What is an embedded system” yielded a few definitions.
The first definition on the list (from BDTI) includes a significant ambiguity. It says that an embedded system is “A system containing a processor where the processor is not generally reprogrammable by the end user. For example, a cell phone containing a DSP processor is an embedded system.” The ambiguity is whether the cell phone is an embedded system because it contains a DSP processor, or whether the DSP portion of the cell phone is part of an embedded system within the cell phone. I highlight this ambiguity because it is not unique to this example; rather it is common in many of the proffered definitions for “embedded system.” For example, the Wikipedia definition (as of the time of this post) includes the following statement: “In general, ’embedded system’ is not an exactly defined term, as many systems have some element of programmability.
