Embedded Foundations

What embedded systems are and how processors work. The big picture: what makes a system 'embedded', real-time and resource constraints, the development workflow, microcontroller basics and processor architecture fundamentals.

• What Is an Embedded System? — An embedded system is a computer built into a product to do one job reliably — the controller in a washing machine, a car's airbag ECU, a pacemaker or a drone flight controller. Learn the building blocks (MCU, memory, peripherals, sensors, actuators, power), how embedded differs from desktop computing, real-time and resource constraints, the development workflow from toolchain to flashing, and the career map of this branch.
• Microcontroller Basics — A microcontroller is a complete computer on one chip, built to control hardware. Learn its architecture — CPU, memory, clock, GPIO, timers, ADC, communication peripherals, interrupts and DMA — and how to budget power for battery devices.
• Processor Architecture — How a CPU works inside: the fetch–decode–execute cycle, ALU, registers, program counter, control unit and buses; von Neumann vs Harvard architectures; CISC vs RISC; clock rate, CPI and MIPS; pipelining and hazards; and the memory hierarchy with caches.