Ever more devices, such as photocopiers, radios, washing machines, aircraft and robots, contain computer chips and intelligent software. You don’t think of them as computers but, in essence, that is exactly what they are. Scheduling plays a pivotal role in many of these devices. After all, it would be no good if your car’s anti-lock braking system failed to respond quickly enough when needed. The recent rise of chips with more than one processor has made the scheduling process very much more complex. Marco Bekooij, part-time professor at the University of Twente and Principal Research Scientist at NXP, is developing methods for tackling scheduling problems in multiprocessor systems. He will give his inaugural speech at the University of Twente on 15 November.
Embedded systems are computer systems that are integrated into various items of equipment, resulting in devices that have the capacity to display intelligent behaviour. These smart devices are not things that you would normally think of as computers. These include photocopiers, radios, washing machines, aircraft and robots.
The first chips to be used in embedded systems contained only a single processor (CPU). However, developments in the semiconductor industry since the start of the new century mean that it is now possible to integrate several processors onto a single chip, in what are known as multiprocessor systems.
Scheduling
Careful scheduling plays a key role in the effective operation of embedded systems. Such scheduling ensures that the requisite tasks are carried out in the correct sequence. The advent of multiprocessor systems and dynamic applications has made scheduling a much more difficult task than it was when there was only one processor per chip. In fact, the task of creating a schedule for a multiprocessor chip often requires an unworkable amount of computing power.
The creation of an effective schedule requires a data-flow model. This is a mathematical description that simultaneously describes all of the software and hardware present. Prof. Bekooij explains that “This mathematical description can be used to perform calculations, to determine whether your system meets the requirements, to identify the location of choke-points, and to show how the system should be set up.”
In his work, both at the University of Twente and at NXP, Marco Bekooij is exploring ways of improving such models, which are often still created manually. “That is just one of the major challenges. The problem with manually created models is that it is difficult to verify whether they are correct.”
Cooperation
Prof. Bekooij combines his duties as a researcher at NXP with his part-time professorship at the University of Twente. Marco Bekooij sees the appointment of people from industry as part-time professors as a good way of fostering innovation and cooperation between industry and academia. “Given the potentially conflicting requirements of these two posts, such arrangements are subject to important conditions. Industry works flat out to develop practical applications, while the university’s strength lies in its ability to explore more fundamental issues. Accordingly, effective cooperation can only arise in fields that neither party could tackle on their own. It also requires an awareness and appreciation of one another's strengths.”
Marco Bekooij
Since 2009, Prof. Marco Bekooij has held the post of Professor of Predictable and Composable Multiprocessor Design at the Department of Computer Architecture for Embedded Systems. The department is part of the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT), one of the University of Twente’s research institutes. He also holds the post of Principal Research Scientist at NXP, and has worked at that company since 1995. Prof. Bekooij studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente. He obtained his PhD in 2004, at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Note to the press
Prof. Bekooij will deliver his inaugural speech at 16:00 on 15 November, in the Professor M.P. Breedveld room in the Waaier building on the University of Twente campus. For further details, or an electronic version of the text of the inaugural lecture entitled “Real-Time Embedded Computer Systems, Design and Analysis”, please contact the University of Twente’s Science Information Officer, Joost Bruysters, +31-(0)53-4892773/+31-(0)6-10488228.
