Distributed real-time operating system
AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
InventorSivaram Balasubramanian
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Abstract
A distributed control system and methods of operating such a control system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the distributed control system is operated in a manner in which interrupts are at least temporarily inhibited from being processed to avoid excessive delays in the processing of non-interrupt tasks. In another embodiment, the distributed control system is operated in a manner in which tasks are queued based upon relative timing constraints that they have been assigned. In a further embodiment, application programs that are executed on the distributed control system are operated in accordance with high-level and/or low-level requirements allocated to resources of the distributed control system.
Claims21
An interrupt manager for use in a distributed control system, the interrupt manager comprising:
- circuitry that:
- (i) receives interrupt signals including a current interrupt;
- (ii) determines whether the current interrupt can be processed without delaying processing of a non-interrupt task beyond a predetermined time;
- and
- (iii) inhibits, at least temporarily, processing of the current interrupt when it is determined that the processing of the current interrupt would delay the processing of the non-interrupt task beyond the predetermined time.
A method of handling interrupts for use with a processor in a control system, the method comprising:
- receiving a current interrupt signal;
- determining whether processing of the current interrupt signal would delay processing of a non-interrupt task beyond a predetermined time;
- and inhibiting, at least temporarily, the processing of the current interrupt signal when it is determined that the processing would delay the processing of the non-interrupt task beyond the predetermined time.
A method of scheduling messages being transmitted on a network among spatially-distributed control components of a distributed control system, the method comprising:
- receiving a message;
- receiving a relative timing constraint concerning the message, wherein the relative timing constraint is indicative of an amount of time;
- and inserting the message into a queue at a location that is a function of the relative timing constraint.
20-30. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.