RTOS Supporting Hardware Elements on MCUs MCUs are used to control real time functions within an embedded system that requires periodic intervals to adhere to set system reliability, responsiveness and performance requirements. Other times, real time operating systems are utilized in management of real time MCU events in a bid to ensure utmost responsiveness in real time.
As control systems become more complex, real-time control approaches for managing different MCU functions within their stipulated response time must be utilized. When using a real-time operating system, each task is assigned a portion of the MCU processing cycle such that; tasks can turn over their allotted time to other tasks when not in use to ensure that the precious processing cycle is utilized to the latter. When no task requires servicing, an idle low power mode is initiated. This explains why modern MCUs are optimized to facilitate RTOS implementations through inclusion of dedicated timers and intelligent peripherals. However, not all MCUs are ideal to hold an RTOS. Therefore, a few hardware capabilities must be considered to ensure that a particular MCU meets the real time embedded system design requirements. They include;