CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW
The RI600V4 is a built-in real-time, multi-task OS that provides a highly efficient real-time, multi-task environment to increases the application range of processor control units.
The RI600V4 is a high-speed, compact OS capable of being stored in and run from the ROM of a target system.
Control equipment demands systems that can rapidly respond to events occurring both internal and external to the equipment. Conventional systems have utilized simple interrupt handling as a means of satisfying this demand. As control equipment has become more powerful, however, it has proved difficult for systems to satisfy these requirements by means of simple interrupt handling alone.
In other words, the task of managing the order in which internal and external events are processed has become increasingly difficult as systems have increased in complexity and programs have become larger.
The main purpose of a real-time OS is to respond to internal and external events rapidly and execute programs in the optimum order.
A "task" is the minimum unit in which a program can be executed by an OS. "Multi-task" is the name given to the mode of operation in which a single processor processes multiple tasks concurrently.
Actually, the processor can handle no more than one program (instruction) at a time. But, by switching the processor's attention to individual tasks on a regular basis (at a certain timing) it appears that the tasks are being processed simultaneously.