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Real-Time Linux

Welcome

This site is a resource for real-time software developers who use Linux.

Tutorial

This tutorial introduces RT Linux through examples demonstrating scheduling of periodic and variable-period tasks, FIFOs, shared memory, interrupt service routines and other topics. The demonstrations require the RTAI version of real-time Linux.

Start the Tutorial

You can also download the tutorial and example demonstrations for use locally. The tutorial is a compressed tar archive that you download, uncompress, install and run on an already-configured RTAI system. This is version 2.0 of the tutorial, built using Autotools and using the Linux kernel module compilation system for more portable installation. Installation instructions:

  • Download rtutorial-2.0.tar.gz (or the previous version, rtutorial.tar.gz, and drop the -2.0 from the subsequent instructions). Place it in a convenient directory, then unpack and install it: 
    tar xzvf rtutorial-2.0.tar.gz
cd rtutorial-2.0
./configure
make
make install
  • Bring up a web browser and point it to the doc/tutorial.htm file. This is the start of the tutorial.
  • Click the links to follow the tutorial.
  • The demos can be run immediately if you can't wait, by bringing up the 'runall' script in the rtutorial-2.0/ top-level directory. Be running your graphical X Windows environment (KDE, Gnome, etc.), then: 
    ./runall
    Click on the buttons to run the demos.

Documents

Introduction to Linux for Real-Time Control, a document prepared for NIST by Aeolean Inc. that describes the various real-time Linux approaches. [PDF, 740K]

Measuring Performance in Real-Time Linux, a presentation at the Third Real-Time Linux Workshop in Milan Italy in October 2001 that describes techniques to measure software timing. [PDF, 632K] The accompanying paper. [PDF, 236K]

Real-time Operating System Timing Jitter and its Impact on Motor Control, proceedings of the 2001 SPIE Conference on Sensors and Controls for Intelligent Manufacturing II. [PDF, 106K]

Embedded Real-Time Linux for Cable Robot Control, a presentation at the ASME Computers in Engineering conference in Montreal Canada in October 2002 that describes embedded- and real-time Linux and a cable robot application. [PDF, 1M] The accompanying paper. [PDF, 98K]

Real-Time and Embedded Linux for Manufacturing and Robotics, a presentation at the March 2003 eGov Open Source Conference in Washington DC that describes real-time and embedded systems and some applications. [PDF, 2.5M]

Use of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense, a document prepared for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) by The MITRE Corporation. [PDF, 4.2M]

Free and open source software, a document prepared by the Swedish Agency for Public Management (STATSKONTORET) that describes open source software in general. [PDF, 94K]

Articles

A comparison of hard real-time Linux alternatives, by Peter Laurich for LinuxDevices.com, 19 November 2004.

Related Links

RTAI (www.rtai.org) - the RTAI home page

RTL (www.rtlinux.org) - the home page of New Mexico Tech's RTL at FSM Labs

Real Time Linux Foundation (www.realtimelinuxfoundation.org) - a non-profit corporation for the real-time Linux community

LinuxCNC.org (www.linuxcnc.org) - the home page for users of the Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC), software originated by NIST for control of machines using real-time Linux

EMC Developers (www.sourceforge.net/projects/emc) - the SourceForge home page for Enhanced Machine Controller software developers

Contact:

Fred Proctor
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8230
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8230


Voice: 301-975-3425
FAX: 301-990-9688

* No approval or endorsement of any commercial product by the National Institute of Standards and Technology is intended or implied. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this report in order to facilitate understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, located 25 miles north of Washington, D.C. in suburban Gaithersburg, Maryland. A map to NIST is available on-line.

isd-webmaster@cme.nist.gov

Date created: 8 Sep 2004
Last updated: 3 Jan 2006