Computers as Components, 2nd Edition

4.5 Designing with Microprocessors 179

4.5.2 Hardware Design

The design complexity of the hardware platform can vary greatly, from a totally

off-the-shelf solution to a highly customized design.

At the board level,the first step is to consider evaluation boards supplied by the

microprocessor manufacturer or another company working in collaboration with

the manufacturer. Evaluation boards are sold for many microprocessor systems;they

typically include the CPU, some memory, a serial link for downloading programs,

and some minimal number of I/O devices. Figure 4.24 shows an ARM evaluation

board manufactured by Sharp. The evaluation board may be a complete ...