What Is a Real-Time Embedded System? Hard, Firm and Soft Deadlines Explained
A clear introduction to real-time embedded systems: what makes timing part of correctness, how hard, firm and soft deadlines differ, the core task model,…
Articles
In-depth, technically reviewed guides on real-time embedded systems — scheduling theory, timing analysis, RTOS platforms, architectures and applications — plus the original FRESCOR project news.
Contract-Based Scheduling Explained: Making Embedded Software Composable
How scheduling contracts work: minimum budgets and periods, online negotiation and admission control, spare-capacity distribution and server-based enforcement, with a worked example and the…
Rate Monotonic vs Earliest Deadline First: A Practical Comparison
A practical comparison of Rate Monotonic and EDF scheduling covering the Liu and Layland bound, EDF optimality, exact schedulability tests, a worked example where…
Response-Time Analysis: A Step-by-Step Worked Example
Learn response-time analysis for fixed-priority scheduling through a fully computed four-task example, with every iteration tabulated, followed by blocking, release jitter, sensitivity analysis and…
Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) Analysis: Static, Measurement-Based and Hybrid Methods
A survey of worst-case execution time analysis: static analysis with cache modeling and IPET, measurement-based and hybrid approaches, probabilistic MBPTA, multicore interference and practical…
SCHED_DEADLINE and the Constant Bandwidth Server: Resource Reservations in Linux
A practical guide to Linux SCHED_DEADLINE: how EDF and the Constant Bandwidth Server provide CPU reservations, how to set runtime, deadline and period, what…
Choosing an RTOS in 2026: Zephyr, FreeRTOS, NuttX, RTEMS and PREEMPT_RT Linux Compared
A timing-first comparison of Zephyr, FreeRTOS, Apache NuttX, RTEMS and mainline PREEMPT_RT Linux: scheduling models, configuration, licensing, multicore support, certification paths and how to…
Multicore Real-Time Scheduling: Partitioned, Global and Semi-Partitioned Approaches
How to schedule real-time tasks on multicore processors: partitioned bin-packing, global EDF and the Dhall effect, optimal and semi-partitioned algorithms, multiprocessor locking, and inter-core…
Mixed-Criticality Systems: Running Safety-Critical and Best-Effort Software on One Platform
How safety-critical and best-effort software can share one processor: criticality levels, Vestal's multi-WCET model, Adaptive Mixed Criticality analysis with a worked example, EDF-VD, and…