Parallel processing in real-time control: a state-of-the-art report

Advances in communications technology, particularly in fibre optics, have accelerated the application of parallel programming by enabling the interconnection of a huge number of high-performance processors. Further advances in this field will also enable a low-cost implementation of process and user interface required for plant automation and remote data acquisition. At the same time it will considerably help implementation of highly reliable distributed multicomputer systems. Recently, a number of valuable applications have been reported concerning the parallel real-time computing that helped to control laboratory experiments, moving vehicles, power plants, working robots etc. In the paper, a state-of-the-art survey of the techniques and tools for parallel processing in real-time applications, is given.