Designing Embedded Hardware [Paperback]

John Catsoulis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596007558 | ISBN-13: 978-0596007553 | Publication Date: May 1, 2005 | Edition: Second Edition

Embedded computer systems literally surround us: they're in our cell phones, PDAs, cars, TVs, refrigerators, heating systems, and more. In fact, embedded systems are one of the most rapidly growing segments of the computer industry today.

Along with the growing list of devices for which embedded computer systems are appropriate, interest is growing among programmers, hobbyists, and engineers of all types in how to design and build devices of their own. Furthermore, the knowledge offered by this book into the fundamentals of these computer systems can benefit anyone who has to evaluate and apply the systems.

The second edition of Designing Embedded Hardware has been updated to include information on the latest generation of processors and microcontrollers, including the new MAXQ processor. If you're new to this and don't know what a MAXQ is, don't worry--the book spells out the basics of embedded design for beginners while providing material useful for advanced systems designers.

Designing Embedded Hardware steers a course between those books dedicated to writing code for particular microprocessors, and those that stress the philosophy of embedded system design without providing any practical information. Having designed 40 embedded computer systems of his own, author John Catsoulis brings a wealth of real-world experience to show readers how to design and create entirely new embedded devices and computerized gadgets, as well as how to customize and extend off-the-shelf systems.

Loaded with real examples, this book also provides a roadmap to the pitfalls and traps to avoid. Designing Embedded Hardware includes:

• The theory and practice of embedded systems
• Understanding schematics and data sheets
• Powering an embedded system
• Producing and debugging an embedded system
• Processors such as the PIC, Atmel AVR, and Motorola 68000-series
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP) architectures
• Protocols (SPI and I2C) used to add peripherals
• RS-232C, RS-422, infrared communication, and USB
• CAN and Ethernet networking
• Pulse Width Monitoring and motor control

If you want to build your own embedded system, or tweak an existing one, this invaluable book gives you the understanding and practical skills you need.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Catsoulis lives under the tropical sun in Brisbane, Australia. He has a Bachelor of Science with Honors (Griffith University) with a triple major in quantum physics, electronics and mathematics, and a Master of Engineering (La Trobe University) in specialized computer architectures. He has been responsible for the design of more computer systems than he can remember, from tiny finger-sized machines to multi-processor compute engines. Corporations and government bodies around the world have used his designs and software. John has also taught the dark arts of computer architecture and design at several Universities. He is currently conducting research at the University of Queensland into fault-tolerant reconfigurable computers for spacecraft avionics.

When not slaving over a hot microprocessor, John enjoys hiking and camping, wildlife and landscape photography, fishing, dabbling in permaculture, cooking Indian and Mediterranean food, and playing model trains with his nephews, Andrew and James.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Second Edition edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007558
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007553
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Microprocessors & System Design > Embedded Systems
  • #26 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Internet & Networking
  • #82 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > PCs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Way above average, April 18, 2004

By 

EmbeddedFlyer (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Embedded Hardware (Paperback)

Some of the O'Reily books really shine and this is one of them. I'm an experienced hardware engineer, but I still got some good tidbits out of this book which is all the more impressive when you consider it's written for a relative beginner. The author does a nice job with both the content and writing style.

It covers many topics which are relatively common knowledge among experienced hardware designers but you rarely find in one book. Some of those topics I've never seen in ANY book. There's some good stuff here. That said, it's probably not the ideal book for someone who's already tackled a few successful embedded hardware designs.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, July 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Designing Embedded Hardware (Paperback)

This book is great for beginners. It is very informative and easy to read. I like the way the author describes timing diagrams seen in many microcontroller datasheets. I am impressed with his love for the ATMEL AVR microcontroller.
I used this book for a small PIC project.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the read, January 27, 2004

By 

Andrew (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Embedded Hardware (Paperback)

While I don't know if I could build my own embedded device after reading just this book (I don't think I'd be able to this after pretty much any one book), I still felt like this book still delivered on that promise more so than any other single hardware book I've read. So many books gloss over details, either because knowledge is assumed (which is fine in many cases), or because the author doesn't have the detailed knowledge to begin with. And even when the data is in the book, far too often it's exactly that: book data, repackaged information from other sources (often books themselves). It's much better when the knowledge ultimately comes from the author's experiences. Most of the knowledge in this book really seems to be of the latter, and better, variety. I also thought the detailed introductions to a wide range of topics were 'just right' - not too high-level, so they glossed over important details or the underlying fundamentals of how the particular thing worked, but also not so low-level that they assumed knowledge I would have had to go find elsewhere. This goes for a lot of different protocols (RS-232, RS-422, SPI, I2C, USB, and so on) as well as technologies (what's a DSP exactly?).