Soft Real-Time Switched Ethernet: Best-Effort Packet Scheduling Algorithm, Implementation, and Feasibility Analysis

In this thesis, we present a MAC-layer packet scheduling algorithm, called Best-effort Packet Scheduling Algorithm(BPA), for real-time switched Ethernet networks. BPA considers a message model where application messages have trans-node timeliness requirements that are specified using Jensen's benefit functions. The algorithm seeks to maximize aggregate message benefit by allowing message packets to inherit benefit functions of their parent messages and scheduling packets to maximize aggregate packet-level benefit. Since the packet scheduling problem is NP-hard, BPA heuristically computes schedules with a worst-case cost of O(n^2), faster than the O(n^3) cost of the best known Chen and Muhlethaler's Algorithm(CMA) for the same problem. Our simulation studies show that BPA performs the same or significantly better than CMA. We also construct a real-time switched Ethernet by prototyping an Ethernet switch using a Personal Computer(PC) and implementing BPA in the network protocol stack of the Linux kernel for packet scheduling. Our actual performance measurements of BPA using the network implementation reveal the effectiveness of the algorithm. Finally, we derive timeliness feasibility conditions of real-time switched Ethernet systems that use the BPA algorithm. The feasibility conditions allow real-time distributed systems to be constructed using BPA, with guaranteed soft timeliness.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Jinggang

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Ravindran, Binoy

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Midkiff, Scott F.
• Athanas, Peter M.

• asynchronous real-time distributed systems
• best-effort scheduling
• soft timeliness
• packet scheduling
• real-time Ethernet
• benefit functions
• feasibility conditions

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10032002-152839

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35277