An embedded system is a type of computer that can perform a few specialised tasks. This design is contrary to the normal computer that is designed to perform a number of operations that are in many cases unrelated to each other. Embedded systems are present in many of the devices that are used today and act as their control units. The main issue with embedded systems is their optimality in the terms of cost, space and power consumption etc. as, there is no focus on increasing the functionality of the device. The term embedded system can thus, be used to refer to devices that perform certain specific functions and cannot be used to perform others by loading applications on them.
Here are a few characteristic features of embedded systems:
- Many of the embedded systems have several hardware restraints as they have to process real time inputs and must also be safe to use. Others may not have some of these constraints and thus, reduction in the cost of the hardware used is possible.
- The term embedded system does not refer to devices that are isolated but rather, they are a part of the device they control or perform some other task in.
- The software that is used in embedded systems is usually termed as firmware. The same is stored in disk drives or in ROMs as an embedded system usually lacks a full-fledged hard disk drive.
of RAM memory. 
