What is the extent of the embedded systems problem?
It has been estimated that up to 3% of all the microprocessors being produced today utilize date processing functions in their programs. There may be a billion of these microprocessors in use around the world. Many embedded systems problems will be only problematic. Failure to date maintenance records correctly or start a machine may prove inconvenient. Many problems can be circumvented by the owner/operator. There are a huge number of multi-purpose computers hidden in mechanical rooms or behind building control panels or wired into the back plane of process monitoring panels. Others are found in process control systems in nuclear power plants that may shut their operations down for long periods of time.
