ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses scheduling algorithms and their analysis. It contains the basics of task-based scheduling algorithms. The chapter presents a few basic scheduling analysis techniques for the rate monotonic (RM) algorithm, able to mathematically prove whether or not a set of periodic tasks satisfies their deadlines, by considering some of their basic characteristics, like their period and execution time. It introduces the concept of task priority as a simple example of an attribute attached to each task, which guides and affects the scheduling algorithm’s choices. The basic model just introduced is very convenient and leads to interesting results concerning theoretical scheduling analysis, it also has some shortcomings that limit its direct application to real-world scenarios. Analysis methods also exist for earliest deadline first (EDF) and other scheduling algorithms, but are considerably more complex than for RM. The RM and EDF are optimal scheduling algorithms within the scope of the basic task model and that is, fixed-priority and dynamic-priority algorithms.
