Hawassa University, Institute of Technology School of Electrical and

Computer Engineering

Embedded Systems (ECEg-

5702)
Lecture 5: Real‐time Operating systems

By Demisew T. 6/30/21 1
Outline of the Lecture

Introduction

Defining a Task and Real Time

RTOS

Key Characteristics of an RTOS

Hawassa University, Institute of Technology School
of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 2
Introduction
Simple software applications are typically designed to run
sequentially, one instruction at a time, in a pre-determined chain of
instructions.
However, this scheme is inappropriate for real-time embedded
applications, which generally handle multiple inputs and outputs
within tight time constraints.
Real-time embedded software applications must be designed for
concurrency.
Concurrent design requires developers to decompose an application
into small, schedulable, and sequential program units.
When done correctly, concurrent design allows system multitasking
to meet performance and timing requirements for a real-time system.
Most RTOS kernels provide task objects and task management
services to facilitate designing concurrency within an application.

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 3
Defining a TASK and Real Time

A task is a program strand of section which has

a clear and distinct purpose and outcome.
Multi-tasking simply describes a situation where
there are many tasks which need to be performed,
ideally simultaneously.
For example, a temperature monitoring system is
made up of three tasks that normally repeat after
a short delay, namely:
Task 1 Reads the temperature
Task 2 Formats the temperature
Task 3 Displays the temperature
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Defining a TASK and Real Time

In reality the tasks are not all of equal

importance.
Different tasks have different priorities.
High priority task should have the right to
execute before a low priority task.
Each task also has a deadline.
Generally, a task with a tight deadline requires a
high priority.

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 5
Defining a TASK and Real Time

What is “Real time”?

 A system operating in real time must be able to provide the
correct results at the required time deadlines.
Notice that this definition carries no implication that
working in real time implies high speed, although this can
often help.
It simply states that what is needed must be ready at the time
it is needed.

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 6
RTOS
A real-time operating system (RTOS) is a piece of
code (usually called the kernel) that controls task
allocation when the microcontroller is operating
in a multi-tasking environment.
RTOS decides, for instance, which task to run
next, how to coordinate the task priorities, and how
to pass data and messages among tasks.
There are several commercially available RTOS
for PIC microcontrollers.
Salvo which can be used from a Hi-Tech PIC C compiler.
CCS built-in RTOS.
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RTOS
RTOS are built around a multi-tasking kernel which controls
the allocation of time slices to tasks.
A time slice is the period of time a given task has for execution
before it is stopped and replaced by another task. This process,
also known as context switching, repeats continuously.
When context switching occurs, the executing task is stopped,
the processor registers are saved in memory, the processor
registers of the next available task are loaded into the CPU,
and the new task begins execution.
An RTOS also provides task-to-task message passing,
synchronization of tasks, and allocation of shared resources to
tasks.

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RTOS

The basic parts of an RTOS are:

Scheduler

RTOS services

Synchronization and messaging tools

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 9
RTOS
The scheduler:
 A scheduler is at the heart of every RTOS, as it provides the
algorithms to select the tasks for execution.
Three of the more common scheduling algorithms are:
• Cooperative scheduling
• Round-robin scheduling
• Preemptive scheduling

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 10
RTOS
Cooperative scheduling is perhaps the simplest
scheduling algorithm available.
Each task runs until it is complete and gives up the CPU
voluntarily.
Cooperative scheduling cannot satisfy real-time system needs,
since it cannot support the prioritization of tasks according to
importance.
Also, a single task may use the CPU too long, leaving too little
time for other tasks.
And the scheduler has no control of the various tasks’ execution
time.

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 11
RTOS
Round-robin scheduling: each task is assigned an
equal share of CPU time (see Figure below).
A counter tracks the time slice for each task. When one task’s
time slice completes, the counter is cleared and the task is placed
at the end of the cycle.
Newly added tasks are placed at the end of the cycle with their
counters cleared to 0.
This, like cooperative scheduling, is not very useful in a real-time
system, since very often some tasks take only a few milliseconds
while others require hundreds of milliseconds or more.

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RTOS
Preemptive scheduling is considered a real-time scheduling
algorithm.
It is priority based, and each task is given a priority (see Figure on the next
slide).
The task with the highest priority gets the CPU time.
Real-time systems generally support priority levels ranging from 0 to 255,
where 0 is the highest priority and 255 is the lowest.

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of Electrical and Computer Engineering 6/30/21 13
RTOS
Preemptive scheduling
In some real-time systems where more than one task can be at the
same priority level, preemptive scheduling is mixed with round-robin
scheduling.
In such cases, tasks at higher priority levels run before lower priority
ones, and tasks at the same priority level run by round-robin
scheduling.
If a task is preempted by a higher priority task, its run time counter
is saved and then restored when it regains control of the CPU.
In some systems a strict real-time priority class is defined where
tasks above this class may run to completion (or run until a resource
is not available) even if there are other tasks at the same priority level.

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RTOS
In a real-time system a task can be in any one of the following states:
Ready to run
Running
Blocked
When a task is first created, it is usually ready to run and is entered in
the task list.
From this state, subject to the scheduling algorithm, the task can
become a running task.
According to the conditions of preemptive scheduling, the task will
run if it is the highest priority task in the system and is not waiting for
a resource.
A running task becomes a blocked task if it needs a resource that is not
available. For example, a task may need data from an A/D converter
and is blocked until it is available.
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RTOS
Once the resource can be accessed, the blocked task
becomes a running task if it is the highest priority
task in the system, otherwise it moves to the ready
state.
Only a running task can be blocked.
A ready task cannot be blocked.
When a task moves from one state to another, the
processor saves the running task’s context in
memory, loads the new task’s context from memory,
and then executes the new instructions as required.

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RTOS

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RTOS
The kernel usually provides an interface to
manipulate task operations.
Typical task operations are:
Creating a task
Deleting a task
Changing the priority of a task
Changing the state of a task

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RTOS
RTOS Services:
RTOS services are utilities provided by the kernel that help
developers create real-time tasks efficiently. For example, a task
can use time services to obtain the current date and time.
Some of these services are:
• Interrupt handling services
• Time services
• Device management services
• Memory management services
• Input-output services

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RTOS
Synchronization and Messaging Tools:
Synchronization and messaging tools are kernel constructs that help
developers create real-time applications.
Some of these services are:
• Semaphores
• Event flags
• Mailboxes
• Pipes
• Message queues
Semaphores are used to synchronize access to shared resources, such as
common data areas.
Event flags are used to synchronize the intertask activities.
Mailboxes, pipes, and message queues are used to send messages among
tasks.
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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
An application’s requirements define the
requirements of its underlying RTOS.
Some of the more common attributes are
reliability,
predictability,
performance,
compactness, and
scalability.
the RTOS attribute an application needs depends
on the type of application being built.

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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
Reliability:
Depending on the application, the system might need to
operate for long periods without human intervention.
Different degrees of reliability may be required.
For example, a digital solar-powered calculator might reset
itself if it does not get enough light, yet the calculator might
still be considered acceptable.
On the other hand, a telecom switch cannot reset during
operation without incurring high associated costs for down
time.
Although different degrees of reliability might be acceptable, in
general, a reliable system is one that is available (continues to
provide service) and does not fail.
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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
Predictability:
The RTOS needs to be predictable to a certain degree.
The term deterministic describes RTOSes with predictable
behavior, in which the completion of operating system calls
occurs within known timeframes.
In a good deterministic RTOS, the variance of the response
times for each type of system call is very small.

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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
Performance:
This requirement dictates that an embedded system must perform fast enough
to fulfill its timing requirements.
Typically, the more deadlines to be met—and the shorter the time between
them—the faster the system’s CPU must be.
Although underlying hardware can dictate a system’s processing power, its
software can also contribute to system performance.
Throughput also measures the overall performance of a system, with hardware
and software combined. One definition of throughput is the rate at which a
system can generate output based on the inputs coming in.
Sometimes developers measure RTOS performance on a call-by-call basis.
Benchmarks are written by producing timestamps when a system call starts
and when it completes.
Although this step can be helpful in the analysis stages of design, true
performance testing is achieved only when the system performance is
measured as a whole.
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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
Compactness:
Application design constraints and cost constraints help determine
how compact an embedded system can be. For example, a cell phone
clearly must be small, portable, and low cost.
These design requirements limit system memory, which in turn
limits the size of the application and operating system.
In such embedded systems, where hardware real estate is limited
due to size and costs, the RTOS clearly must be small and efficient.
In these cases, the RTOS memory footprint can be an important
factor.
To meet total system requirements, designers must understand
both the static and dynamic memory consumption of the RTOS and
the application that will run on it.

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Key Characteristics of an RTOS
Scalability:
Because RTOSes can be used in a wide variety of embedded
systems, they must be able to scale up or down to meet application-
specific requirements.
Depending on how much functionality is required, an RTOS
should be capable of adding or deleting modular components,
including file systems and protocol stacks.
If an RTOS does not scale up well, development teams might have
to buy or build the missing pieces.
Suppose that a development team wants to use an RTOS for the
design of a cellular phone project and a base station project.
If an RTOS scales well, the same RTOS can be used in both
projects, instead of two different RTOSes, which saves considerable
time and money.
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