Implementation of inter-processor synchronization/communication and design issues of ITRON-MP

The ITRON-MP specification is the extension of ITRON for shared-memory multiprocessor systems. This paper outlines the design goals and main features of the ITRON-MP specification, and discusses the implementation issues and their relationship with the specification. The implementation methods of synchronization and communication mechanism between processors are discussed in detail. The authors compare the use of remote procedure call and direct memory access, and conclude that direct memory access is appropriate for real-time kernels. As the result, the ITRON-MP specification is designed to be realizable using the direct memory access method.<>