A real-time operating system supporting distributed shared memory for embedded control systems

Abstract

The paper presents a real-time operating system (RTOS) that provides a distributed shared memory (DSM) service for distributed embedded control systems. Model-based design is widely adopted in embedded control software design and the source code of software modules can be generated from a controller model. The generated software modules exchange their input and output values through shared variables. We develop a RTOS with a DSM service to provide a location-transparent environment, in which distributed software modules can exchange input and output values through the DSM. The RTOS is an extension to OSEK OS. We use a real-time network called FlexRay, which is based on a time division multiple access (TDMA) protocol. The consistency of the DSM is maintained according to the order of data transfer through FlexRay, not using inter-node synchronization. The worst case response time of the DSM is predictable if the FlexRay communication is well configured.