Implementing a new scheduling algorithm in an OS kernel is often an important step in scheduling research because it permits evaluation of the algorithm's performance on real workloads. However, developing a new scheduler is not a trivial task because it requires sophisticated programming skills and a deep knowledge of kernel internals. This paper describes our work towards a rapid prototyping system for hard real-time systems focusing on scheduling algorithms and scheduler implementations.

The framework aims at speeding up the decision making process during selection of a suitable scheduling algorithm for a real-time application. In this research paper, the comparison of different preemptive scheduling algorithms is carried out. Hence, by extracting the positive features of each of the generic preemptive scheduling policies, a new parametric scheduling policy is developed. It is expected that the new scheduling algorithm will give better performance with respect to satisfying the needs, such as response time, waiting time and turnaround time.

In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in integrating real-time techniques in general-purpose operating systems to run, for example, time-sensitive applications in desktop environments. New and interesting real-time scheduling algorithms have been developed to meet the requirements of these applications. One of the most critical aspects of this kind of research is to implement a proposed algorithm in a real kernel so that it can be validated and evaluated. However, such an implementation requires a deep knowledge of the kernel and better-than-average programming skill.

A Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) is capable of handling multiple events simultaneously and within fixed time frame. Computers running mission-critical embedded applications need an operating system that responds quickly or within ‘real time’ to requests.

Two essential features make an operating system ‘real-time’. The operating system must support multitasking with preemptive, priority-driven context switching with guaranteed interrupt handling. What it means is that if the operating system receives an outside event, it should be able to switch between the running process and the event handler process immediately. The OS must also have a very efficient Inter-Process Communication (IPC) subsystem. If a process wishes to talk to another, it should be able to do so immediately and without fail (Leung and Whitehead, 1982).

Computer Sciences Journal, Real-Time Operating System, RTOS, Decision Making Process, Inter-Process Communications, Preemptive Scheduling Algorithms, Process Scheduling, Embedded Systems, Process Control Block, Accounting Information, Task Control Block, PMLFQ Scheduling Algorithm, Operating Systems, Multiprocessor Real-Time Systems.