This textbook for courses in Embedded Systems introduces students to necessary concepts, through a hands-on approach.
 

LEARN BY EXAMPLE – This book is designed to teach the material the way it is learned, through example. Every concept is supported by numerous programming examples that provide the reader with a step-by-step explanation for how and why the computer is doing what it is doing.
 

LEARN BY DOING – This book targets the Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller. This platform is a widely popular, low-cost embedded system that is used to illustrate each concept in the book. The book is designed for a reader that is at their computer with an MSP430FR2355 LaunchPadTM Development Kit plugged in so that each example can be coded and run as they learn.
 

LEARN BOTH ASSEMBLY AND C – The book teaches the basic operation of an embedded computer using assembly language so that the computer operation can be explored at a low-level. Once more complicated systems are introduced (i.e., timers, analog-to-digital converters, and serial interfaces), the book moves into the C programming language. Moving to C allows the learner to abstract the operation of the lower-level hardware and focus on understanding how to “make things work”.
 

BASED ON SOUND PEDAGOGY - This book is designed with learning outcomes and assessment at its core. Each section addresses a specific learning outcome that the student should be able to “do” after its completion. The concept checks and exercise problems provide a rich set of assessment tools to measure student performance on each outcome.

• •  Written the way the material is taught, enabling a bottoms-up approach to learning which culminates with a high-level of learning, with a solid foundation;
• •  Emphasizes examples from which students can learn: contains program examples that can be run for nearly every section in the book;
• •  Targets a widely popular embedded computer, the Texas Instruments MSP430FR2355;
• •  Covers both assembly language and C language programming of the MSP430, with examples that are meant to be coded and run on an MSP430FR2355 •  LaunchPadTM Development Kit directly;
• •  Describes specific learning outcomes for each activity, so that the reader knows why they are doing what they are doing, along with abundant assessment tools, including concept checks and exercises.

About the Author

Brock LaMeres is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Montana State University. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in December of 2005, his MSEE from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in May of 2001, and his BSEE from Montana State University, Bozeman in December of 1998. LaMeres teaches and conducts research in the area of digital systems with particular emphasis on embedded computing.
 

Dr. LaMeres has published over 100 manuscripts and 6 textbooks in the area of digital systems. LaMeres has also been granted 13 US patents in the area of digital signal propagation. LaMeres is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Registered Professional Engineer in the States of Montana and Colorado.  In 2018, Dr. LaMeres was awarded the Distinguished Educator Award in electrical and computer engineering from the American Society of Engineering Education.

Prior to coming to MSU, Dr. LaMeres worked as an R&D engineer for Agilent Technologies in Colorado Springs, CO from 1999 to 2006. LaMeres was a hardware design engineer in the Logic Analysis R&D lab. He designed acquisition hardware for the 16910/11/12 and 16950 Logic Analyzer systems in addition to developing a variety of probing solutions.