Middleware techniques and optimizations for real-time, embedded systems

Due to constraints on footprint, performance, and weight/power consumption, real time, embedded system software development has historically lagged mainstream software development methodologies. As a result, real time, embedded software systems are costly to evolve and maintain. Moreover, they are often so specialized that they cannot adapt readily to meet new market opportunities or technology innovations. To further exacerbate matters, a growing class of real time, embedded systems require end-to-end support for various quality of service (QoS) aspects, such as bandwidth, latency, jitter, and dependability. These applications include telecommunication systems (e.g., call processing and switching), avionics control systems (e.g., operational night programs for fighter aircraft), and multimedia (e.g., Internet streaming video and wireless PDAs). In addition to requiring support for stringent QoS requirements, these systems are often targeted at highly competitive markets, where deregulation and global competition are motivating the need for increased software productivity and quality. Requirements for increased software productivity and quality motivate the use of Distributed Object Computing (DOC) middleware (A. Gokhale and D.C. Schmidt, 1999). Middleware resides between client and server applications and services in complex software systems. The goal of middleware is to integrate reusable software components to decrease the cycle time and effort required to develop high quality real time and embedded applications and services.