Real-Time Systems for Federal Applications: A Review of Significant Technological Developments

The Federal Systems Division of IBM has been heavily involved in complex, on-line, real-time systems for over twenty-five years. In this paper a representative sample of these programs are reviewed, and an evaluation of the significant lessons learned from this wealth of experience is presented. The key issues which differentiate real-time systems from their more conventional data processing counterparts are identified and their implications are discussed. This leads to some conclusions regarding the kind of commitment that is necessary in order to succeed in the area of real-time applications.