Static and dynamic variable voltage scheduling algorithms for real-time heterogeneous distributed embedded systems

This paper addresses the problem of static and dynamic variable voltage scheduling of multi-rate periodic task graphs (i.e., tasks with precedence relationships) and aperiodic tasks in heterogeneous distributed real-time embedded systems. Such an embedded system may contain general-purpose processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Variable voltage scheduling is performed only on general-purpose processors. The static scheduling algorithm constructs a variable voltage schedule via heuristics based on critical path analysis and task execution order refinement. The algorithm redistributes the slack in the initial schedule and refines task execution order in an efficient manner. The variable voltage schedule guarantees all the hard deadlines and precedence relationships of periodic tasks. The dynamic scheduling algorithm is also based on an initially valid static schedule. The objective of the on-line scheduling algorithm is to provide best-effort service to soft aperiodic tasks, as well as to reduce the system power consumption by determining clock frequencies (and correspondingly supply voltages) for different tasks at run-time, while still guaranteeing the deadlines and precedence relationships of hard real-time periodic tasks.