Michael Parker
Mentor Graphics

Explore the use of a simple processor communication method in an embedded system. The embedded system evaluated deploys multiple microprocessors where one or more microprocessors are viewed as slave devices. Specific implementation involves a master/slave multi-processor embedded system. The master device consists of an application residing in an embedded operating system environment. The slave devices consist of a microprocessor with a single processing thread. The goal is to provide a robust, yet simple method of communications between the two microprocessor devices. The communication method should be extendable to include a single master communicating with multiple slave devices. The discussion of this paper will include some problems that may be encountered and potential solutions.