A Survey on Quality Attributes and Quality Models for Embedded Software

2. Embedded Systems

In spite of their increasingly use, embedded systems have no universally accepted definition. For some, an embedded system is part of a larger system and performs some of the requirements of that system (Carvalho & Meira, 2009). For others, they are considered as computers embedded inside electronic devices, or even as electronic programmable devices integrated in a larger heterogeneous system (Muhammad et al., 2010). The embedded systems are also commonly known as “hidden computer systems.” They are dedicated systems for particular tasks, with no standard inputs/outputs and with limited resources (Koopman, 1999). Despite the lack of a standard definition of embedded systems, there is a general consensus about the common characteristics of such systems. Hence, an embedded system is consisting of software integrated in a hardware system. It is developed for specific tasks and it has limited resources.