Internet of Things: Embedded Devices

At Micrium, we define a Thing as an embedded device, one that transmits and receives information over a network. So what's an embedded device?Embedded devices are based on microcontrollers, and run software with a small memory footprint.Some Linux and Android-based systems can also be described as embedded systems. However, these general-purpose operating systems usually require an application processor, and have additional capabilities such as dynamic application loading.
This is why microcontroller-based embedded systems are often described as deeply embedded systems. For us at Micrium, these deeply embedded systems are the Things in the Internet of Things. Embedded devices often use 16-bit or even 8-bit microcontrollers. But chips that feature 32-bit architectures have dropped in price over the last several years, and are becoming common in embedded systems. The greater capabilities of 32-bit chips present new choices for developers. And a real-time operating system is now the preferred option, allowing for more flexible and extensible software to run on these systems.