In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus comprises an embedded system comprising: a processor configured to execute firmware; a random access memory (RAM) configured to store firmware and a multi-port memory controller configured to interface with the RAM; a power-on reset (POR) sequencer configured to control a boot process of the embedded system; a nonvolatile memory configured to store data used by the POR sequencer in the boot process and a nonvolatile memory controller configured to interface with the nonvolatile memory; a direct memory access (DMA) controller configured initiate and track data transfers; and a configuration and status register (CSR) controller configured to access modules in the embedded system.