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Outline

Title
Abstract
Key Takeaways
Figures
Design Objective
Comparison Results
Benchmarking Results
References
All Topics
Computer Science
Embedded Systems

Real-Time Operating Systems for Small Microcontrollers

Profile image of Duc-4D-18 Tran Thi Phuong AnhDuc-4D-18 Tran Thi Phuong Anh

2009, IEEE Micro

Abstract
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AI

Real-time operating systems (RTOSs) are essential for embedded systems requiring timely responses, particularly in small microcontrollers. Unlike generic operating systems, RTOSs utilize preemptive scheduling, predictable synchronization, and fixed-size memory allocation to ensure deterministic behavior. Despite perceptions that small-scale embedded systems do not need an RTOS, the advantages include enhanced software productivity, better task management, and improved synchronization, significantly reducing bugs and development time.

Key takeaways
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AI

  1. RTOSs provide preemptive, priority-based scheduling, enhancing task execution efficiency in embedded systems.
  2. Deterministic behaviors in RTOSs ensure predictable task synchronization and latency, unlike generic operating systems.
  3. Developers increasingly favor open-source RTOSs, rising from 16% to 19% between 2006 and 2007.
  4. Time management functions in RTOSs simplify timing-related tasks, reducing complexity in embedded system development.
  5. mITRON and mTKernel offer the best performance in task switching and semaphore operations among evaluated RTOSs.
Figures (13)
Figure 2. Influential factors in operating system selection according to Embedded Systems Design embedded market surveys in 2005, 2006, and 2007 (http:/Awww.embedded.com/ columns/survey). The total number of people surveyed is N = 441. (Copyright 2009 TechInsights. Used with permission.)
Figure 2. Influential factors in operating system selection according to Embedded Systems Design embedded market surveys in 2005, 2006, and 2007 (http:/Awww.embedded.com/ columns/survey). The total number of people surveyed is N = 441. (Copyright 2009 TechInsights. Used with permission.)
Figure 3. Number of system APIs for various RTOSs.
Figure 3. Number of system APIs for various RTOSs.
Table 3. User-controllable parameters for RTOS semaphore creation.
Table 3. User-controllable parameters for RTOS semaphore creation.
Table 4. System service call implementation and critical section implementation.
Table 4. System service call implementation and critical section implementation.
Table 5. APIs used for the task switch time benchmark.
Table 5. APIs used for the task switch time benchmark.
Table 7. APIs used for the message-passing benchmark task to another. Figure 4b shows how we measure the get and release semaphore time. support this approach. Figure 4d shows how we perform this measurement.
Table 7. APIs used for the message-passing benchmark task to another. Figure 4b shows how we measure the get and release semaphore time. support this approach. Figure 4d shows how we perform this measurement.
Table 9. APIs for the task activation from within interrupt handler benchmark. report. By averaging the ROM information across all test criteria, we got the average ROM size. Figure 5a shows the code sizes for the four RTOSs when running the seven benchmarks. allocation should be used. The allocation and deallocation time must be determinis- tic. Figure 4f illustrates how we measure the time to acquire and to release a fixed- size memory block.
Table 9. APIs for the task activation from within interrupt handler benchmark. report. By averaging the ROM information across all test criteria, we got the average ROM size. Figure 5a shows the code sizes for the four RTOSs when running the seven benchmarks. allocation should be used. The allocation and deallocation time must be determinis- tic. Figure 4f illustrates how we measure the time to acquire and to release a fixed- size memory block.
Figure 5. Benchmarking results for the four RTOSs: comparisons of code size (a) and data size (b).
Figure 5. Benchmarking results for the four RTOSs: comparisons of code size (a) and data size (b).
Figure 6. Execution time benchmark for four RTOSs.
Figure 6. Execution time benchmark for four RTOSs.

References (26)

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