DARTS: Techniques and Tools for Predictably Fast Memory Using Integrated Data Allocation and Real-Time Task Scheduling

—Hardware-managed caches introduce large amounts of timing variability, complicating real-time system design. One alternative is a memory system with scratchpad memories which improve system performance while eliminating such timing variability. Prior work introduced the DARTS approach, which combines static allocation of data into scratchpad memories, with task scheduling for preemptive multi-threaded, hard real-time embedded systems. This study offers several significant contributions. First, it introduces a method to split a stack frame across multiple memory units, offering fine-grain allocation of automatic memory variables with very low run-time overhead. This enables more effective use of fast memory, improving runtimes. Second, it introduces the completed tool-chain based on DARTS, which reallocates static and automatic variables across multiple memory banks and now targets the ARM7 architecture. Third, it evaluates the performance improvement from DARTS using experimental ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: RTAS
• Authors: Sangyeol Kang, Alexander G. Dean
• Keywords: Embedded Systems, Multiple Memory, Performance, RTAS 2010, Scratchpad Memories