Computers as Components, 3rd Edition

1.2 Complex Systems and Microprocessors

We tend to think of our laptop as a computer, but it is really one of many types of computer systems. A computer is a stored program machine that fetches and executes instructions from a memory. We can attach different types of devices to the computer, load it with different types of software, and build many different types of systems.

So what is an embedded computer system? Loosely defined, it is any device that includes a programmable computer but is not itself intended to be a general-purpose computer. Thus, a PC is not itself an embedded computing system. But a fax machine or a clock built from a microprocessor is an embedded computing system.

This means that embedded computing system design is a useful ...