Real-time Ada: outstanding problem areas

Abstract

As the Ada language matures and compilers be, come more efficient, new application domains will open up. This in turn will place fresh requirements on the language. In some instances Ada, in its current form, will be unsuitable and language changes will be demanded. This is, of course, at odds with producing a "standard" and "stable" language definition; consequently the evolution of the language will be a long and drawn out procedure. The Ada 9X process offers the opportunity to eliminate some of the short-comings of ANSI Ada in the area of real-time systems. It also provides a focus within which the requirements from future real-time systems can be discussed.The purpose of this paper is to identify the outstanding issues that must be discussed in the short, medium or long-term, if Ada is to be used for a wide range of real-time applications in current and future systems. Our approach is to start with application requirements, from these to indicate Ada problem areas and then, if appropriate, offer potential solutions. The areas considered are those associated with hard real-time, software reliability, mode changes, change management and distribution.