Real-Time Scheduling:

EDF and RM

Daniel Mosse
University of Pittsburgh

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Acronyms

RT = real-time (timeliness is as important as functionality)

HRT = hard real-time (catastrophic consequences)
SRT = soft real-time (typically monetary consequences)
NRT = non real-time (i.e., general purpose systems)
WCET = Worst-case execution time
EDF = Earliest Deadline First
RM = Rate Monotonic
OS = Operating System

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RT Scheduling
What should the system know, in addition to NRT tasks?
Two approaches:
OS supports RT. How can this info be transmitted to the OS?
Support for RT is outside, extra tool; OS supports fixed
priority scheduling. What are the advantages and
disadvantages?

Hardware support? Timer card, with high resolution.

CPU scheduling support: predictability.
Same for disk, sensors, actuators, and other peripherals
Low overhead a plus, but also in NRTSs

Aug 2, 2004

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RT: Admission Control

The basis of all HRT systems is that, for processes or
threads to be created, need to pass admission control
In NRT systems admission control typically is concerned
with starvation of processes due to lack of resources
In RT systems, the idea is the same, but more constraints
are present:
All deadlines must be met (i.e., the response time is before
deadline)
Enough instances of all resources must be present
Periodic invocations must be activated within certain latencies

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

State Diagram

Create: PCB and other resources are setup

End: resources held are returned to the OS (freed)
Context switching: saves HW context; updates PCB
States are typically implemented as queues, lists, sets
process
initialized

create

IO
completed

end
process
completed

Aug 2, 2004

IO
completed

ready
schedule

running
Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

blocked
IO
requested

Complete State Diagram

These two states check for sufficient
resources in the system
suspended

admission
control
process
submitted

process
started

IO
completed

end
process
completed

process
returns

IO
completed

ready

create

Aug 2, 2004

temporary
suspension

schedule

running
Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

blocked
IO
requested

Types of RT Scheduling

Source: Kopetz

Dynamic vs. Static

Dynamic schedule computed at run-time based on tasks really

executing
Static schedule done at compile time for all possible tasks

Preemptive permits one task to preempt another one of

lower priority, but non-preemptive does not require state to
be saved This lecture considers ONLY preemptive systems
Source: Koopman
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Static vs Dynamic Schedules

Static schedules are great in some systems
Time-triggered schedules (build a priori) are also great in
some systems
BUT, sometimes, when things are dynamic, dynamic
schedules offer more flexibility, easier maintenance, and
better resource utilization

WCET is not the worst case

Tasks that are supposed to start are not ready to start
An urgent task is scheduled when it is scheduled, no earlier
Need to build a schedule to the Least Common Multiple of the
periods of all tasks in the system (perhaps exponential)
When a task changes, need to rebuild the schedule

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Dynamic (priority-based) Scheduling

One would like to send the tasks to the system, and let the
system execute them and guarantee deadlines are met
For that, we need admission control: clearly, one cannot use
more than 100% of the CPU cycles that exist
Admission control is a way to analyze the tasks so that one
can guarantee BEFORE RUNNING that deadlines are met
Then submit the tasks to the system, and the scheduler
knows how to schedule the tasks accordingly
Rate Monotonic schedulers give higher priority to tasks with
smaller period (think of a smaller deadline!)
Earliest Deadline First schedulers give higher priority to tasks
with (guess!) earliest deadline (again, think of a smaller
deadline!)
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Priorities as Scheduling
In both dynamic scheduling algorithms that we consider here
(EDF and RM), the priorities of the tasks are a guide for the
scheduler to dispatch the task
In EDF, it is the explicit deadline that functions as the
priority, and therefore the programmer or system
integrator has to know about deadlines
In RM, the period of the task determines the priority, and
therefore the system integrator has to have global
knowledge of all tasks periods (so that s/he can determine
whether a task is higher or lower priority)
In any case, the priorities can be manipulated in an explicit
or implicit manner by the programmer or system integrator

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Dynamic Scheduling Notation

WCET
P

Example is a periodic RT task, with 3 instances

Assume non-preemptive system with 5 Restrictions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Tasks {Ti} are periodic, with hard deadlines and no jitter

Tasks and instances are completely independent
Deadline = period (pi = di)
WCET ci is known and constant
Context switching is free (zero cost)

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Earliest Deadline First (EDF)

Compare with your own tasks, such as work tasks
Preemptive or non-preemptive, EDF is optimal (in the sense
that it will find a feasible schedule if one exists)
A feasible schedule is one in which all deadlines are met
EDF works with preemptive periodic tasks: there is a
minimum interarrival between instances. Could instances be
separated by more than one period? How about less?
Only requirement is to meet all the deadlines
With a single task, the requirement is: U = c/p 1, that is, a
task must be executable in a single CPU
Ci
Aug 2, 2004

Pi

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EDF (cont)
Did you notice the characteristic of EDF: the priority of the
tasks is not fixed, relative to each other
Again, compare with daily tasks: which has priority?
For example, let there be 2 tasks ready in the system

Which executes first, when? Whats the order?

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

EDF (cont)
The same math for a single task also works for multiple
tasks:
A schedule is feasible iff U < 1, that is, ci/ pi 100%

The share (utilization) of each task is obviously also restricted,

but the combined utilization cannot exceed 100%

For EDF, every time a new instance is ready, there is a need

for checking whether this task is the highest priority one
The relative priority of tasks (see previous slide) can
change, depending on the instances, time, etc.
Can we do better than having to perform all these checks?

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Rate Monotonic (RM)

In RM, the priority of the tasks is fixed with respect to
each other.
The priority is computed as the inverse of the period.
Dissect the name: rate (which means it depends on the
period) and monotonic (increases or decreases only)
Reasoning behind it: the more frequent a developer wants to
do a task, the higher priority it should have.
How efficient is it? as efficient as EDF?

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM admission control
Let us consider the easy and good case for RM: harmonic
periods (that is, all periods are multiples of each other)
In this case, the admission control for RM is the same as it
is for EDF
A schedule is feasible iff U < 1, that is, ci/ pi 100%

The share (utilization) of each task is obviously also restricted,

but the combined utilization cannot exceed 100%

Note that the task with the shorter period will also be the
task with the earliest deadline at any given time

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM (cont)
Which scheduling policy is more efficient? Can RM be any
more efficient than EDF? Can RM be any more efficient than
EDF?
Depends on how one looks at efficiency, which can be
defined as less dispatching (context switching) overhead,
can be defined as higher resource utilization without
considering overhead, or a combination thereof
In general, RM may allow for less CPU to be used. Example:
Wasted CPU

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM (cont)
So, in general, the CPU cannot be fully utilized when tasks
are scheduled following RM, and the admission control has to
reflect this issue.
This is because RM is for fixed-priority tasks (tasks
priorities do not change in time, theyre always the same, and
therefore their relative priority is also the same)
Liu and Layland devised a test to check whether task sets
could be scheduled:
If ci/ pi n ( 21/n 1), then all n tasks will meet their
deadlines

However, RM can be implemented in hardware

How? (see next slide)

Is it worth it?
It reduces the scheduling overhead, memory overhead, stack
overhead

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Implementing RM in hardware
Good for control systems, in which sensors are separate
devices: temperature, pressure, RPM, acceleration, smell,
etc
Devices also must be able to send signals to the CPU to
activate the tasks on a periodic basis
Associate each device to an interrupt priority, according to
the inverse of the period
Tasks are handled by a PIC (programmable interrupt
controller) which activates interrupt service routines (ISRs)
The tasks must be cooperative, since they will execute on
the same stack (like threads, but not really threads)
Advantages: Low context switch overhead, no scheduling
overhead, low memory allocation overhead, highly
collaborative
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Implementing RM in regular OSs

Most unix-like OSs nowadays provide the means for what
they call real-time priorities
These are tasks that run above the NRT tasks, at fixed
priorities
The OS does not need to know what the period and/or
deadline for the tasks are, but the system integrator has to
determine the priority of each task
Since RM has a well-defined, fixed-priority relation between
priority and period, its easy to do.
Note that this only defines the order to run the processes,
but does NOT make it a RT OS!!! All the other issues
(interrupts, disks, deamons, etc) are still NRT!!!

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Exact Characterization and

Response Time Analysis
How can the admission control tests (also called feasibility
test) be simplified or complicated?
The LL
Take the task with the highest priority. Its response time
is simply C1
T2 has a different response time. How can we compute it?
R2 = C1 + C2. Is this correct? Why or why not?
R2 = (P2 / P1) C1 + C2.
Is this correct? Why or why not?

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM response time analysis

R2 = P2 / P1 C1 + C2.
Is this correct? Why or why not?
What is/are the condition/s we have to check?
How many periods do we have to check this condition?
May also be called fixed point computation, since all this is
done when response time does not increase anymore

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM: response time analysis

Clearly, R2 C1 + C2, but it may be that R2 > C1 + C2
This will happen if the second instance of T1 preempts T2
In this case, R2 2C1 + C2. In fact, if the third instance of T1
preempts T2 also, R2 3C1 + C2.
We can derive a recurrence relation, and keep increasing R2
R22 = (R12 /P1)C1 + C2
The recurrence stops when
Rij = Ri+1j (response time does not increase further: accept task)
(task misses the deadline: reject task)
Rij > Dj

This test has to be done in increasing order of priority; note

that this is only for FIXED priority scheduling of RT tasks

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM: response time analysis algorithm

Again, consider only 2 tasks for simplicity
R1 = C1 no problem. R2 ?

case 1: C2 P1 - C1 which causes T2

R2
P1 P2
R1
to finish before the end of P1,
which means that R2 = C1 + C2
case 2: C2 > P1 - C1 which causes
P1 P2
R1
the new instance of T1 to preempt T2 ,
which means that R2 2C1 + C2
If the preemption is done once, R2 = 2C1 + C2
R2
However, by preempting T2 the response time of T2 is
postponed, which may cause preemption to occur twice, and
thus R2 = 3C1 + C2
And so on

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM: response time analysis example

Consider the following tasks <C, P>
T1=<1,2>
T2=<2,5>

R1 = C1 = 1 but R2?
R02 = 2+1= 3, at least; that is larger than P1
R12 = ceil(3/2) 2 = 2 * 2 = 4
R22 = ceil(4/2) 2 = 2 * 2 = 4
Since R12 = R22 the task is accepted. on to the next task

We do this type of computation for every task in order of

priority

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Resource Sharing
When resources are shared (resources can be anything
threads use, such as memory locations, variables, devices,
etc), there has to be a synchronization mechanism
Usually, semaphores and/or lock variables are used (rarely
monitors are used: do not pause this program for a special
monitors insert in the last slide)
Semaphores may cause priority inversion: a high priority
task is blocked by a low priority task (same with nonpreemptive scheduling)

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Priority Inversion
High pr task misses
its deadline

blocks on mutex
becomes active

High Priority Task

other tasks

low priority Task

starts
gets preempted
locks mutex
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Source: Bettati

Disallow Preemption of Tasks in Critical Section

10

Analysis identical to analysis with non-preemptable portions

Define: = maximum duration of all critical sections
Task Ti is schedulable if

ek
+ = F X (i )

pi
k =1 p k
i

Problem: critical sections can be rather long.

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Source: Bettati

Priority Inheritance
Jobs that are not blocked are scheduled according
to the scheduling algorithm
Priority Inheritance:
Basic strategy for controlling priority inversion:
Let be the priority of J
and be the priority of J
and <
then the priority of J is set to whenever J is blocked by J
Priority Inheritance is transitive

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Priority Inheritance controls PrioInv

T1
T2
T3
without priority inheritance

T1
T2
T3
T3 blocks T1 here
T3s prio=T1s prio

Aug 2, 2004

T3 blocks T2 here

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with priority inheritance

Source: Bettati

Problem with priority inheritance

The main problem with priority inheritance is that it may
cause deadlocks
If there are more than one resource, and the tasks are
going to use them, a deadlock is possible. Example:
Low priority task, L, locks a resource
(acquires S1)
L gets preempted by a higher priority task, H,
locks a second resource (acquires S2). Since L
is not using S2, no priority is inherited
H tries to get S1, and blocks
L is promoted, resumes, tries to get S2,
and blocks
DEADLOCK!

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Source: Tindell00

Priority Ceiling?
The Priority Ceiling Protocol solves the deadlock problem by
raising the priority of the task to the highest priority of all
the tasks that may lock the resource in question
When a task Ti attempts to execute one of its critical
sections, it will be suspended unless its priority is higher
than the priority ceiling of all semaphores currently locked
by tasks other than Ti
When a task blocks other tasks (directly or indirectly), it
inherits the highest of their priorities

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Priority Ceiling Protocol: Example

Similar to the example of deadlocks
L locks S1, but now it immediately
gets promoted
So, it continues to execute, acquires
S2 without being preempted by other
higher-priority tasks
When it unlocks (releases) S1, it is
returned to its original priority
THEN (and only then) it can get
preempted
NO DEADLOCK

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Source: Tindell00

Response time analysis with shared resources

Before, we had RM deal with only independent tasks
Adding resources adds the problem of priority inversion, and
therefore, a means of dealing with it is needed.
We know that priority inversion will cause some high priority
tasks to be delayed. We account for this extra delay in
doing schedulability analysis?
Add a term for blocking (or PrioInv) in the utilization equations
for RM
This extra term accounts for the amount of time that another
task may be blocking this task during execution

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Overheads
Up to now, we have an ideal
system, with the instantaneous preemption, context
switch, scheduling, etc
How can one incorporate these overheads in the feasibility
tests? How much will they influence the issue?
Its not free, but as CPUs gets faster it gets cheaper compared
to real time

In a similar way to the priority inversion issues, we can add

another term to the utilization and feasibility equations,
reflecting the overheads.
Biggest issue seems to be repopulating the cache on a
context switch
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

RM/EDF during overloads

Overloads can be caused when a task takes a little longer
than WCET; possible causes
WCET tool not accurate
Tests didnt cover whole input spectrum

In RM, the tasks with higher priority will always run, and the
tasks with lower priority will suffer
Not fair, since offending task may be high-priority task
Predictable: high-priority tasks are more important (are they?)

Although EDF is more efficient (can get 100% utilization), it

suffers from a big problem under overloads:
If the schedule is tightly packed (all tasks finish exactly at
their deadlines) and the first task takes a little longer than
WCET, then all tasks will miss their deadlines

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

EDF with precedence constraints

Consider a task graph: nodes are tasks, edges are
precedence constraints
One only deadline for the entire application
How can we apply EDF?
C
Easy solution considers semaphores
Complicate problem: all tasks are ready at time 0,
and no semaphores are used.
A single graph will have a single deadline

A
D

B
E
F

Do a topological sort of the graph

Start from the bottom and reduce the deadline of each task by
a little bit (it does not matter how much)
Consider all tasks to be independent
Run EDF
Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Least Laxity Scheduling

Least Laxity is also optimal for single processors (like EDF)
If sum of task utils is less than 100%, task set is feasible
Algorithm: dispatch the task with the smallest laxity, which is
the largest amount of time that a task can be delayed (some
type of procrastination index)
In a sense, it is similar to EDF, in that it runs the most urgent
tasks in the set (the metric by which urgency is measure
differs, though)
A problem occurs with LLF, when tasks have the same laxity:
too many preemptions

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Least Laxity Scheduling (cont)

Take 2 tasks with requirements <3,6>
The EDF schedule would be the following:
However, in the LLF schedule, both tasks have the same
laxity when they become ready.
Then, one task runs, its laxity remains the same, while the
other tasks laxity decreases. LLF schedule is
As can be seen from the figures, the schedule for LLF has
many preemptions/context switches

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])

Summary
Dynamic Scheduling is a Good Thing, when your system is
somewhat predictable (periodic)
Allows for flexibility, but designers have to beware of
Priority Inversion
Deadlocks
Overhead

Designers typically choose between RM and EDF

EDF is more efficient in general, but RM is as efficient (and
more, if considering overhead) for harmonic task sets

Aug 2, 2004

Daniel Mosse ([email protected])