Characteristics and Major Functions of Real-Time Operating Systems (Rtos)

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Characteristics and Major Functions of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) Shadi Janansefat Under supervision of Dr. Gupta Department of Computer Science Southern Illinois University Carbondale Spring 2012 Abstract: Defining the basic principles of general operating systems, the paper then introduces the real-time operating systems and its characteristics. Major functions and mechanisms of real-time operating systems are discussed to show how they provide the required features for real-time systems. I. Introduction: Real-time systems are widely used in the construction of national defense, aerospace, industrial control and many other fields. As the most critical character that may affect the whole system, real-time character is required to guarantee the performance of these systems. The emergence of real-time operating system provides a powerful tool for real-time systems design and development because of its real-time kernel, multi-task, scheduling and fast interrupt response mechanism and so on. Real-time operating system is a subtype of operating system. It has a lot of characteristics that are similar to common operating system in many respects. It is mainly responsible for the control and management of variety of hardware resources to enable the hardware system to become available, and provides upper level applications with rich system calls. However, compared with the common operating system, a real-time operating system has its own characteristics. In this paper, first general-purpose operating systems are discussed. Then, Real-time operating systems (RTOS) are introduced and their characteristics are explained. This part is followed by major functions of RTOS that are necessary to provide the mentioned characteristics. Finally, there is a conclusion on the most important points that one should have in mind to be able to design an RTOS. II. Operating
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