To all FYI (from email),
My name is Mike Winn, a regular member of SI, and I have posted
several times on the SNDK thread. My account at SI is currently
suspended for some personal reasons and I can't post on SI.
To answer to your question, embedded systems are standalone
microprocessor-based systems used to control a device, or a machine.
Examples: flight control boxes on airplane, flight control on space
station, engine control in your car, motor control in saw-mill, etc.
Most embedded systems use EEPROM to store the software, because the
software does not have to be updated very often. To change the
software in the EEPROM, you have to remove the EEPROM chip off the
board, erase its content using ultraviolet light, and then reprogram
it using a PROM programmer. It's time consuming but EEPROM is cheaper
than flash. Nowadays, embedded systems which have means of
communications to the external world (via serial port, LAN, etc.)
sometimes used flash to store the program. The software can now be
updated on the fly without having to remove the box.
Flash used for embedded systems does not have to adhere with any
standard, unlike consumer products such as digital cameras, cell
phones, ... because the engineers who design the boards are involved
in putting the flash chip on the circuit board.
Embedded system is a smaller market compared to consumer market such
as digital cam, cell phones, pagers, ... Sandisk is not dominating in
the embedded system market. Other players are Intel, Micron, AMD,
Smart Modular, etc.
Hope this help.
Mike Winn. |
