Computers as Components, 2nd Edition

12 CHAPTER 1 Embedded Computing

specification, we create a more detailed description of what we want. But the

specification states only how the system behaves, not how it is built. The details

of the system’s internals begin to take shape when we develop the architecture,

which gives the system structure in terms of large components. Once we know the

components we need, we can design those components, including both software

modules and any specialized hardware we need. Based on those components, we

can finally build a complete system.

In this section we will consider design from the top–down—we will begin with

the most abstract description of the system ...