance (e.g., the engine control unit of a motor vehicle). We call these computer-based systems embedded systems.
