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Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are specialized computer systems built into specific devices, controlling their functions in a compact form factor. As IoT adoption grows, so does the presence of embedded systems across connected devices.

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About this video

Embedded systems are specialized computer systems integrated directly into a specific device to control its functions. Unlike general-purpose computers, which are built around standardized components like a CPU, GPU, RAM, and a full motherboard, embedded systems contain only the hardware required for the device they serve. This focused design allows them to fit into form factors far smaller than a traditional computer, making them essential for compact and purpose-driven hardware. The rise of the Internet of Things has significantly expanded the presence of embedded systems across industries and everyday life. Every connected device added to a network typically contains an embedded system at its core, handling the logic and operations unique to that product. Understanding embedded systems is foundational to IoT security and hardware-level threat analysis, as these systems often operate with limited resources, restricted update cycles, and reduced visibility compared to conventional computing environments.

What you'll learn

Explain the concept of embedded systems and how they differ from general-purpose computer systems
Identify common examples of embedded systems in IoT devices

What's covered

Embedded Systems

Definition
- Device-specific systems
- Smaller than typical computers
- Controls the device
Typical Computer Components
- CPU, BIOS, GPU
- Motherboard and RAM
- Storage, ports, I/O
IoT Connection
- Growing networked devices
- More embedded systems
Real-World Example
- Amazon Echo Dot
- Custom circuit board
- Built-in specialized computer

Key terms

Internet of Things: A network of physical devices embedded with sensors and software that connect and exchange data over the internet.
Embedded System: A computer system built and optimized for a specific device or function, typically smaller than a general-purpose computer.

Topics

Embedded Systems Iot Iot Devices Hardware Operating Systems

Transcript

On a lot of these specialized devices, we find embedded systems. Embedded systems are specific to the equipment that they're being installed in.

As we grow the number of devices that we are connecting to networks, the internet of things, then what we are also growing is how many embedded systems we have. Embedded systems are the systems on these devices that are controlling them.

A Typical Computer vs. an Embedded System

In a typical computer, we would have a CPU, the BIOS, the GPU, some sort of net card. This would be sitting on some sort of motherboard with the RAM. We'd have storage and inputs and outputs and different ports. We'd connect this all together. So this would be a typical computer setup that would run all of our applications and allow us to do our day-to-day computing.

But a typical computer would not fit inside of this Echo Dot. Instead, what needs to happen is that this needs to be specially constructed just for the Echo Dot. So what happens is we have some sort of circuit board that we put the components on that are needed for this Echo Dot. There's still a computer inside of here, but that computer just is in a different form, and we call this an embedded system in here.

So an embedded system is a computer system, but it's built for a specific device, and most of the time we find this a lot smaller than what a typical computer system would be.

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