Book excerpt: Intelligent readers who want to build their own embedded computer systems-- installed in everything from cell phones to cars to handheld organizers to refrigerators-- will find this book to be the most in-depth, practical, and up-to-date guide on the market. Designing Embedded Hardware carefully steers between the practical and philosophical aspects, so developers can both create their own devices and gadgets and customize and extend off-the-shelf systems. There are hundreds of books to choose from if you need to learn programming, but only a few are available if you want to learn to create hardware. Designing Embedded Hardware provides software and hardware engineers with no prior experience in embedded systems with the necessary conceptual and design building blocks to understand the architectures of embedded systems. Written to provide the depth of coverage and real-world examples developers need, Designing Embedded Hardware also provides a road-map to the pitfalls and traps to avoid in designing embedded systems. Designing Embedded Hardware covers such essential topics as: The principles of developing computer hardware Core hardware designs Assembly language concepts Parallel I/O Analog-digital conversion Timers (internal and external) UART Serial Peripheral Interface Inter-Integrated Circuit Bus Controller Area Network (CAN) Data Converter Interface (DCI) Low-power operation This invaluable and eminently useful book gives you the practical tools and skills to develop, build, and program your own application-specific computers.