Introduction

Abstract

Computer systems are increasingly used for the monitoring and control of physical processes. Examples of such applications are automotive electronics, fly-by-wire airplane control systems, industrial process control systems, control of power plants, robotics and others. Computer systems in these application areas are called real-time systems. They are not only required to deliver correct results but also to deliver timely results. The requirement for timeliness is dictated by the dynamics of the physical process to be monitored or controlled. Hence the computer system has to react to relevant state changes of the physical process within a guaranteed response time. Each relevant state change of the physical process represents a stimulus for the computer system which has to be served. Many application areas of real-time systems dictate that the services delivered by such a system are dependable.