Today, embedded systems are widely deployed in just about every piece of machinery from toasters to spacecrafts, and embedded system designers face many challenges. They are asked to produce increasingly complex systems using the latest technologies, but these technologies are changing faster than ever. They are asked to produce better quality designs with a shorter time-to-market. They are asked to implement increasingly complex functionality but, more importantly, to satisfy numerous other constraints. To achieve these current goals, the designer must be aware of such design constraints...