Though there are good reasons to use a real-time operating system (RTOS) in some applications, this decision also creates a number of problems for embedded software developers. An RTOS adds excess complexity when the application is not well suited to being coded as a set of tasks that can preempt each other. This course examines RTOS tradeoffs and a set of alternative approaches to multitasking that do not employ a preemptive scheduler.

Length/Options

• ½ day

Audience

• Firmware developers evaluating or using a real-time operating system
• Firmware developers fed up with real-time operating system headaches

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with the C programming language

Related Courses

• Multithreaded Programming
• Hardware Interfacing with C

Outline

• Multitasking Fundamentals
• Tasks and Task States
• Scheduling Points
• Context Switching
• System Calls
• Mutual Exclusion
• Rate Monotonic Scheduling
• Preemption
• Rate Monotonic Algorithm
• Schedulable Bound
• Aperiodic Tasks
• Priority Inversion
• Perils of Preemption
• Overhead Costs
• Priority Inversion
• Deadlock
• RTOS Alternatives
• Foreground/Background
• Cooperative Multitasking
• Real-Time Executive
• State Machines
• How to Decide

Learn More

To request pricing or dates, or for more information about this course, contact us.