On the effectiveness of cache partitioning in hard real-time systems

In hard real-time systems, cache partitioning is often suggested as a means of increasing the predictability of caches in pre-emptively scheduled systems: when a task is assigned its own cache partition, inter-task cache eviction is avoided, and timing verification is reduced to the standard worst-case execution time analysis used in non-pre-emptive systems. The downside of cache partitioning is the potential increase in execution times. In this paper, we evaluate cache partitioning for hard real-time systems in terms of overall schedulability. To this end, we examine the sensitivity of (i) task execution times and (ii) pre-emption costs to the size of the cache partition allocated and present a cache partitioning algorithm that is optimal with respect to taskset schedulability. We also devise an alternative algorithm which primarily optimises schedulability but also minimises processor utilization. We evaluate the performance of cache partitioning compared to state-of-the-art pre-emption cost analysis based on benchmark code and on a large number of synthetic tasksets with both fixed priority and EDF scheduling. This allows us to derive general conclusions about the usability of cache partitioning and identify taskset and system parameters that influence the relative effectiveness of cache partitioning. We also examine the improvement in processor utilization obtained using an alternative cache partitioning algorithm, and the tradeoff in terms of increased analysis time

An extensible framework for multicore response time analysis

In this paper, we introduce a multicore response time analysis (MRTA) framework, which decouples response time analysis from a reliance on context independent WCET values. Instead, the analysis formulates response times directly from the demands placed on different hardware resources. The MRTA framework is extensible to different multicore architectures, with a variety of arbitration policies for the common interconnects, and different types and arrangements of local memory. We instantiate the framework for single level local data and instruction memories (cache or scratchpads), for a variety of memory bus arbitration policies, including: Round-Robin, FIFO, Fixed-Priority, Processor-Priority, and TDMA, and account for DRAM refreshes. The MRTA framework provides a general approach to timing verification for multicore systems that is parametric in the hardware configuration and so can be used at the architectural design stage to compare the guaranteed levels of real-time performance that can be obtained with different hardware configurations. We use the framework in this way to evaluate the performance of multicore systems with a variety of different architectural components and policies. These results are then used to compose a predictable architecture, which is compared against a reference architecture designed for good average-case behaviour. This comparison shows that the predictable architecture has substantially better guaranteed real-time performance, with the precision of the analysis verified using cycle-accurate simulation

Experimental Evaluation of Cache-Related Preemption Delay Aware Timing Analysis

In the presence of caches, preemptive scheduling may incur a significant overhead referred to as cache-related preemption delay (CRPD). CRPD is caused by preempting tasks evicting cached memory blocks of preempted tasks, which have to be reloaded when the preempted tasks resume their execution. In this paper we experimentally evaluate state-of-the-art techniques to account for the CRPD during timing analysis. We find that purely synthetically-generated task sets may yield misleading conclusions regarding the relative precision of different CRPD analysis techniques and the impact of CRPD on schedulability in general. Based on task characterizations obtained by static worst-case execution time (WCET) analysis, we shed new light on the state of the art

Fixed priority scheduling with pre-emption thresholds and cache-related pre-emption delays: integrated analysis and evaluation

Commercial off-the-shelf programmable platforms for real-time systems typically contain a cache to bridge the gap between the processor speed and main memory speed. Because cache-related pre-emption delays (CRPD) can have a significant influence on the computation times of tasks, CRPD have been integrated in the response time analysis for fixed-priority pre-emptive scheduling (FPPS). This paper presents CRPD aware response-time analysis of sporadic tasks with arbitrary deadlines for fixed-priority pre-emption threshold scheduling (FPTS), generalizing earlier work. The analysis is complemented by an optimal (pre-emption) threshold assignment algorithm, assuming the priorities of tasks are given. We further improve upon these results by presenting an algorithm that searches for a layout of tasks in memory that makes a task set schedulable. The paper includes an extensive comparative evaluation of the schedulability ratios of FPPS and FPTS, taking CRPD into account. The practical relevance of our work stems from FPTS support in AUTOSAR, a standardized development model for the automotive industry

ResilienceP Analysis: Bounding Cache Persistence Reload Overhead for Set-Associative Caches

This work presents different approaches to calculate CPRO for set-associative caches. The PCB-ECB approach uses PCBs of the task under analysis and ECBs of all other tasks in the system to provide sound estimates of CPRO for set-associative caches. The resilienceP analysis then removes some of the pessimism in the PCB-ECB approach by considering the resilience of PCBs during CPRO calculations. We show that using the state-of-the-art (SoA) resilience analysis to calculate resilience of PCBs may result in underestimating the CPRO tasks may suffer. Finally, we have also presented a multi-set alike resilienceP analysis that highlights the pessimism in the resilienceP analysis and provides some insights on how it can be removed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ResilienceP Analysis: Bounding Cache Persistence Reload Overhead for Set-Associative Caches

3rd Doctoral Congress in Engineering will be held at FEUP on the 27th to 28th of June, 2019This work presents different approaches to calculate CPRO for set-associative caches. The PCB-ECB approach uses PCBs of the task under analysis and ECBs of all other tasks in the system to provide sound estimates of CPRO for set-associative caches. The resilienceP analysis then removes some of the pessimism in the PCB-ECB approach by considering the resilience of PCBs during CPRO calculations. We show that using the state-of-the-art (SoA) resilience analysis to calculate resilience of PCBs may result in underestimating the CPRO tasks may suffer. Finally, we have also presented a multi-set alike resilienceP analysis that highlights the pessimism in the resilienceP analysis and provides some insights on how it can be removed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio