The use of the Intel architecture as a platform for development shortens many development steps and allows others to be completely skipped. For example, the traditional design cycle involves a choice of processor, as well as the creation of memory, interrupt and I/O maps. The use of Intel architecture allows the designer to skip many of these steps, because they are already well-defined.

The implementation of the Pentium® processor enables embedded systems designers to achieve unprecedented levels of performance within the well-defined design parameters of PC hardware architecture.

Hardware
The minimum configuration needed to create a PC-compatible system is an Intel architecture processor, memory, an 8254 timer and an 8259 interrupt controller. A typical PC system is composed of three basic elements: hardware, BIOS and operating system.

Product-specific hardware must be tied to the PC platform by means of one of many available bus protocols. These include ISA (industry standard architecture), PCI (peripheral components interconnect), or USB (the Universal Serial Bus). Application hardware may also be connected directly to the processor.

BIOS
The BIOS (basic input/output system) provides the low-level drivers that interface to the system hardware (which makes BIOS hardware-dependent). A typical BIOS contains power-up boot vectors, the Power-On Self Test (POST), Boot-Straps, BIOS compatibility address map, interrupt service routines (ISRs), and device service routines (DSRs). Some application hardware does not require BIOS extensions, especially if it is connected to the processor with a common bus protocol. Developers benefit from a wide choice of thirdy-party BIOS solutions and development tools facilitate design and enable quick time-to-market development.

Operating System
The OS (operating system) handles such services as organizing files, disk functions, I/O functions, and launching application programs. Many OS choices are available to embedded PC designers, including OS versions for real-time operation, multi-tasking, executives and OS extensions for interface and control applications. Reentrant OS choices, ranging from real-time operating systems to the standard low-cost desktop OS, enable software developers to easily port "off-the -shelf" software into custom embedded PC applications. Be aware that not all real-time operating systems run off-the-shelf code. A reentrant BIOS and OS will make it easier to "tweak" the system.