Reconfiguration of Uniprocessor Sporadic Real-Time Systems

Abstract

In this chapter the authors focus on the problem of reconfiguring embedded real-time systems. Such reconfiguration can be decided either off-line to determine if a given application can be run on a different platform, while preserving the timeliness constraints imposed by the application, or on-line, where a reconfiguration should be done to adapt the system to the context of execution or to handle hardware or software faults. The task model considered in this chapter is the classical sporadic task model defined by a Worst Case Execution Time (WCET), a minimum inter-arrival time (also denoted the minimum Period) and a late termination deadline. The authors consider two preemptive scheduling strategies: Fixed Priority highest priority first (FP) and Earliest Deadline First (EDF). They propose a sensitivity analysis to handle reconfiguration issues. Sensitivity analysis aims at determining acceptable deviations from the specifications of a problem due to evolutions in system characteristics (reconfiguration or performance tuning). They present a state of the art for sensitivity analysis in the case of WCETs, Periods and Deadlines reconfigurations and study to what extent sensitivity analysis can be used to decide on the possibility of reconfiguring a system.