Chapter 3 Software Frameworks for Real-time and Embedded Systems
3.1 RTOS:
Is an os intended to serve real time application that process data as it comes in mostly
without buffer delay?
Processing time requirement is calculated in tenths of second’s increments of time.
RTOS are widely used in airline traffic control systems, Command Control Systems, airline
reservation systems, Heart pacemakers, Network Multimedia Systems, robots, etc.
Eg, free RTOS, Vx Works, QNX, ThreadX, Nucleus RTOS:
Why use an RTOS?
It offers priority-based scheduling, which allows to separate analytical processing
from non- critical processing.
It provides API functions that allow clear and smaller application code.
RTOS offers modular task-based development, which allows modular task-based
testing.
An RTOS is event-driven with no time wastage on processing time for the event
which is not occurring.
Components of RTOS:
Scheduler:
Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP):
It is a number of multiple different tasks that can be handled by the RTOS so that
parallel processing can be done.
Function Library:
It is an important element of RTOS that acts as an interface that helps to connect kernel
and application code.
This application allows to send the requests to the Kernel using a function library so that
the application can give the desired results.
Memory Management:
Fast dispatch latency:
It is an interval between the termination of the task that can be identified by the OS and the
actual time taken by the thread, which is in the ready queue, which has started processing.
User-defined data objects and classes: RTOS system makes use of programming languages
like C or C++, which should be organized according to their operation.
Characteristics of RTOS :
Reliability:
It operates for a reasonably long time without human interference.
It also means the configuration to enable the system to choose the right or most profitable
action for current operations.
Predictability:
A system must execute actions within a known time frame and produce known results.
Such results are determined by the procedures or operations taking place.
The determination is by targets set during production or procedural planning.
Performance:
RTOS are designed to make work easier.
Every system must solve a problem or reduce the workload.
As such, the developer should provide a system that is easily integrated with existing
software and hardware as well as aligned to the goals of the organization.
Manageability:
This means a system whose veracity or bulkiness is manageable.
The software and hardware required to operate the RTOS must be of reasonable size.
Technicians should also be easy to find and orient.
The idea is to reduce the cost of implementation.
Scalability:
The needs of any production or event will change as the environment change.
a system may require an upgrade or downgrade.
Such provisions must be made during design and installation of any RTOS.
Functionality of RTOS :
Processor management:
a critical function of the RTOS By managing processes, the operating system can ensure
that resources are used efficiently and that the system remains stable.
In addition, process management allows the operating system to control how programs
interact with each other.
Memory management:
It handles or manages primary memory and moves processes back and forth between main
memory and disk during execution.
It keeps track of each and every memory location, regardless of either it is allocated to
some process or it is free.
It checks how much memory is to be allocated to processes.
It decides which process will get memory at what time.
It tracks whenever some memory gets freed or unallocated and correspondingly.
It updates the status.
Timer management:
It provides functions to start and stop functions/tasks to determine the CPU speed and
let a thread uses the CPU for a specified time and after that time it will releases the
CPU.
