Responsive computing with CORBA

The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a widely-accepted, standardized system integration framework based on distributed object technologies. CORBA is focused on facilitating general computing environments and does not explicitly address the needs of responsive (fault-tolerant, real-time) computing. Therefore, the question remains how to extend today's CORBA implementations for support of responsive computing. In this paper we propose a CORBA-based distributed framework for responsive execution of CORBA method invocations. The framework exploits consensus for synchronization, reliable communication, and fault diagnosis among replicated server objects. Within the replicated server objects, we use the "Composite Objects" technique for predictable integration of CORBA and responsive computing. We present a methodology for creating objects which interface to CORBA while simultaneously supporting fault-tolerance and real-time requirements.