Performance comparison of real-time architectures using simulation

Abstract

This paper presents a performance comparison of real-time system architectures. A discrete event-driven, task-based simulator is developed for evaluating the performance of parallel and distributed real-time systems. Real-time system components such as processor, network architectures, and scheduling policy are included in the simulator. Simulation results show that priority-based communication and scheduling are more suitable for real-time systems than FIFO-based. The strategy of having a dedicated processor, which produces no effect on task execution by scheduling and packet/interrupt handling, is proven to enhance schedulability and predictability. This paper suggests a method for finding an appropriate real-time architecture for users having real-time requirements through the performance prediction of real-time systems.