Real-Time Performance (Windows CE 5.0)
Real-time performance is defined for the Microsoft® Windows® CE operating system (OS) as follows:
- Guaranteed upper bound on high-priority thread scheduling — only for the highest-priority thread among all the scheduled threads.
- Guaranteed upper bound on delay in executing high-priority interrupt service routines (ISRs). The kernel has a few places where interrupts are turned off for a short, bounded time.
- Fine control over the scheduler and how it schedules threads.
A real-time system is a set of all system elements — the hardware, operating system, and applications — needed to meet the system requirements. A real-time operating system (RTOS) is one element of that system.
A real-time application**is an application designed to manage time-critical systems, such as manufacturing process controls, high-speed data acquisition devices, or telecommunications switching equipment. The unique characteristic of a real-time application is that it not only provides the correct response, but also responds within a specified period. The Windows CE kernel contains functionality that improves its performance as an RTOS.
The following list shows the kernel capabilities that Windows CE supports as an RTOS:
- Support for up to 32 different processes and 256 thread priority levels
- Support for handling priority inversion with priority inheritance
- Support for nested interrupts to ensure that high-priority events are not delayed
- Support for one-millisecond system tick timing
- Advanced thread timing and scheduling
- Support for semaphores
See Also
Real-Time Performance Functionality | Real-Time Performance Considerations | Real-Time Measurement Tools | Priority Inversion | Synchronization | Kernel Overview
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