A simple power-aware scheduling for multicore systems when running real-time applications

High-performance microprocessors, e.g., multithreaded and multicore processors, are being implemented in embedded real-time systems because of the increasing computational requirements. These complex microprocessors have two major drawbacks when they are used for real-time purposes. First, their complexity difficults the calculation of the WCET (Worst Case Execution Time). Second, power consumption requirements are much larger, which is a major concern in these systems. In this paper we propose a novel soft power-aware real-time scheduler for a state-of-the-art multicore multithreaded processor, which implements dynamic voltage scaling techniques. The proposed scheduler reduces the energy consumption while satisfying the constraints of soft real-time applications. Different scheduling alternatives have been evaluated, and experimental results show that using a fair scheduling policy, the proposed algorithm provides, on average, energy savings ranging from 34% to 74%.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: IPPS
• Authors: Diana Bautista, Julio Sahuquillo, Houcine Hassan, Salvador Petit, José Duato
• Keywords: Distributed And Parallel Computing, Embedded Real-time Systems, IPPS 2008, Power-aware Real-time Scheduler, Real-time