Rajsekhar Das

Real-time dependable channels: customizing QoS attributes for distributed systems

Communication services that provide enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees related to dependability and real time are important for many applications in distributed systems. This paper presents real-time dependable (RTD) channels, a communication-oriented abstraction that can be configured to meet the QoS requirements of a variety of distributed applications. This customization ability is based on using CactusRT, a system that supports the construction of middleware services out of software modules called micro-protocols. Each micro-protocol implements a different semantic property or property variant and interacts with other micro-protocols using an event-driven model supported by the CactusRT runtime system. In addition to RTD channels CactusRT and its implementation are described. This prototype executes on a cluster of Pentium PCs running the OpenGroup/RI MK 7.3 Mach real-time operating system and CORDS, a system for building network protocols based on the x-kernel.

Supporting configurability and real time in RTD channels

Network communication services that can be configured to customize functionality provide significant advantages over monolithic versions, but can be difficult to construct if the services must also provide real‐time guarantees on message delivery. This paper describes how practical issues related to the combination of configurability and real time have been addressed in real‐time dependable (RTD) channels, a communication abstraction that has been prototyped using the Cactus system. The architecture and implementation of RTD channels are described, including facilities for translating an applications quality of service requirements into configuration‐specific resource requirements, and an admission control architecture that uses system‐wide information to determine whether sufficient resources exist to create new channels. In addition, the results of experiments that demonstrate that the desired channel properties—including real‐time guarantees—are provided for various configurations are presented. Finally, practical problems and lessons learned from implementing RTD channels on the general‐purpose MK 7.3 Mach operating system are discussed. Copyright