Embedded systems can be defined as a combination of computer software and hardware that is designed to execute a specific function. These are smaller systems that are designed to function within a larger existing system. In general, these systems have fixed functionalities, but they can also be programmable based on how they have been developed and their purpose of usage.
Embedded systems are found in numerous places in our day to day lives including consumer electronics like mobile devices, cameras and watches as well as industrial machines, agricultural and processing industry devices, medical equipment, airplanes, automobiles, vending machines, household appliances and even in toys. The word “embedded” basically means “built into the system”, defining what these systems are, and where they are located.
Embedded web technology is basically the merging of such embedded systems with the world wide web. This technology is essential in decreasing the costs of user interface development and maintenance. Embedded web technology enables the user to interface to the embedded system directly with the help of a web browser that runs on a personal computer. As already discussed, an embedded system is a computer that has been built to perform specific functions and solve only one or a few specific problems. These systems can generally not be changed easily.
The Development Of Embedded Web Technology
The Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) of the International Space Station (ISS) had primarily developed embedded web technology. FCF of the ISS was developed to perform various investigations in fluid physics and combustion science, specifically in the microgravity environment of the ISS.
A key objective of the FCF is to be able to perform at least ten such investigations in each field, every year. This is to be continued for 10 to 15 years. To achieve this goal, it is essential for the software being used to be adaptable to the transforming environments and the changing requirements. A key area of concern is the user interface (UI) software that the ISS will be using to operate the FCF.
That being said, the FCF software engineers are concerned about the fact that the UI software will operate on standard laptops or computers provided by the ISS. Considering the fact that these laptop computers will be upgraded from time to time by the ISS, the FCF software team will also need to modify the existing user interface code for a new environment. This has to be done when the software engineers at FCF are still developing new code for the old laptop computer as well as the new ones.
Not just that, the software engineers at FCF also faced a challenge in developing a system that could accommodate unknown experiments. This challenging scenario is also extended to any system where the hardware and applications as well as the users are all unknown, while the system is also expected to have extended longevity. This is where they decided to model the world wide web, which has successfully overcome this challenge, in a different environment.
The world wide web enables a person to use a web browser and request a certain web page from a certain web server. In this case, the specific web server as well as the web browser interface are both independent of the software and the hardware that are being used at the other end of the interface.
How Does Embedded Technology Work?
Embedded technology has been existing for quite a long time. The use of these systems has now expanded into the field of personal computers. Embedded technology being integrated into computers has three key reasons which are:
- Speed
- Accuracy
- Reliability
It can also be said that embedded technology is the next big thing in the coming future, as it has entered a market that has a size of billions. Coming to embedded systems that are developed with the help of embedded technology, they have a few essential parts that work as the controls of the system. These are:
- Processors
- Input sensors
- Software
- Output actuators
However, it must be mentioned that all these parts are subject to constraints. Embedded systems do not generally come with typical computer parts like disk drives, display devices or keyboards. These systems are also typically restricted in terms of memory, GUIs, power and debugging interfaces.
The central building blocks of these systems are basically microcontrollers. These microcontrollers are basically microprocessors that have been integrated with memory units and specific peripherals. These microcontrollers help in the control and observation of these embedded systems.
On the other hand, web technologies work on client-server models. Embedded web technology works on the same principle as that of the traditional web request-response systems. The web pages on the embedded system (server-side) are basically transmitted to the web browser (client-side). The web browser on the client side actually implements the UI or presentation layer for the final user.
In some other cases, the embedded system also dynamically generates the pages to communicate with the user about the present state of the device at a centralized location. It is designed in a way to enable end users to send information to the embedded system for control and configuration of the device, using a web browser on the users’ end.
Web-enabled devices generally make use of the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) to transmit web pages to the web browser from embedded systems. Then, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Languages) is used to send data from the browser to the device by these systems. They also need a specific network interface like Ethernet. It also needs an embedded web server software, and both static and generated with a TCP/IP software, forming the device-specific GUI.
Ending Note –
Embedded web technology has found its application in numerous fields. It is estimated to be the next big thing and will have a major impact on modern technology as well as the use of modern web servers and the world wide web as whole. Embedded web technology also operates in a real-time environment, making it much more specific and restricted, while being efficient for a diverse range of applications.