Middleware scheduling optimization techniques for distributed real-time and embedded systems

Developers of mission-critical distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems face a fundamental tension between: (1) the performance gains achievable with hand-crafted optimizations to systems built largely from scratch and (2) the development cost and cycle-time reductions offered by common off-the-shelf (COTS) middleware. The paper describes how the Kokyu portable middleware scheduling framework, which is built using standards-based COTS middleware and OS primitives, can be used both to: (1) maintain the flexibility and reuse offered by COTS middleware, and (2) provide opportunities for domain-specific optimizations that are needed to meet stringent real-time performance requirements.