Graceful Degradation in Semi-Clairvoyant Scheduling

Abstract

In the Vestal model of mixed-criticality systems, jobs are characterized by multiple different estimates of their actual, but unknown, worst-case execution time (WCET) parameters. Some recent research has focused upon a semi-clairvoyant model for mixed-criticality systems in which it is assumed that each job reveals upon arrival which of its WCET parameters it will respect. We study the problem of scheduling such semi-clairvoyant systems to ensure graceful degradation of service to less critical jobs in the event that the systems exhibit high-criticality behavior. We propose multiple different interpretations of graceful degradation in such systems, and derive efficient scheduling algorithms that are capable of ensuring graceful degradation under these different interpretations