CS452 - Real-Time Programming - Spring 2017

Lecture 8 - Initialization

Public Service Annoucements

  1. Due date for kernel 1: 26 May, 2017

Initializing a Task

In creating a task you have to do two things

  1. Allocate the resources needed by the task
  2. Make the task look as if it had just entered the kernel

Must initialize the TD

Must initialize the stack

Must add task to its readyQ

The following implementation decisions are up to you.


Initializing the Kernel

Set up the Hardware

RedBoot gives you the processor with

There is a subtlety here. There are actually three ways that you can get into RedBoot and the state of the hardware is slightly different.

Then there are a few things you need to do. While RedBoot gives you the system as described above, there may be things done by a previous student that changed what RedBoot thinks it is giving you.

  1. Initialize busy-wait I/O.
  2. Initialize low memory.
  3. Turn off interrupts in the ICU etc.

Prepare the Kernel Data Structures

Where is the kernel's stack pointer, right now? What is on the bottom of the stack?

The kernel data structures. At the very least you need

  1. an array of empty ready queues
  2. a pointer to the TD of the active task
  3. an array of TDs
  4. a free list of pointers to free TDs. This might take the form of bits set in a couple of words.
You might also want

Prepare the Memory to be Used by Tasks

Some of the state of a task on creation is task-independent. You can, if you want to, initialize it in every TD and every block of memory right now.

Create the First User Task

Run with hardware interrupts turned off for now. But hardware interrupts in user tasks are turned on in kernel 3 though they stay off in the kernel.

What you do in creating the First User Task is exactly what you do creating any other task. All the same this is a place where you probably don't want to run the same code. Why?

Reminder. The place where the kernel starts executing has the global name main, which cannot be re-used.


Other Primitives

These primitives exist mostly so that we, which includes you, can ensure that task creation and scheduling are working when there is not much else implemented.

Tid MyTid( )

Self-explanatory

A question, to which there is a correct answer, or more specifically, a correct (answer, reason) pair.

Tid MyParentTid( )

Self-explanatory

Where is the parent Tid, and how does the kernel find it?

void Pass( )

Doesn't block: task calling Pass( ) makes a state transition from ACTIVE to READY.

Does reschedule.

When is Pass( ) a NOP?

void Exit( )

Calling task is removed from all queues, but its resources are not reclaimed or reused.

That is, the task goes into a zombie state, and will never become active or ready, but continues to own all its resources.


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