Embedded Systems: Real-Time Operating Systems for Arm Cortex M Microcontrollers - Paperback

by Jonathan Valvano (Author)

This book is self-published and is printed on demand. The original ISBN was generated in 2012, but if you purchase the book new from Amazon you will get the new version, which was uploaded January 3, 2026. This book, now in its sixth printing (January 2026), is the third in a series of three books that teach the fundamentals of embedded systems as applied to ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. This book specifically covers the TM4C and MSPM0 microcontrollers; however, it could be used with any Cortex-M microcontroller. This third volume is primarily written for senior undergraduate or first-year graduate electrical and computer engineering students. It could also be used for professionals wishing to design or deploy a real-time operating system onto an ARM platform. The first book Embedded Systems: Introduction to the ARM Cortex-M Microcontroller is an introduction to computers and interfacing focusing on assembly language and C programming. The second book Embedded Systems: Real-Time Interfacing to ARM Cortex-M Microcontroller focuses on interfacing and the design of embedded systems. This third book is an advanced book focusing on operating systems, high-speed interfacing, control systems, robotics, Bluetooth, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Rather than buying and deploying an existing OS, the focus is on fundamental principles, so readers can write their-own OS. Embedded systems are a ubiquitous component of our everyday lives. We interact with hundreds of tiny computers every day that are embedded into our houses, our cars, our toys, and our work. As our world has become more complex, so have the capabilities of the microcontrollers embedded into our devices. An embedded system is a system that performs a specific task and has a computer embedded inside. A system is comprised of components and interfaces connected together for a common purpose. Specific topics include microcontrollers, design, verification, hardware/software synchronization, interfacing devices to the computer, real-time operating systems, data collection and processing, motor control, analog filters, digital filters, and real-time signal processing. This book employs many approaches to learning. It will not include an exhaustive recapitulation of the information in data sheets. First, it begins with basic fundamentals, which allows the reader to solve new problems with new technology. Second, the book presents many detailed design examples. These examples illustrate the process of design. There are multiple structural components that assist learning. Checkpoints, with answers in the back, are short easy to answer questions providing immediate feedback while reading. Simple homework questions provide more detailed learning opportunities. The book includes an index and a glossary so that information can be searched. The most important learning experiences in a class like this are of course the laboratories. More detailed lab descriptions are available on the web. Specifically for Volume 1, look at the lab assignments for EE319K. For Volume 2 refer to the EE445L labs, and for this volume, look at the lab assignments for EE445M/EE380L.6. There is a web site accompanying this book https: //users.ece.utexas.edu/ valvano/EE445M/. Posted here are CCS projects for each the example programs in the book. You will also find data sheets and Excel spreadsheets relevant to the material in this book. The book will cover embedded systems for the ARM Cortex-M with specific details on the MSPM0, TM4C123, and TM4C1294. Most of the topics can be run on any of these Texas Instruments LaunchPads. Ethernet examples can be run on the TM4C1294. Although the solutions are specific for the MSPM0/TM4C families, it will be possible to use this book for other Cortex-M derivatives.

Author Biography

Jonathan Valvano has been teaching microcontrollers and embedded systems at the University of Texas at Austin for 35 years. He has written eight college textbooks. His textbooks on have been widely used around the world, with a total sales of over 20,000 books. He earned his BS and MS from MIT in 1977 in the fields of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In 1981, he received his PhD from Harvard-MIT in the field of biomedical engineering. He has over 100 journal papers, 9 book chapters and 10 patents in the medical device research area. He is a cofounder of a successful medical device company, specializing in miniature and low-power cardiac measurements. The reason he has received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas is because he and his students share a common interest at the very core of the education process: the students' own success. Together with Professor Yerraballi he has produced two widely successful MOOCs on edX. "It is difficult to find a professor that tries harder to educate and inspire his students than Professor Valvano" - Robin Tsang. Valvano lives by this motto, "There are three steps to immortality: acknowledge your limitations, ask for forgiveness, and then do something special today to make the world a better place."