Evaluation of a flexible task scheduling algorithm for distributed hard real-time systems

Abstract

Most systems that are required to operate under severe real-time constraints assume that all tasks and their characteristics are known a priori. Scheduling of such tasks can be done statically. Further, scheduling algorithms operating under such conditions are usually limited to multiprocessor configurations. This paper presents a scheduling algorithm, that works dynamically and on loosely coupled distributed systems, for tasks with hard real-time constraints, i.e., the tasks must meet their deadlines. It uses a scheduling component local to every node and a distributed scheduling scheme that is specifically suited to hard real-time constraints and other timing considerations.