realtimesystems–schedulingissues.docVIP

REAL TIME SYSTEMS – SCHEDULING ISSUES INTRODUCTION The main characteristic that distinguishes real time computing from other types of computation is time. The word time means that the correctness of the system not only depend on the logical result of the computation but also on the time at which the results are produced. The word real indicates that the reaction of the system to external events must occur during their evolution. As a consequence, the system time must be measured using the same time scale used for measuring the time in the controlled environment. The objective of real time systems is not to minimize the average response time of a given set of tasks but it is to meet the individual timing requirements of each task. However short the average response time be, without a scientific methodology, we would never be able to guarantee the individual timing requirements of each task in all possible circumstances. When several computation activities have different constraints, average performance has little significance for the correct behavior of the system. In the words of John Stankovic: There was a man who drowned while crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches. Hence, rather than being fast, a real time computing system should be predictable. Real time processes may be classified as follows: Hard Real Time Tasks: A real time task is said to be hard if missing its deadline may cause catastrophic consequences on the environment under control. Soft Real Time Tasks: A real time task is said to be soft if meeting its deadline is desirable for performance reasons, but missing its deadline does not cause serious damage to the environment and does not jeopardize correct system behavior. Examples of hard real time activities include: Sensory data acquisition Detection of critical conditions Actuator servoing Low level control of critical system components etc. Examples of soft activities include: The command interpreter o