Linux for High Performance and Real-Time Computing on SMP Systems ∗

Abstract

Applications that require a combination of high-performance computing capabilities and real-time behavior, although pervasive (simulation, medicine, training, multimedia communications), often rely on specific hardware and software components that make them high performance but expensive, and quite difficult to develop, validate and moreover upgrade. The increasing performance of COTS and the volume of software developed for these applications lead to the consideration of incremental development schemes in addition to sole performance. In the ITEA Hyades project, industrial companies, research centres and academic departments, propose a complete set of software technologies aimed at adding real-time capabilities to multi-processor systems, with a strong commitment to standards. In this paper we present the application requirements with respect to real-time, the architectural model proposed, as well as the reasons for using the Linux operating system. Then, we introduce software components that have been selected to provide real-time needs, among which are Adeos and ARTiS, and their expected contribution to global performance. Finally we provide performance measurements for these elements. ∗ This work has been done in the scope of the Hyades project, ITEA 01010 1