2012年的文章,重新在微信公众号发表。
第一章:硬实时Linux(RT-Preempt Patch)在PC上的编译、使用和测试第二章:硬实时Linux(RT-Preempt Patch)的中断线程化
硬实时Linux(RT-Preempt Patch)在PC上的编译、使用和测试
Vanilla kernel的问题
Linux kernel在spinlock、irq上下文方面无法抢占,因此高优先级任务被唤醒到得以执行的时间并不能完全确定。同时,Linux kernel本身也不处理优先级反转。RT-Preempt Patch是在Linux社区kernel的基础上,加上相关的补丁,以使得Linux满足硬实时的需求。本文描述了该patch在PC上的实践。我们的 测试环境为Ubuntu 10.10,默认情况下使用Ubuntu 10.10自带的kernel:
在Ubuntu 10.10,apt-get install rt-tests安装rt测试工具集,运行其中的cyclictest测试工具,默认创建5个SCHED_FIFO策略的realtime线程,优先级 76-80,运行周期是1000,1500,2000,2500,3000微秒:
由此可见在标准Linux内,rt线程投入运行的jitter非常不稳定,最小值在26-37微秒,平均值为68-889微秒,而最大值则分布在9481-13673微秒之间。
我们还是运行这个测试,但是在运行这个测试的过程中引入更多干扰,如mount /dev/sdb1 ~/development,则结果变为:
mount过程中引入的irq、softirq和spinlock导致最大jitter明显地加大甚至达到了331482us,充分显示出了标准Linux内核中RT线程投入运行时间的不可预期性(硬实时要求意味着可预期)。
如果我们编译一份kernel,选择的是“Voluntary Kernel Preemption (Desktop)“,这类似于2.4不支持kernel抢占的情况,我们运行同样的case,时间的不确定性大地几乎让我们无法接受:
RT-Preempt Patch使能
RT-Preempt Patch对Linux kernel的主要改造包括:
Making in-kernel locking-primitives (using spinlocks) preemptible though reimplementation with rtmutexes:
Critical sections protected by i.e. spinlock_t and rwlock_t are now preemptible. The creation of non-preemptible sections (in kernel) is still possible with raw_spinlock_t (same APIs like spinlock_t)
Implementing priority inheritance for in-kernel spinlocks and semaphores. For more information on priority inversion and priority inheritance please consult Introduction to Priority Inversion (http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/beginner-s-corner/4023947/Introduction-to-Priority-Inversion)
Converting interrupt handlers into preemptible kernel threads: The RT-Preempt patch treats soft interrupt handlers in kernel thread context, which is represented by a task_struct like a common userspace process. However it is also possible to register an IRQ in kernel context.
Converting the old Linux timer API into separate infrastructures for high resolution kernel timers plus one for timeouts, leading to userspace POSIX timers with high resolution.
在本试验中,我们取的带RT- Preempt Patch的kernel tree是git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rt/linux-stable- rt.git,使用其v3.4-rt-rebase branch,编译kernel时选中了"Fully Preemptible Kernel"抢占模型:
make modules_install、make install、mkintramfs后,我们得到一个可以在Ubuntu中启动的RT kernel。具体编译方法可详见http://www.linuxidc.com/Linux/2012-01/50749.htm,根据该文修改版本 号等信息即可,我们运行的