CET Embedded Systems & Programming 2

Question 1

What is the primary purpose of a watchdog timer in an embedded system?

Accepted Answer

To reset the system if software becomes unresponsive

Answer

To measure elapsed execution time

Answer

To synchronize two microcontrollers over a bus

Answer

To generate PWM signals for motor control

Question 2

In C, what does declaring a variable as `volatile` tell the compiler?

Accepted Answer

The variable must not be optimized away or cached in a register

Answer

The variable is stored in flash memory

Answer

The variable is shared across multiple files

Answer

The variable is read-only at runtime

Question 3

Which type of non-volatile memory allows byte-level electrical erasure and reprogramming?

Accepted Answer

EEPROM

Answer

ROM

Answer

SRAM

Answer

DRAM

Question 4

What is the role of an Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) in embedded firmware?

Accepted Answer

It executes a predefined response when a hardware or software interrupt fires

Answer

It initializes peripheral clocks at startup

Answer

It manages heap memory allocation

Answer

It configures the system's baud rate

Question 5

In C99, which data type is guaranteed to be exactly 8 bits wide on any platform?

Accepted Answer

uint8_t

Answer

char

Answer

short

Answer

byte

Question 6

What does the stack pointer register track in a microcontroller?

Accepted Answer

The top of the current call stack in RAM

Answer

The address of the next instruction to execute

Answer

The base address of flash memory

Answer

The current interrupt priority level

Question 7

In embedded C, what is the purpose of using bit-field structs in register definitions?

Accepted Answer

To map individual bits or groups of bits within a hardware register to named fields

Answer

To speed up floating-point operations

Answer

To enable dynamic memory allocation

Answer

To store strings more efficiently