This paper focuses on the problem of providing efficient run-time support to multimedia applications in a real-time system, where two types of tasks can coexist simultaneously: multimedia soft real-time tasks and hard real-time tasks. Hard tasks are guaranteed based on worst case execution times and minimum interarrival times, whereas multimedia and soft tasks are served based on mean parameters. The paper describes a server-based mechanism for scheduling soft and multimedia tasks without jeopardizing the a priori guarantee of hard real-time activities. The performance of the proposed method is compared with that of similar service mechanisms through extensive simulation experiments and several multimedia applications have been implemented on the HARTIK kernel.

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Integrating multimedia applications in hard real-time systems

In this 25th year anniversary paper for the IEEE Real Time Systems Symposium, we review the key results in real-time scheduling theory and the historical events that led to the establishment of the current real-time computing infrastructure. We conclude this paper by looking at the challenges ahead of us.

/pdf/real-time-scheduling-theory-a-historical-perspective-4eag5x764v.pdf

Real Time Scheduling Theory: A Historical Perspective

We address the problem of providing compositional hard real-time guarantees in a hierarchy of schedulers. We first propose a resource model to characterize a periodic resource allocation and present exact schedulability conditions for our proposed resource model under the EDF and RM algorithms. Using the exact schedulability conditions, we then provide methods to abstract the timing requirements that a set of periodic tasks demands under the EDF and RM algorithms as a single periodic task. With these abstraction methods, for a hierarchy of schedulers, we introduce a composition method that derives the timing requirements of a parent scheduler from the timing requirements of its child schedulers in a compositional manner such that the timing requirement of the parent scheduler is satisfied, if and only if the timing requirements of its child schedulers are satisfied.

/pdf/periodic-resource-model-for-compositional-real-time-4dea60yund.pdf

Periodic resource model for compositional real-time guarantees

This paper extends the two-level hierarchical scheme in (Deng et al., 1997) for scheduling independently developed real-time applications with non-real-time applications in an open environment. The environment allows the schedulability of each real-time application to be validated independently of other applications in the system. The extended scheme removes the following two restrictions of the scheme: real-time applications that are scheduled preemptively must consist solely of periodic tasks; and applications must not share global resources (i.e., resources used by more than one application). Consequently, the extended scheme can accommodate a much broader spectrum of real-time applications.

Scheduling real-time applications in an open environment

From the Publisher:
Real-Time Systems is both a valuable reference for professionals and an advanced text for Computer Science and Computer Engineering students. 

Real world real-time applications based on research and practice

State-of-the-art algorithms and methods for validation

Methods for end-to-end scheduling and resource management

More than 100 illustrations to enhance understanding

Comprehensive treatment of the technology known as RMA (rate-monotonic analysis) methods

A supplemental Companion Website www.prenhall.com/liu

http://user.it.uu.se/~yi/courses/rts/dvp-rts-08/notes/Course-INFO.pdf

Real-Time Systems

Describes how the scheduling algorithms and schedulability analysis methods developed for periodic tasks can be extended to provide performance guarantees to semi-periodic tasks. Like periodic tasks, the requests in a semi-periodic task are released regularly. However, their computation times vary widely. We focus on systems where the total maximum utilization of the tasks on each processor is larger than one. Hence, according to the existing schedulability conditions for periodic tasks, we cannot guarantee that the semi-periodic tasks are schedulable, even though their total average utilization is very small. We describe two methods of providing probabilistic schedulability guarantees to the semi-periodic tasks. The first method, called probabilistic time-demand analysis, is a modification of the exact schedulability test for periodic tasks. The second method, called the transform-task method, transforms each task into a periodic task followed by a sporadic task. The transform-task method can provide an absolute guarantee to requests with shorter computation times and a probabilistic guarantee to the longer requests.

Probabilistic performance guarantee for real-time tasks with varying computation times

The paper focuses on the problem of providing run-time support to real-time applications and non-real-time applications in an open system. It describes a two-level hierarchical priority-driven scheme for scheduling independently developed applications. The scheme allows the developer of each real-time application to validate the schedulability of the application independently of other applications. Once a real-time application is created and accepted by the open system, its schedulability is guaranteed regardless of the behaviors of other applications that execute concurrently in the system.

/pdf/a-scheme-for-scheduling-hard-real-time-applications-in-open-1ijnunjm82.pdf

A scheme for scheduling hard real-time applications in open system environment

PERTS is a prototyping environment for real-time systems. It contains schedulers and resource access protocols for time-critical applications, together with a comprehensive set of tools for the analysis, validation, and evaluation of real-time systems built on the scheduling paradigms supported by these building blocks. This paper describes the underlying models of real-time systems supported by PERTS, as well as its capabilities and intended use. A key component is the schedulability analyzer. The basic version of this system of tools supports the validation and evaluation of real-time systems built on the framework of the periodic-task model. This system of tools is now available. >

/pdf/perts-a-prototyping-environment-for-real-time-systems-3553jfqn55.pdf

PERTS: A prototyping environment for real-time systems

This paper describes an open system architecture that allows independently developed hard real-time applications to run together and supports their reconfiguration at run-time. In the open system, each real-time application is executed by a server. At the lower level, the OS scheduler schedules all the servers on the EDF basis. At the upper level, the server scheduler of each server schedules the ready jobs of the application executed by the server according to the algorithm chosen for the application. The paper describes the two-level CPU scheduling scheme used by the open system and the design and implementation of a uniprocessor open system within the framework of the Windows NT operating system. The implementation consists of three key components: the two-level hierarchical kernel scheduler, common system service providers, and real-time application programming interface.

Z. Deng

Papers

Scheduling real-time applications in an open environment

Probabilistic performance guarantee for real-time tasks with varying computation times

A scheme for scheduling hard real-time applications in open system environment

PERTS: A prototyping environment for real-time systems

An Open Environment for Real-Time Applications