How-to articles about the use of real-time operating systems in embedded systems.
This webinar examines best practices for assigning fixed priorities to a set of real-time operating systems (RTOS) tasks and interrupt service routines (ISRs). Viewers will learn how and why to use optimal methods to allow a critical set of tasks and interrupt service routines to meet all of their deadlines – even during transient overload periods. Lessons learned can be applied to the development of any priority-based preemptive RTOS, including real-time Linux.
If you've got a lot of real-time tasks and tight deadlines, what's the best way to prioritize them? Rate Monotonic Algorithm provides the optimal technique.
The safety and security of every embedded system is dependent upon proper operation of the stack (or stacks, if there are multiple). If a stack overflow occurs, a major or minor malfunction is very likely to follow. Despite this, the stack in the majority of embedded systems is sized based on nothing more than a hunch. As well, run-time stack monitoring is too seldom used.
Too often engineers give up trying to discover the cause of infrequent anomalies--because they can't be easily reproduced in the lab--dismissing them as "user errors" or "glitches." Yet these ghosts in the machine live on. So here's a guide to the most frequent root causes of difficult-to-reproduce firmware bugs.
Too often engineers give up trying to discover the cause of infrequent anomalies--because they can't be easily reproduced in the lab--dismissing them as "user errors" or "glitches." Yet these ghosts in the machine live on. So here's a guide to the most frequent root causes of difficult-to-reproduce firmware bugs.
The first task when using any new real-time operating system (RTOS) is to get it up and running on your hardware. The open-source eCos RTOS makes that part pretty easy.
In this first installment of a series of articles on the proper use of a real-time operating system (RTOS), we examine the important differences between a mutex and a semaphore.
As if debugging traditional PC/server software or even smartphone apps wasn't hard enough, debugging embedded software adds significant challenges.
What's the difference between a mutex and a semaphore? Misuse of these two distinct types of synchronization primitives can lead to difficult to debug defects with potentially severe consequences in safety-critical devices.
Android software architecture, hardware requirements, licensing terms, and security considerations with a few case studies to illustrate the pros and cons of building embedded systems around the AndroidOS.
With all the automation available today, it's easy for programmers to overlook costly overhead introduced into machine code by the compiler. Interrupt handlers are one key area worthy of a closer inspection.
Every commercial RTOS employs a priority-based preemptive scheduler. This despite the fact that real-time systems vary in their requirements and real-time scheduling doesn't have to be so uniform. Multitasking and meeting deadlines is certainly not a one-size-fits-all problem.
Most real-time operating systems employ preemptive schedulers. This primer on preemption also looks at the kind of multitasking it enables
In the market for a real-time operating system (RTOS)? This article provides an overview of RTOSes and how you can select the best one for your project.
When tasks share resources, as they often do/must, strange things can and will happen. Priority inversions can be particularly difficult to anticipate. A basic understanding of the problem is key.
To keep a watchdog timer from resetting your system, you've got to kick it regularly. But that's not all there is to watchdog science. We will examine the use and testing of a watchdog, as well as the integration of a watchdog into a multitasking environment.
Should you consider using Java as an embedded programming language? This article describes when and where Java works for embedded development.
