Title:  Embedded Systems Design: A Unified

Hardware/Software Introduction

Review Date August 2002
Author: Frank Vahid/Tony Givargis
Pub: Wiley
ISBN: 0-471-386-78-2
COST: -
DISK/CD N/A
Cover: hard
Pages 322
Keywords: Embedded real-time
Recommendation: none
Source: - ACCU book list

 

 

The first thing that struck me about this book is the pale green hard cover: It has a wonderful line drawing of a high street (with airport) and the inside of a house/office with red dots on all the many places embedded systems appear. It clearly shows that is virtually no aspect of modern life that does not use an embedded system.

 

This book is a set book for the author's course and looks like it. It covers many aspects of embedded systems that a student will want to know in passing but does not strike me as a book for engineers or managers. That said the accompanying web site has all the lecturers teaching slides in ppt form, all the lab notes etc. I suggest that all lecturers look at this site before writing a book to go with their course. This is how it should be done. Other authors who have promised "support on the web" should also look at the web site http://www.sc.ucr.edu/esd and hang their heads in shame.

 

The technical content is OK but skims a lot in an introductory way that is to wide for most except students who need to skim a lot for an introductory course. For home or industry use it is to wide and shallow. From micros, VHDL and ASICS to simple logic tables. There are exercises and additional reading in reach chapter and specific lab classes. In fact everything you need as a student on that particular course.

 

This is not a bad book but is exactly what it seems. A hardback version of the course notes. Great if you are on the course but if not there are a lot of better general embedded books about. That said it might suit other lectures of similar courses. I would recommend lecturers see http://www.sc.ucr.edu/esd. No overall recommendation either way but top marks for the web support. I would welcome a lectures view on this book