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.
Claims18
An interrupt manager for use in a 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 by determining whether a total number of interrupts including at least one of the current interrupt, a recently-performed interrupt, and a pending interrupt would exceed a maximum number of interrupts;
- 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 by comparing a total number of interrupt signals including at least the current interrupt signal with a maximum number of interrupt signals;
- 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.
An interrupt manager for use in a 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 by comparing a first priority associated with the current interrupt with a second priority of the non-interrupt task, wherein the first priority is that of a proxy task generated in response to the receiving of the current interrupt based upon scheduling data of a message causing the current interrupt;
- 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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.