HARTEX - a safe real-time kernel for distributed computer control systems

A hard real-time kernel is presented for distributed computer control systems (DCCS), highlighting a number of novel features, such as integrated scheduling of hard and soft real-time tasks as well as tasks and resources; high-performance time management supporting safe DCCS operation in a hard real-time environment; synchronization and communication featuring event notification via vector semaphores and transparent communication through implicit (content-oriented) message addressing. Conventional queues have been substituted by Boolean vectors and vector processing techniques throughout the kernel, resulting in efficient and highly deterministic behaviour, which is characterized by very low overhead and constant execution time of kernel operations, independent of the number of tasks involved. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.