This book presents a framework and implementation techniques for designing edge node computers for the Internet of Things (IoT) using various kinds of processing elements, i.e., heterogeneous processing elements. Now that the IoT has become fully integrated into society, devices with rewritable circuitries and the mesh of simple processing elements are playing increasingly important roles. Although many textbooks describe these devices as co-processors, the design method shown in this book integrates these devices with legacy stored-program microprocessors as indispensable processing elements. This design method has demonstrated compactness and low power consumption, especially for image-processing systems. High reliability is also incorporated into the design method and has been proven on spacecraft in the harsh environment of the solar system. The intended audience of this book includes hardware and software engineers. Users and system engineers of edge node computers would also be interested in the integration framework of the devices shown in this book, as it simplifies the use of complex heterogeneous processing elements.
