Title: Scoped, coarse-grain memory management and the RTSJ scoped memory model in the development of real-time applications

Authors: Andrew Borg, Andy Wellings

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK. ' Department of Computer Science, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

Abstract: As real-time systems become increasingly large and complex, forcing a static memory model becomes untenable. The challenge is to provide a memory model that guarantees tightly bounded time and memory requirements without overburdening the developer with memory concerns. This paper revisits the memory management problem in real-time systems. We introduce a simple model that describes memory usage in a program composed of coarse-grain entities and evaluate a minimal scoped model in this context. We thereby conclude that a scoped, coarse-grain approach similar to that adopted by the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ) is attractive when targeting systems with tight timing constraints.

Keywords: real-time memory management; real-time specification for Java; RTSJ; scoped memory; region partitioning model; RPM; fragmentation; coarse-grain memory; embedded systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJES.2006.014853

International Journal of Embedded Systems, 2006 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.166 - 183

Published online: 12 Aug 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article