What is Real-Time?

Overview
Numerous test, control, and design application require real-time performance. This tutorial will cover the basic concepts
of real-time systems.

Introduction to Real-Time Systems

Real-time operating systems originated with the need to solve two main types of applications: event response, and
closed loop control systems. Event response applications require a response to a stimulus in a determined amount of
time, an example of such a system is an automotive airbag system. Closed loop control systems continuously process
feedback in order to adjust an output; an automotive cruise control system is an example of a closed-loop control
system. Both of these types of systems require the completion of an operation within a specific deadline. This type of
performance is referred to as determinism.

Real-time systems are sometimes classified as "soft" or "hard". Soft real-time typically means the utility of a system is
inversely proportionate to how long it has been since a deadline is missed. For example, when pressing a cell phone
button to answer an incoming call, the connection must be established soon after the button has been pressed. However,
the deadline is not mission-critical and small delays can be tolerated. Hard real-time systems are those in which the
utility of a system becomes zero in the event of a missed deadline. An automotive engine control unit (ECU) must
process incoming signals and calculate spark plug timing within a deadline. If the deadline is missed, the engine will
fail to operate correctly. The usefulness of a task after a deadline is missed is depends on whether the system is a soft
real-time or a hard real-time system, as shown in Figure 1.

Operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS provide an excellent platform for developing and running
your non-critical measurement and control applications. However, because these operating systems are designed for
general purpose use, they are not the ideal platform for running applications that require deterministic performance or
extended uptime.

General-purpose operating systems are optimized to run a variety of applications simultaneously, ensuring that all
applications receive some processing time. These operating systems must also respond to interrupts from peripherals
such as the mouse and keyboard. The user has limited control regarding how these tasks are handled by the processor.
As a result, high-priority tasks can be preempted by lower priority tasks, making it impossible to guarantee a response
time for your critical applications.

In contrast, real-time operating systems give users the ability to prioritize tasks so that the most critical task can always
take control of the processor when needed. This property enables you to program an application with predictable results.

©National Instruments. All rights reserved. LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com, the National Instruments corporate logo, and the Eagle logo are trademarks of National Instruments. See
ni.com/trademarks for other NI trademarks. Other product and company names are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. For patents covering National Instruments products, refer
to the appropriate location: Help>>patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your CD, or ni.com/patents .

Document Version 13
 Figure 1- Difference between hard and soft real-time

Real-time operating systems are required when the processor is involved in operations such as closed loopcontrol and
time-critical decision making. These applications require timely decisions to be made based on incoming data. For
example, an I/O device samples an input signal and sends it directly to memory. Then, the processor must analyze the
signal and send the appropriate response to the I/O device. In this application, the software must be involved in the
loop; therefore, you need a real-time operating system to guarantee response within a fixed amount of time. In addition,
applications requiring extended run-times or stand alone operation are often implemented with real-time operating
systems.

Real-Time Performance

The most common misconception associated with real-time performance is that it increases the execution speed of your
program. While this is true in some cases, it actually enhances your application by providing more precise and
predictable timing characteristics. With these enhancements, you can determine the exact time when certain events will
occur.

Real-Time Control

2 www.ni.com
With real-time control, you can continually monitor and simulate a physical system. Real-time control applications
repeatedly perform a user-defined task with a specified time interval separating them. Most real-time control systems
monitor the physical system, compare the current state with the desired state, and then simulate the physical system
based on the comparison. The time it takes to traverse this loop is considered the loop cycle time. This cycle time of the
control loop varies based on the complexity of the system.

Determinism measures the consistency of the specified time interval between events. Many control algorithms, such as
PID, require very deterministic behavior. For example, an elevator gradually moves to the correct floor because of the
deterministic behavior of the control loop. Without the determinism, the elevator would still reach the correct floor but
without stability.

With all real-time systems, there is some amount of error called jitter. Jitter is another way of measuring the
determinism of a real-time system. You can calculate it as the maximum difference between any individual time delay
and the desired time delay in a system, as shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2- An example jitter diagram

Real-Time Event Response

With real-time event response, you can respond to a single event within a given amount of time. The real-time system
guarantees some maximum response time to the single event. The event can be either periodic or random. An example
of a real-time event response application is a safety monitoring system. If a physical plant enters a dangerous state, the
real-time system must respond to the "danger" event within a guaranteed amount of time.

Latency is used to describe the time it takes to respond to an event. It is similar to the determinism in real-time control
applications. With real-time event response, you are guaranteed a worst case latency.

NI Real-Time Technology

3 www.ni.com
The LabVIEW Real-Time Module and LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module are used to achieve reliable deterministic
execution on dedicated hardware targets. For increased determinism needs, the LabVIEW FPGA Module combined
with hardware that includes reconfigurable I/O technology offers nanosecond hardware response. Use National
Instruments software to:
• Rapidly develop deterministic applications with graphical programming or ANSI C
• Easily architect distributed control and monitoring systems
• Eliminate time spent integrating diverse I/O

National Instruments offers a variety of real-time hardware targets that contain an embedded processor running a
real-time OS for maximum reliability and deterministic performance. You can integrate a wide array of I/O with
modular hardware that scales to accommodate high-channel-count data acquisition and control, industrial signal
conditioning, and safety isolation.

Figure 3 - National Instruments Real-Time Technology

Related Links:

Introduction to LabVIEW Real-Time Webcast

Selecting Your LabVIEW Real-Time Deployment Platform

What is LabWindows/CVI Real-Time?

4 www.ni.com