Increasingly, embedded systems are part of larger distributed real-time embedded (DRE) systems in a wide variety of domains, including military command and control (C2), avionics and air traffic control, and medicine and emergency response. DRE systems combine the stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements of traditional closed embedded systems with the challenges of the dynamic conditions associated with being widely distributed across an often volatile network environment. Traditionally, embedded systems have been able to rely on their closed environments and self-contained bus architectures to limit the dynamic inputs possible and could rely on static resource management techniques to provide the QoS and reliable performance they need. The environment of distributed, networked systems is more open with heterogeneous platforms, where inputs can come from external devices and platforms, and dynamic, in which conditions, resource availability, and interactions can change. Because of this, achieving the necessary predictable real-time behavior in these DRE systems relies more on the ability to

CRC-C6781 CH036.tex 11/6/2007 19: 20 Page 2

manage resources end-to-end, map system-level requirements to platform-level controls, aggregate and manage conflicting requirements, and adapt and reconfigure to changing conditions.