SMP and embedded real-time
Paul E. McKenney · Linux journal · 2007
With the advent of multithreaded/multicore CPUs, even embedded real-time applications are starting to run on SMP systems -for example, both the Xbox 360 and PS/3 are multithreaded, and there even have been SMP ARM processors! As this trend continues, there will be an increasing need for real-time response from SMP systems. Because not all embedded systems vendors will be willing or able to create or purchase SMP real-time operating systems, we can expect that a number of them will make use of Linux. Because of this change, a number of real-time tenets have now become myths. This article exposes these myths and then discusses some of the challenges that Linux is surmounting in order to meet the needs of this new SMP-real-time-embedded world.