On the use of the IEEE 802.4 token bus in distributed real-time control systems

The performance of the IEEE 802.4 priority mechanism in handling distributed real-time control traffic is examined. A timer assignment technique is presented for such applications. The timers are set to satisfy the worst-case access delay requirements of real-time control applications. Other applications that are not time constrained can be supported simultaneously. Under certain conditions, such applications can also be guaranteed a minimum bandwidth allocation. Simulation results are used to evaluate the timer assignment scheme.<
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