Real-Time Operating Systems
Raquel S. Whittlesey-Harris
Contents
What is a real-time OS?
OS Structures
OS Basics
RTOS Basics
Basic Facilities
Interrupts
Memory
Development Methodologies
Summary
References
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What is a Real-time OS?
A RTOS (Real-Time Operating System)
Is an Operating Systems with the necessary
features to support a Real-Time System
What is a Real-Time System?
A system where correctness depends not only on the
correctness of the logical result of the computation, but
also on the result delivery time
A system that responds in a timely, predictable way to
unpredictable external stimuli arrivals
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Real-Time OS
What a Real-Time System is NOT
A Transactional system
Average # of transactions per second
A Good RTOS is one that has a
bounded (predictable) behavior under
all system load scenarios
Just a building Block
Does not guarantee system correctness
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Type of Real-Time Systems
Hard Real-Time
Missing a deadline has catastrophic results
for the system
Firm Real-Time
Missing a deadline causes an unacceptable
quality reduction
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Types of Real-Time Systems
Soft Real-Time
Reduction in system quality is acceptable
Deadlines may be missed and can be
recovered from
Non Real-Time
No deadlines have to be met
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OS Structures
Monolithic OS
OS is composed of one piece of code
divided into different modules
Problem: Difficult to debug
Changes may impact other modules substantially
Corrections may cause other bugs to show up
“Spaghetti Software” - many interconnections
between modules
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OS Structures
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OS Structures
Layered OS
Better approach than the Monolithic
However still chaotic
Example: OSI Layer
Problem: OS technology not as orthogonal
with its layers
You can skip layers in OS model
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OS Structures
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OS Structures
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OS Structures
Client-Server OS
Newer Model
Limit Basics of OS to a minimum (scheduler
and synchronization primitive)
Other functionality is implemented as system
threads or tasks
Applications are clients requesting services via
system calls to these server tasks
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OS Structures
Benefits
Easier to Debug and scale
Distribution over multiple processors is simpler
Possible to dynamically load and Unload
modules
Problems
Overhead is high due to memory protection
Server processes must be protected
Increased time to switch from application’s to
server’s memory space
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OS Structures
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OS Basics
An OS is a system program that
provides an interface between
application programs and the computer
system (hardware)
Primary Functions
Provide a system that is convenient to use
Organize efficient and correct us of system
resources
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OS Basics
Four main tasks of OS
Process Management
Process creation
Process loading
Process execution control
Interaction of the process with signal events
Process monitoring
CPU allocation
Process termination
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OS Basics
Interprocess Communication
Synchronization and coordination
Deadlock and Livelock detection
Process Protection
Data Exchange Mechanisms
Memory Management
Services for file creation, deletion, reposition and
protection
Input/Output Management
Handles requests and release subroutines for a
variety of peripherals and read, write and reposition
programs
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RTOS Basics
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RTOS Basics
Central Purpose of a RTOS
Scheduling of the CPU
Applications are structured as a set of
processes
Processes consist of
Code
State
Register values
Memory values
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RTOS Basics
At least 3 states are needed to allow the CPU
to schedule
Ready – waiting to run (in ready list)
Running – process (thread or task) is utilizing the
processor to execute instructions
Blocked – waiting for resources (I/O, memory,
critical section, etc.)
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RTOS Basics
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RTOS Basics
Threads are lightweight processes
Inherits only part of process
Belongs to the same environment as other threads
making up the process
May be stopped, started and resumed
Tasks are a set of processes with data
dependencies between them
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RTOS Basics
Max number of threads, tasks or processes
Definition space part of system
A system parameter
Definition space part of task
Available memory
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Basic Facilities
Multitasking is required to develop a
good Real-time application
“Pseudo parallelism” - to handle multiple
external events occurring simultaneously
Rate Monotonic Scheduling (RMS) - is
utilized to compute in advance the
processor power required to handle the
simultaneous events
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Basic Facilities
Algorithms (scheduling mechanism) are
needed to decide which task or thread will
run at a given time
Function is to switch from one task, thread, or
process to another (Context Switching)
Overhead – should be completed as quickly as possible
Dispatch time should be independent of the number of
threads in the ready list
Ready list should be organized each time an element is
added to the list
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Basic Facilities
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Basic Facilities
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Basic Facilities
Types of Scheduling Policies
Deadline driven – ideal but not available
Cooperative – relies on current process to give
up the CPU
Pre-emptive priority scheduling – higher priority
tasks may interrupt lower priority tasks
Static – priorities are set before the system begins
execution
Dynamic – priorities can be redefined at run time
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Basic Facilities
Many priorities levels in a RTOS is better to have for
complex systems with many threads
At least 128 levels
A different priority level can be set for each task
or thread
Round Robin – give each task an equal share
of the processor
Implemented when all tasks or threads have the
same priority level
May be implemented within a priority range
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Basic Facilities
Synchronization and exclusion objects
Required so that threads and tasks can execute
critical code and to guarantee access in a
particular order
Semaphores – synchronization and exclusion
Mutexes - exclusion
Conditional variables – exclusion based on a condition
Event flags – synchronization of multiple events
Signals – asynchronous event processing and exception
handling
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Basic Facilities
Communications
Data may be exchanged between threads
and tasks via
Queues – mulitple messages
Mailboxes – single messages
Most RTOSs pass data by pointer
Copying data structure would be less efficient
Pointer must be valid while receiving thread or
task makes use of it
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Interrupts
RT systems respond to external events
External events are translated by the hardware
and interrupts are introduced to the system
Interrupt Service Routines (ISRs) handle system
interrupts
May be stand alone or part of a device driver
RTOSs should allow lower level ISRs to be preempted by
higher lever ISRs
ISRs must be completed as quickly as possible
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Interrupts
RTOSs vary in model of interrupt
handling to task run
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Interrupts
Interrupt Dispatch Time
time the hardware needs to bring the interrupt to the
processor
Interrupt Routine
ISR execution time
Other Interrupt
Time needed for managing each simultaneous pending
interrupt
Pre-emption
Time needed to execute critical code during which no
pre-emption may happen
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Interrupts
Scheduling
Time needed to make the decision on which
thread to run
Context Switch
Time to switch from one context to another
Return from System Call
Extra time needed when the interrupt occurred
while a system call was being executed
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Interrupts
System calls cause software interrupts
(SWIs)
Portable Operating System Interface
(POSIX) defines the syntax of many of the
library calls that execute the SWIs
Attempts to make applications portable
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Memory
RAM
Holds changing parts of the task control
block, stack, heap
Minimum number of RAM required varies by
vendor
Maximum addressable space will vary
depending on the memory model
E.g., backward compatibility (x86) will limit to 64K
segments
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Memory
Predictability
The need to make memory access
“predictable” (bound) prohibits the use of
virtual memory
Systems should have locking capability –
prevent swapping by locking the process into
main memory
Paging map should be part of the process
context (loaded onto the processor or MMU)
Larger page sizes may be required to fit it all in 2k
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Memory
Segments may be used to avoid 2k limit
Non-variable segment sizes may be used
Prohibit deallocation to prevent garbage
collection (prevents displaced tasks from running
which leads to unpredictability)
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Memory
Static memory allocation
All memory allocated to each process at
system startup
Expensive
Desirable solution for Hard-RT systems
Dynamic memory allocation
Memory requests are made at runtime
Should know what to do upon allocation failure
Some RTOSs support a timeout function
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Development Methodology
RTOS differ in development
configurations supported
Host – machine on which the application is
developed
Target – machine on which the application
is to execute
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Development Methodology
Host = Target
Host and target are on the same machine
RTOS has its own development environment
(compiler, debugger, and perhaps IDE)
Usually of lesser quality
Host Target
Two different machines linked together (serial,
LAN, bus, etc.)
Host generally machine with a proven General
Purpose Operating System (GPOS)
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Development Methodology
Better development environment
Debugger is on host while application is executed on
target
Debug agents are stored on target to
communicate with host
Simulator should be provided to execute prototype
application on the host
Hybrid
Host and target on same machine but on
different OSs
Communicate via shared memory
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Development Methodology
Resource and hardware shared
May prevents RTOS from predictable behavior
May prevent GPOS from housekeeping duties
Multiprocessor environment should improve
performance
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Summary
A RTOS should be predictable
regardless of the system load and size
of queues/lists
RTOS should always support pre-
emptive priority scheduling
The memory model utilized is very
important to the performance and
predictability of your RT system
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Summary
HRT SRT NRT
Mem Static Dynamic/Static Dynamic
Allocation
Virtual No No Yes
Memory
Compaction No No Yes
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
Development Methodology Host Target Host = Target
POSIX Compatibility Most 1003.1b API for C – POSIX.1
File Systems MS-DOS, RT-11, raw disk, SCSI, Ramdisk (Unixlike), MS-DOS
CD-ROM
Shared Memory Objects VxMP (semaphores, message Shared memory between
queues, memory regions between processes, shared files
tasks on different processors)
Virtual Memory VxVMI – support for boards with ???
MMU
Debugging Target Agent – remote debugging GNU
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
Multitasking Process-task based Process-thread based
Interrupt-driven, priority-based Priority-based, round-robin,
task scheduling, round-robin FIFO (cooperative), adaptive
(decaying)
256 priority levels (0-255); 0
highest, 255 lowest 32 priority levels (0-31); 0
lowest, 31 highest
May be set dynamically
May be set dynamically
Semaphores Counting, binary, mutual-exclusion Memory based
(recursive), and POSIX, timeouts
Intertask Communications Message queues (priority or FIFO), Messages (copied), queues
pipes, sockets, signals, RPCs (FIFO), pipes, sockets,
signals, proxies
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
Priority inversion Yes – tasks that owns a resource Yes – receiving processes
executes at the priority of the will float to higher level
highest priority task blocked on priority of sending processes
that resource
Asynchronous I/O Yes “Yes” – FIFO queue/pipe
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
Context Task Program counter Process Program counter
CPU registers (optional Floating point) CPU registers
Stack Stack
I/O assignments (STD Out, In, Err) I/O assignments
Delay Timer
Timeslice timer
Kernel Control Structures
Signal Handlers
Debugging and performance monitoring
values
Memory address space is not part of
context (VxVMI is required for separate
address space per task – virtual to
physical memory mapping
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
States Ready – Not waiting for any Ready – Running or waiting to run
resource except CPU Blocked – waiting on resource
Pend – Blocked, waiting on - Send Blocked – sent message not
resource received yet
Delay – Asleep for some duration - Receive Blocked – waiting to receive
Suspend – Unavailable for - Reply Blocked – waiting on reply
execution
- Signal Blocked – reply-blocked
Delay + S – Delayed & suspended process is interrupted by a signal
Pend + S – Pended & suspended - Semaphore Blocked – waiting on a
Pend + T – Pended with timeout semaphore
value Wait – Waiting on child to terminate
Pend + S + T – Pended, Dead – Terminated but has not sent
suspended with timeout value status to parent
State + I – state plus an inherited Held – Suspended by another process
priority
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Summary
VxWorks QNX
Interrupts Run in special context outside of SWI – signals
task (no task context switch)
HWI – ISRs implemented in
Share single stack if architecture device drivers which are a
allows (must be large enough for part of the system kernel
all possible nested interrupt
combinations)
Must not invoke routines that may
cause the caller to block (taking
semaphores, I/O calls, malloc, and
free)
Must not call routines that use FP-
coprocessor (floating point
registers are not saved and
restored); otherwise must explicitly
save and restore FP registers
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References
“What Makes A Good RTOS”, RTOS Evaluation Program, Real-Time
Magazine, Version 2.0, 28 February 2000.
Y. Li, M. Potkonjak and W. Wolf, “Real-Time Operating Systems for
Embedded Computing”, Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton
University, Department of Computer Science, UCLA, IEEE 1997.
F. Kolnick, QNX 4 Real-time Operating System: Programming with
Messages in a Distributed Environment, Basic Computer Systems Inc.,
1998.
“VxWorks Guide”, WindRiver Systems.
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