Programmable hardware
Programmable logic devices (e.g., PLDs, FPGAs)
Microprocessors and microcontrollers
- integration of surrounding logic onto processor chip
- interrupt subsystem (priorities and vectoring)
- timer co-processor (measures real-time in parallel w/ processor)
- faster instruction cycle time
- replace custom hardware that was previously required
- parallelism in software
- integrated memory (RAM, ROM, EPROM, cache, flash)
- less parts but sensitivity to program/data size
- processor cores with on-chip supporting logic/circuits
- custom logic optimized to specific application
- task-specific sensors and actuators (e.g., MEMS)
- even application specific instruction sets (e.g., DSP processors)