Designing time-based measurement/control system

• US 20060247893A1
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keysight Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Eidson, John C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,437,265 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/14 Time supervision arrangements, e.g. real time clock

Abstract

A method for designing a measurement/control system that enables a system designer to explicitly specify the portions of a measurement/control system that are subject to a set of time constraints and the portions of the measurement/control system that are not directly subject to the set of time constraints. A method according to the present teachings includes determining an HRT/SRT boundary between a hard real-time (HRT) portion of a measurement/control system and a soft real-time (SRT) portion of the measurement/control system and determining a buffer for the HTR/SRT boundary in response to a set of time constraints associated with the HRT portion.

Claims

1. A method for designing a measurement/control system, comprising:

determining an HRT/SRT boundary between a hard real-time (HRT) portion of the measurement/control system and a soft real-time (SRT) portion of the measurement/control system;

determining an HRT/SRT buffer for the HRT/SRT boundary in response to a set of time constraints associated with the HRT portion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an HRT/SRT boundary includes determining an HRT/SRT boundary between a front-end and a back-end in an instrument.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an HRT/SRT boundary includes determining an HRT/SRT boundary between a set of channels in a front-end of an instrument.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an HRT/SRT boundary includes determining an HRT/SRT boundary in a communication mechanism in the measurement/control system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an HRT/SRT buffer includes determining a set a parameters for the HRT/SRT buffer in response to the time constraints.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a time-script that specifies a set of parameters for a set of behaviors of the HRT portion.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising altering the HRT/SRT boundary at run-time in the measurement/control system.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising simulating an operation of the HRT/SRT buffer in response to the time constraints.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating a set of tasks of an application program in the measurement/control system across the HRT/SRT boundary.

10. A design system for a measurement/control system, comprising an HRT/SRT module that determines an HRT/SRT boundary between a hard real-time (HRT) portion of the measurement/control system and a soft real-time (SRT) portion of the measurement/control system and that determines an HRT/SRT buffer for the HRT/SRT boundary in response to a set of time constraints associated with the HRT portion.

11. The design system of claim 10, wherein the HRT/SRT module selects an HRT/SRT boundary between a front-end and a back-end in an instrument of the measurement/control system.

12. The design system of claim 10, wherein the HRT/SRT module selects an HRT/SRT boundary between a set of channels in a front-end of an instrument of the measurement/control system.

13. The design system of claim 10, wherein the HRT/SRT module selects an HRT/SRT boundary in a communication mechanism in the measurement/control system.

14. The design system of claim 10, wherein the HRT/SRT module determines a set a parameters for the HRT/SRT buffer in response to the time constraints.

15. The design system of claim 10, further comprising a time-script module that generates a time-script that specifies a set of parameters for a set of behaviors of the HRT portion.

16. The design system of claim 10, wherein the HRT/SRT module enables alterations to the HRT/SRT boundary at run-time in the measurement/control system.

17. The design system of claim 10, further comprising a simulator for simulating an operation of the HRT/SRT buffer in response to the time constraints.

18. The design system of claim 10, further comprising a partition module for allocating a set of tasks of an application program in the measurement/control system across the HRT/SRT boundary.