Kernel and application partitioning for EDF schedule feasibility

This paper presents a study on the feasibility of joint kernel and application partitioning. In the design of embedded systems, it is customarily the application that is partitioned between hardware and software implementation. However, it is also possible to partition the operating system/kernel. Due to the kernel´s high invocation frequency, small reductions in its execution time can lead to significant gains in schedule feasibility. In this paper, partitions are evaluated based on their contribution to feasible scheduling by the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) policy. The results indicate that it is important to evaluate schedule feasibility during partitioning and that partitioning the kernel can contribute significantly to schedule feasibility.