Windows NT 4.0 RTOS Evaluation Report

Windows NT 4.0 RTOS Evaluation Report - Abstract

The Windows NT RTOS Evaluation Report serves as example of what you may expect from any RTOS Evaluation Report drafted by Real-Time Consult. The report explains why Windows NT can not be used a RTOS. This is proved upon a study of the OS architecture and illustrated with extensive benchmarks.

To get this document for free, go to the Visitor's Center.

A. Abstract

B. Table of Contents

C. Table of Figures

A. Abstract

The Windows NT 4.0 report evaluates Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP 3, Build 1381 from Microsoft Corporation.
Part I of this report is the technical evaluation, in which design and architectural issues of Windows NT 4.0 are studied. The second part of the report is the practical evaluation, in which the performance and results for various tests are discussed.
In order to clarify the content of the table of contents and the table of figures, the reader is referred to the documents "Report definition and test plan" and "What makes a good RTOS?".

B. Table of contents

		Page
1	Summary	6
1.1	Product	6
1.2	Essentials	6
1.3	Positive points	6
1.4	Negative points	6
1.5	Ratings	6
1.6	Pricing	6
2	Technical evaluation	7
2.1	Installation and Configuration	7
2.1.1	Installation	7
2.1.2	Configuration	7
2.2	RTOS Architecture	7
2.2.1	System Architecture	8
2.2.2	Basic System Facilities	11
2.3	RTOS Richness	15
2.3.1	POSIX	15
2.3.2	Task Management	15
2.3.3	Clock and Timer	16
2.3.4	Memory Management	17
2.3.5	Interrupt Handling	19
2.3.6	Synchronisation and Exclusion Objects	19
2.3.7	Communication and Message Passing Objects	22
2.4	Internet Support	23
2.5	Tools	24
2.5.1	Editor	24
2.5.2	Debugger	24
2.5.3	Compilers	24
2.5.4	System Analysis Tools	24
2.5.5	Summary of Available Tools	24
2.6	Documentation and Support	26
3	Practical evaluation	27
3.1	System under test	27
3.1.1	Operating system configuration	27
3.1.2	Test configuration	27
3.2	Interrupt handling - Without rescheduling	27
3.2.1	Interrupt latency (IL-a-1.d)	29
3.2.2	Interrupt dispatch latency (IDL-a-1.d)	30
3.2.3	ISR to DPC - without load	31
3.2.4	ISR to DPC - with load	32
3.3	Interrupt handling – Rescheduling	33
3.3.1	Interrupt dispatch latency (IDL-b-1.d)	34
3.3.2	Interrupt dispatch latency (IDL-b-10.d)	35
3.3.3	Interrupt dispatch latency (IDL-b-128.d)	36
3.4	Thread	37
3.4.1	Creation (TF-a-1.d)	38
3.4.2	Deletion (TF-b-1.d)	39
3.4.3	Deletion - after use (TF-c-2.d)	40
3.5	Thread switch latency - same process	41
3.5.1	Thread switch latency - cache enabled (TSL-a-2.d)	42
3.5.2	Thread switch latency - cache disabled (TSL-a-2.d)	43
3.5.3	Thread switch latency - cache enabled (TSL-a-10.1d)	44
3.5.4	Thread switch latency - cache disabled (TSL-a-10.d)	45
3.5.5	Thread switch latency - cache enabled (TSL-a-128.d)	46
3.5.6	Thread switch latency - cache disabled (TSL-a-128.d)	47
3.6	Thread switch latency - different processes	48
3.6.1	Thread switch latency (TSL-b-2.d)	49
3.6.2	Thread switch latency (TSL-b-10.d)	50
3.6.3	Thread switch latency (TSL-b-90.d)	51
3.7	Counting semaphore	52
3.7.1	Creation (SEO-a-1.d)	53
3.7.2	Deletion (SEO-b-1.d)	54
3.7.3	Deletion - after use (SEO-c-1.d)	55
3.7.4	No contention - Acquire (SEO-d-1.d)	56
3.7.5	No contention - Release (SEO-e-1.d)	57
3.7.6	Synchronisation (SEO-f-max.d)	58
3.8	Binary semaphore	59
3.9	Mutex	60
3.9.1	No contention - Acquire (SEO-d-1.d)	61
3.9.2	No contention - Release (SEO-e-1.d)	62
3.10	File system - proprietary	63
3.10.1	Creation (FS-a-1.d)	64
3.10.2	Deletion (FS-b-1.d)	65
3.10.3	Read (FS-c-1.d.1)	66
3.10.4	Read (FS-c-1.d.1b)	67
3.10.5	Read (FS-c-1.d.10b)	68
3.10.6	Write (FS-d-1.d.1)	69
3.10.7	Write (FS-d-1.d.1b)	70
3.10.8	Write (FS-d-1.d.10b)	71
3.10.9	Flush	72
3.10.10	Flush	73
3.10.11	Flush	74
3.10.12	Write Total	75
3.10.13	Write Total	76
3.10.14	Write Total	77
4	License policies and pricing	78
5	Conclusion	79
5.1	Positive Points	79
5.2	Installation	79
5.3	Priority Levels	79
5.4	Priority Inversion	79
5.5	FIFO Semaphore	79
5.6	FIFO DPC Queue	80
5.7	Thread Switch Latency	80
6	References	81
7	Abbreviations	82

C. Table of figures

Figure 1	Client-Server model of operating system design	8
Figure 2	Windows NT hardware interfacing	9
Figure 3	Windows NT priority spectrum	11
Figure 4	Windows NT IRQLs	14
Figure 3.2-1	IL-a-1.d	29
Figure 3.2-2	IL-a-1.d - frequency distribution	29
Figure 3.2-3	IDL-a-1.d	30
Figure 3.2-4	IDL-a-1.d - frequency distribution	30
Figure 3.2-5	ITD-a-1.d	31
Figure 3.2-6	ITD-a-1.d - frequency distribution	31
Figure 3.2-7	ITD-a-1.d	32
Figure 3.2-8	ITD-a-1.d - frequency distribution	32
Figure 3.3-1	IDL-b-1.d	34
Figure 3.3-2	IDL-b-1.d - frequency distribution	34
Figure 3.3-3	IDL-b-10.d	35
Figure 3.3-4	IDL-b-10.d - frequency distribution	35
Figure 3.3-5	IDL-b-128.d	36
Figure 3.3-6	IDL-b-128.d - frequency distribution	36
Figure 3.4-1	TF-a-1.d	38
Figure 3.4-2	TF-a-1.d - frequency distribution	38
Figure 3.4-3	TF-b-1.d	39
Figure 3.4-4	TF-b-1.d - frequency distribution	39
Figure 3.4-5	TF-c-2.d	40
Figure 3.4-6	TF-c-2.d - frequency distribution	40
Figure 3.5-1	TSL-a-2.d	42
Figure 3.5-2	TSL-a-2.d - frequency distribution	42
Figure 3.5-3	TSL-a-2.d	43
Figure 3.5-4	TSL-a2-2.d - frequency distribution	43
Figure 3.5-5	TSL-a-10.d	44
Figure 3.5-6	TSL-a-10.d - frequency distribution	44
Figure 3.5-7	TSL-a-10.d	45
Figure 3.5-8	TSL-a-10.d - frequency distribution	45
Figure 3.5-9	TSL-a-128.d	46
Figure 3.5-10	TSL-a-128.d - frequency distribution	46
Figure 3.5-11	TSL-a-128.d	47
Figure 3.5-12	TSL-a-128.d - frequency distribution	47
Figure 3.6-1	TSL-b-2.d	49
Figure 3.6-2	TSL-b-2.d - frequency distribution	49
Figure 3.6-3	TSL-b-10.d	50
Figure 3.6-4	TSL-b-10.d - frequency distribution	50
Figure 3.6-5	TSL-b-90.d	51
Figure 3.6-6	TSL-b-90.d - frequency distribution	51
Figure 3.7-1	SEO-a-1.d	53
Figure 3.7-2	SEO-a-1.d - frequency distribution	53
Figure 3.7-3	SEO-b-1.d	54
Figure 3.7-4	SEO-b-1.d - frequency distribution	54
Figure 3.7-5	SEO-c-1.d	55
Figure 3.7-6	SEO-c-1.d - frequency distribution	55
Figure 3.7-7	SEO-d-1.d	56
Figure 3.7-8	SEO-d-1.d - frequency distribution	56
Figure 3.7-9	SEO-e-1.d	57
Figure 3.7-10	SEO-e-1.d - frequency distribution	57
Figure 3.7-11	SEO-f-max.d	58
Figure 3.7-12	SEO-f-max.d - frequency distribution	58
Figure 3.9-1	SEO-d-1.d	61
Figure 3.9-2	SEO-d-1.d - frequency distribution	61
Figure 3.9-3	SEO-e-1.d	62
Figure 3.9-4	SEO-e-1.d - frequency distribution	62
Figure 3.10-1	FS-a-1.d	64
Figure 3.10-2	FS-a-1.d - frequency distribution	64
Figure 3.10-3	FS-b-1.d	65
Figure 3.10-4	FS-b-1.d - frequency distribution	65
Figure 3.10-5	FS-c-1.d.1	66
Figure 3.10-6	FS-c-1.d.1 - frequency distribution	66
Figure 3.10-7	FS-c-1.d.1b	67
Figure 3.10-8	FS-c-1.d.1b - frequency distribution	67
Figure 3.10-9	FS-c-1.d.10b	68
Figure 3.10-10	FS-c-1.d.10b - frequency distribution	68
Figure 3.10-11	FS-d-1.d.1	69
Figure 3.10-12	FS-d-1.d.1 - frequency distribution	69
Figure 3.10-13	FS-d-1.d.1b	70
Figure 3.10-14	FS-d-1.d.1b - frequency distribution	70
Figure 3.10-15	FS-d-1.d.10b	71
Figure 3.10-16	FS-d-1.d.10b - frequency distribution	71
Figure 3.10-17	Flush	72
Figure 3.10-18	Flush - frequency distribution	72
Figure 3.10-19	Flush	73
Figure 3.10-20	Flush - frequency distribution	73
Figure 3.10-21	Flush	74
Figure 3.10-22	Flush - frequency distribution	74
Figure 3.10-23	Flush and Write	75
Figure 3.10-24	Flush and Write - frequency distribution	75
Figure 3.10-25	Flush and Write	76
Figure 3.10-26	Flush and Write - frequency distribution	76
Figure 3.10-27	Flush and Write	77
Figure 3.10-28	Flush and Write - frequency distribution	77

To get this document for free, go to the Visitor's Center.