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Embedded Systems Fundamentals
MCUs from the silicon up: memory maps, registers and memory-mapped I/O, GPIO, interrupts, timers, PWM, ADC/DAC, clocks, watchdogs, and the boot sequence.
4h 17m total12 lessonsBeginner friendly
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Lesson Content
0/12 done- 11What Is an Embedded System?A computer dedicated to one job inside a larger device, and the MCU-vs-MPU choice (everything-on-one-chip vs an application processor running Linux) that frames every design.18 min
- 22Inside an MCUThe block diagram demystified: a CPU core, flash and SRAM, and peripherals wired together by internal buses, and why peripherals working in parallel with the CPU is the whole point.20 min
- 33The Memory MapWhy code lives at 0x08000000 and variables at 0x20000000: the Cortex-M address layout of flash, SRAM, and peripherals, and how stack and heap share the SRAM with no MMU to referee.20 min
- 44Registers & Memory-Mapped I/OHow writing a memory address turns on an LED: control/status/data registers, the volatile register-overlay struct, and the write-1-to-clear and atomic set/reset traps.22 min
- 55GPIO: Digital I/OReading buttons and driving LEDs: configuring a pin's direction, push-pull vs open-drain outputs, pull-up/down inputs, and why a floating input reads noise.22 min
- 66Interrupts & ISRsLet hardware tap the CPU on the shoulder instead of polling: the NVIC, the vector table, interrupt latency, and the hard rules for writing a correct ISR.25 min
- 77Timers & CountersCount clock ticks to make precise time: prescaler and auto-reload set the period, and output-compare/input-capture modes generate and measure waveforms, with no CPU delay loops.24 min
- 88PWMFake an analog level with a digital pin: a fixed-frequency square wave whose duty cycle sets the average voltage, built on a timer and used for LEDs, motors, and servos.20 min
- 99ADC & DACBridging the analog and digital worlds: how an ADC quantizes a voltage to an N-bit count (and a DAC reverses it), the count↔voltage math, and why Vref and Nyquist set your limits.24 min
- 1010Clocks & the Clock TreeThe MCU's heartbeat: internal RC vs external crystal vs PLL, and the clock tree that feeds the core and every peripheral, plus the flash-wait-state trap that hangs chips.22 min
- 1111The Watchdog TimerThe hardware that resets a hung MCU: a countdown timer firmware must periodically kick, why you kick only from healthy code, and the window-watchdog twist.18 min
- 1212Boot Sequence & Startup CodeEverything that runs before main(): the reset vector, copying .data and zeroing .bss, the vector table, and how a bootloader hands off via VTOR.22 min
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