REAL TIME SYSTEMS

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO REAL-TIME SYSTEMS: Historical background,

RTS Definition, Classification of Real-time Systems, Time constraints, Classification of
Programs. 6 Hours
Historical backrou!"
Brown and Cambell ! "#$% ! &arliest roosal - Comuter oerating in real time
'as a art of t(e control system)
Consists of feedback and feed-forward loos
*ssumtion was t(at, t(e analog comuters can be used
Digital comuter elements did not were e+cluded
,irst digital comuter ! de-eloed for real time control ! for airborne oeration
Digitrac digital comuter ! "#$. ! used to ro-ide an automatic flig(t and
weaons control system
/ndustrial control ! in digital comuters usage ! late "#$%s
Comuter and electronic system manufacturers ! for e+tending markets ! been
out from military uses of ! initiated t(e comuter control industries
"#$0, Setember ! 1ouisiana Power and 1ig(t Comany - Daystrom comuter
system2s installation ! for lant monitoring ! in t(eir ower station ! at Sterling,
1ouisiana
/t was not t(e control system
,irst industrial comuter installation -
Te+aco Comany !Ramo-3ooldridge Comany - R3-4%% system2s installation -
at Port *rt(ur refinery in Te+as
"#$#, 5arc( "$
t(
! Refinery were using ! closed loo control system
'*non, "#$#)
"#$6-$0 - 5onsanto C(emical Comany ! wit( t(e cooeration of Ramo-
3ooldridge Comany ! studied t(e control by comuter
"#$0, 7ctober ! it lanned to (a-e comuter control for ammonia lant ! at
1uling, 1ouisiana
"#8%, 9uly :%
t(
! Commissioning of comuter control for ammonia lant at
1uling, 1ouisiana ! began
"#8%, *ril .
t(
! Closed loo control was ac(ie-ed ! after rewriting ! t(e control
of t(e rogram - ;oise roblems ! were faced ! on t(e measurement of signals
"#$#-8%, B. ,. <oodric( Comany ! *crylanite lant, at Cal-ert city, =entucky !
(ad t(e same installation sc(eme ! as abo-e ! and also !.% systems of R3-4%%
based ! were in for suer-isory control systems for using ! for steady-state
otimi>ation calculations ! for determining t(e set-oints ! for standard analog
controllers ! Here, comuter ! not controlling directly ! mo-ement of t(e -al-es
or ot(er lant actuators
"#$# ! Plan to (ad t(e following installation were begun 'Burkitt,"#8$)
"#8:, ;o-ember ! ,erranti *rgus :%% systems - ,irst DDC 'Direct Digital
Control) system ! installed ! at /C/ ammonia-soda lant at ,leetwood,
1ancas(ire, ?=
/t was t(e large system ! ":% control loos '#. of were used actually) ! :$8
measurements '::. of were used actually) ! in ,leetwood system
"#8" ! 5onsanto Comany ! Te+as city lant ! and, a (ierarc(ical control
sc(eme for etroc(emical comanies, at C(ocolate Bayou ! DDC ro@ects !
began
R3-4%% comuter ! used t(e rotating drum store ! to (old t(e control rogram
,erranti *rgus :%% ! ?sed t(e ferrite core store ! to (old t(e control rogram -
PR75 ! rogram was (eld in it
1oaded by ! (ysically inserting egs into a lug board ! eac( eg reresenting !
one bit in t(e memory word
3as laborious to set u initially
3as -ery reliable !since, destruction of t(e memory contents - can be done only
by (ysical dislodgement of t(e egs
Security was en(anced ! using secial ower sulies ! and, switc(-o-er
mec(anisms ! to rotect information (eld in t(e main core store
T(e information ! was as follows !
". Set oints ! 1oss most undesirable
:. Aal-e demand ! Presence after controlled stoage allows comuter to gain
control of lant immediately and wit(out disturbing t(e lant 'referred to as
bumless transfer)
4. 5emory calculations ! 1oss is tolerable, soon will be udated and only slig(t
disturbance to lant
.. ,uture de-eloment ! &+tension to allow for otimi>ation may reBuire
information to be maintained for long eriods of time
$. 5ore raid memory access ! were in ,erranti *rgus :%% ! t(at of R3-4%% and
similar mac(ines
Began t(e second (ase of alication of comuters ! to real time control
"#8%s, &arly ! Comuters ware using ! combined magnetic core memories and
drum stores ! drum e-entually gi-ing way to (ard disk dri-es
E#$: for early "#8%s comuters !
<eneral &lectric .%%% series
B5 "0%%
CDC "6%%
,o+boro ,7C ", and ,o+boro "*
SDS
Cero+ S/<5* series
,erranti *rgus series
&lliot *utomation #%% series
Cost of earlier comuter increased ! in attemts to resol-e some roblems ! and
only one comuter ! for suer-ising control and DDC ! can be @ustified only ! it
was wit( furt(er roblems in de-eloment of softwares
Softwares ! written by secialists rogrammers ! in mac(ine code ! it was
manageable earlier ! since, tasks were defined clearly and t(e rograms2 lengt(
were less
Combining of DDC and suer-isory control ! increased !
". t(e code lengt(, for a gi-en alication
:. t(e comle+ity of t(e rogramming
DDC and suer-isory control ! were wit( -ery different time-scales
DDC control rograms ! (a-e to interrut t(e suer-isory control rograms2
increase in code lengt( ! made all t(e code could be stored in core memory and
also swaing of code between t(e drum memory and core ! to be to done were
also - Solutions to increased code lengt( roblems abo-e ! were by -
De-eloment of general urose real-time oerating systems and (ig(-le-el
languages
1ate "#8%s ! RT7S were de-eloed ! PR7C&SS ,7RTR*; comilers (ad t(eir
aearance
Problems and costs of in-ol-ing in (a-ing one comuter only for use ! made t(e
users to retreat ! t(e smaller systems ! for w(ic( newly de-eloing
microcomuters 'like D&C PDP-0, PDP-"", Data <eneral ;o-a, Honeywell 4"8,
etc.,) were ideally suited
5icrocomuters less cost ! made t(em suitable ! to load t(e large number of
tasks onto one mac(ine, 'by using more t(an one microcomuter, instead a single
comuter)

"#6% ! two comuters on t(e systems were using ! in w(ic( one comuter acting
simly stand-by ! to function in t(e e-ent of failure of t(e working comuter
T(roug(out "#6% ! De-eloments in /Cs and construction tec(niBues in circuit
boards ! led to - increment in reliability of t(e systems ! reduction in t(e cost !
increment in t(e rocessor ower ! increase in t(e fast memory amount ! made
more correct and deendable softwares to be to write
"#6. ! microrocessors2 ad-ent ! made it economical to use distributed comuter
control system
RTS D%&i!itio!
RTS "%&i!itio! 'i! as T(% O#&or" "ictio!ar) o& Co*+uti!,:
*ny system in w(ic( t(e time at w(ic( t(e outut is roduced is significant. T(is
is usually because t(e inut corresonds to some mo-ement in t(e (ysical world,
and t(e outut (as to relate to t(at same mo-ement. T(e lag from inut time to outut
time must be sufficiently small for accetable timelines
RTS "%&i!itio! 'Cooli! - 1..1,:
Real-time systems are t(ose w(ic( must roduce correct resonses wit(in a
definite time limit. S(ould comuter resonses e+ceed t(ese time bounds t(en
erformance degradation andDor malfunction results
RTS "%&i!itio! 'alt%r!at% "%&i!itio!,:
* real-time system reads inuts from t(e lant and sends control signals to t(e
lant at times determined by lant oerational considerations ! not at times limited by
t(e caabilities of t(e comuter system
RTS "%&i!itio!:
* rogram for w(ic( t(e correctness of oerations deends bot( on t(e logical
results of t(e comutations and t(e time at w(ic( t(e results are roduced
E#$: *ircraft engine control system ! sending resonse to ?;/C workstations
Classi&icatio! o& R%al-ti*% S)st%*s
Comuter is connected to t(e en-ironment wit(in w(ic( it is working by a wide
range of interface de-ices and recei-es an sends a -ariety of stimuli ! in t(e real time
systems and embedded comuters
&+.E Plant inut, lant outut, and communication tasks s(own in ,ig.
T(ey (a-e one common feature ! t(at t(ey are connected by (ysical de-ices to
rocesses w(ic( are e+ternal to t(e comuter. T(ese e+ternal rocesses all oerate in t(eir
own time scales and t(e comuter is said to oerated / real time if actions carried out in
t(e comuter relate to t(e time scales of t(e e+ternal rocesses
Sync(roni>ation between t(e e+ternal rocesses and t(e internal actions 'tasks) !
carried by t(e comuterE
". Clock basedE Sync(roni>ation between t(e abo-e two - if in deends on assages of
time, actual time of day 'clock based RTS)
:. &-ent basedE Sync(roni>ation between t(e abo-e two ! if in deends e-ents
E#$: Closure of a switc(
4. /nteracti-e SystemsE Relation between t(e actions in t(e comuter and t(e system ! is
muc( more loosely defined
ReBuirement, tyically ! in t(e form t(at ! a set of oerations in t(e comuter s(ould be
comleted wit(in a redetermined time
5a@ority of t(e communication tasks ! are of t(is category
Co!trol tasks: &-en t(oug( ! not ob-iously and directly connected to t(e e+ternal
en-ironment ! t(ey need to oerated in real time ! since, time is usually in-ol-ed in
determining t(e arameters of t(e algorit(ms used. /t is useful to di-ide tasks to be
carried out by embedded comuters into t(e interacti-e categories and c(aracteristics of
eac( class are to be recogni>ed
T)+%s o& tasks i! r%al ti*% s)st%*s: T(e t(ree tyes of tasks are
". Clock-based 'Cyclic, Periodic)
:. &-ent-based '*eriodic)
4. /nteracti-e systems
1$ Clock-bas%" Tasks 'C)clic/ 0%rio"ic,
Process of t(e lant - oerate in real time
Plant time constantE it2s t(e measure of t(e time taken by a lant to resond to a c(ange in
inut or load and is used as a c(aracteristic of t(e lant
5ay be measured ! in (ours for some c(emical rocesses or
/n ms for an aircraft system
,eedback controlE /t in-ol-es t(e feedback control
/t reBuires t(e samling rate to be deendent on t(e time constant of t(e rocess to be
controlled
Samling rate increases ! as t(e time constant -alue decreases
Sync(roni>ation in real time ! between t(e two is ! reBuired
*ll t(e reBuired oerations 'like measurement, control and actuation ! wit(in eac(
samling inter-al) ! can be able to carry out
Comletion of t(e oeration ! wit(in t(e secified timeE Deendent on
". ;umber of oerations to be erformed
:. Seed of t(e comuter
R%al-ti*% clock: /t2s t(e clock ! added to t(e comuter - to (a-e t(e sync(roni>ation. /t2s
signal ! is used to interrut t(e oerations of t(e comuter ! at some redetermined fi+ed
time inter-al
Comuters carry out ! lant inut, lant outut and control tasks in resonse to t(e clock
interrut. /f t(e clock interrut is at a faster rate t(an t(e samling rate ! count of eac(
interrut to be to ! until it2s t(e time to run t(e tasks.
Different samling ratesE used in larger lants ! w(ere tasks are subdi-ided into grous !
for controlling different arts of t(e lant
Clock interrut ! used freBuently ! to kee a clock and a calendar ! and kee t(e
comuter ! aware of bot( t(e time and t(e date
Clock based tasks 'cyclic or eriodic tasks) ! (ere, task is run once er time eriod T
'cycle time, T) !or run at e+actly T unit inter-als
2. E1%!t-bas%" Tasks 'A+%rio"ic,
Systems in w(ic( actions are erformed in resonse to some e-ents and not
erformed at resonse at articular times or time inter-als
E#$:
". Turing off a um - Closing a -al-e w(en t(e le-el of a liBuid tank reac(es
redetermined -alue ! like t(e one in - le-el of fuel in t(e -e(icle fuel tank ! reac(ing
t(e um no>>le
:. Switc(ing a motor off ! in resonse to t(e closure of a micro-switc(
indicating - t(at some desired osition (ad reac(ed
?sed e+tensi-ely ! to indicate ! alarm conditions and initiate alarm actions
&+.E /ndication of too (ig( a temerature or too great a ressure
/ncludes t(e reBuirement! t(at t(e system must resond ! wit(in a gi-en ma+imum time
to a articular e-ent
?ses t(e interruts ! to inform t(e comuter system ! t(at action is reBuired. Smaller
systems ! use olling - w(ere t(e comuter eriodically asks 'olls) -arious sensors ! to
see if action is reBuired
*eriodic tasksE &-ents usually occur at non-deterministic inter-als
*eriodic tasks ! may (a-e deadlines ! e+ressed in terms of (a-ing start times or finis(
times or e-en bot(.
&+.E Task may be reBuired to start ! wit(in %.$s of an e-ent occurring
Task may (a-e to roduce an outut ! wit(in %.$s of an e-ent
2$ I!t%racti1% s)st%*s
Probably reresent ! t(e largest class of real time systems
E#$: ". *utomatic bank tellers
:. Reser-ation systems for (otels, airlines and car rental comanies
4. Comuteri>ed tills
ReBuirement of interacti-e systemsE can be e+ressed in terms suc( as Ft(e a-erage
resonse tome must not e+ceedG2
&+.E *utomatic bank teller system mig(t ! reBuire an a-erage resonse time ! not
e+ceeding :%s
E1%!t-bas%" s)st%*s 3s I!t%racti1% s)st%*s
T(e two are
1. Sa*%: since, it aarently resonse to a signal from t(e lant 'in t(is case usually
a erson)
2. Di&&%r%!t: Since, it resonds a a time determined by t(e internal state of t(e
comuter and wit(out any reference to t(e en-ironment
&+.E *utomatic bank teller - does not know t(at ! you will miss a train, or t(at it2s
raining (ard and you are getting wet, but it2s resonse ! deends on (ow busy t(e
communication lines and central comuters are and also your amount
Clock-bas%" s)st%*s 3s I!t%racti1% s)st%*s
T(e two are
1. Sa*%: since, are caable of dislaying t(e date and time, and also t(ey (a-e a real
time clock ! w(ic( enables t(em to kee track of time
2. Di&&%r%!t: w(en t(e test is done w(et(er or not t(e answer for t(e Buestion ! FCan
t(e system be tig(tly sync(roni>ed to an e+ternal rocessH2
/f answer is Fyes2 ! t(ey are clock-based
/f answer is Fno2 ! t(ey are e-ent-based