Real-Time Kernel Support for Coprocessors: Empirical Study of an SoPC

The system on chip paradigm consists of one or more instruction set processors integrated with custom hardware on a single integrated circuit. A uni-processor real-time kernel is presented that integrates hardware coprocessors by viewing them as system resources to be scheduled in conjunction with the processor. The kernel implements the earliest-deadline first scheduling policy. To demonstrate this “hardware/software coscheduling”, an automobile engine idle speed controller and model is implemented. The target platform for this test-case is the Nios system on programmable chip, a soft-core Nios processor embedded in an APEX field programmable gate array. Impact on schedule analysis and application partitioning is discussed.