RT-Seed: Real-Time Middleware for Semi-Fixed-Priority Scheduling

The continuing economic boom has seen that many people become interested in automated trading systems with timing constraints and quality of service, called real-time trading systems. In order to realize such real-time trading systems, multi-/many-core processors are required. However, real-time trading systems are somewhat complex, and real-time operating systems struggle to offer continuous support because of their customization, robustness, maintainability, and portability compared with real-time middleware. An imprecise computation model is employed to support these trading systems, and semi-fixed-priority scheduling is a representative imprecise real-time scheduling technique for multi-/many-core processors. Unfortunately, there is no real-time middleware that supports semi-fixed-priority scheduling. This paper presents the RT-Seed real-time middleware, which implements a semi-fixed-priority scheduling algorithm, called Partitioned Rate Monotonic with Wind-up Part (P-RMWP), on Linux. P-RMWP supports the parallel-extended imprecise computation model that executes optional parts in parallel, called parallel optional parts. This paper also describes how to terminate parallel optional parts in the user space. The performance of P-RMWP is evaluated using Intel's Xeon Phi many-core system.