ROBUST: A Hardware Solution to Real-Time Overload

Abstract

It has been proven that no on-line scheduling algorithm can guarantee a processor utilization greater than 25% under conditions of overload. From this result, it follows that there is no satisfactory software solution (within the paradigm of deterministic computation) to tile problem of constructing overload-tolerant real-time systems, and we are forced to consider alternative remedies. In this paper, we describe an attempt at a hardware solution. In particular, we quantify the advantages of using faster hardware in real-time systems. An obvious advantage is that more work can be done in a shorter amount of time and the system is therefore less likely to enter overload. More interestingly, we prove that the performance of systems using faster hardware improves dramatically over systems using slower hardware if overload does occur. We present here a new scheduler, ROBUST, which efficiently uses faster hardware to prevent performance degradation under overload conditions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA445548

Entities

People

  • Jayant R. Harista
  • Sanjoy Baruah

Organizations

  • University of Texas at Austin

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Algorithms
  • Availability
  • Classification
  • Computations
  • Contracts
  • Degradation
  • Guarantees
  • Information Operations
  • Instructions
  • Maryland
  • Mathematical Analysis
  • Mathematics
  • Monitoring
  • Overload
  • Scheduling (Production)
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Theoretical Analysis.