PerIormance Analysis oI Embedded OS

in ARM PlatIorm

Se-Ho Park, Yong-suk Park
Mobile Convergence PlatIorm Research Center
Korea Electronic Technology Institute
Seoul, Korea
sehoparkketi.re.kr
Jun-Rim Choi
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Kyungpook National University
Daegu, Korea
jrchoiee.knu.ac.kr


Abstract In this paper, the real time performance of Embedded
Linux is analyzed using the ARM11 based S3C6410 mobile
processor. The performance of Embedded Linux is compared
with that of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 which is frequently used
in mobile devices. Both Embedded Linux and Windows
Embedded CE 6.0 are ported to the same hardware evaluation
platform that uses S3C6410. Performance tests such as interrupt
delay, priority based multi-process evaluation, and inter-process
communication (IPC) are carried out in order to determine
which OS is able to handle real-time data more efficiently in an
embedded system environment.

Keywords- Embedded OS, ISR, IST, Multi-Process, IPC

I. INTRODUCTION

Recently, interest in mobile devices that use General-
Purpose Operating Systems (GPOSs) to run multimedia
applications such as streaming video viewers and soItware
media players has increased.
In addition, due to the diverse Iunctional requirements oI
the mobile system, Linux based GPOSs are widely being
employed. As a consequence, diverse GPOS API libraries have
been made available Ior the mobile environment, enabling Iast
and easy application development. However, with the growing
number oI libraries that link dynamically and increased data
handling, real-time data processing became an important Iactor.
In this paper, the real-time perIormance oI Embedded Linux
and Windows CE 6.0 are compared using S3C6410, an
ARM11 based mobile processor. Both Embedded Linux and
Windows Embedded CE 6.0 are ported to the S3C6410
evaluation platIorm, and interrupt delay, priority based multi-
process handling, and inter-process communication (IPC) tests
are carried out. The perIormance analysis results are used to
determine the suitability oI Embedded Linux and Windows CE
6.0 Ior applications used in real-time environment. Section 3
describes the test environment setup and test category. Section
4 shows the test procedure and results. Concluding remarks are
made in section 5.
.
II. HARDWARE PLATFORM
The S3C6410 evaluation board is used Ior the test.
S3C6410 microprocessor is widely used Ior DMB GPS
navigation systems, PDA phones, Smartphone, etc.
TABLE I. TABLE TYPE STYLES
Item Specification
PROCESS
S3C6410
ARM1176JZF-S Based CPU
CPU Clock 533MHZ
MEMORY
64MByte DDR SDRAM
128MByte NAND Flash Memory
LCD 800*600 TFT LCD

III. PERFORMANCE TEST CATEGORY
A. Interrupt Delay Testing
Demand Ior systems capable oI handling diverse
multimedia contents simultaneously is increasing. The
maximum data rate oI the multimedia data is also increasing.
ThereIore, immediate processing oI external interrupts is
essential Ior high-speed data interIace, and Iast interrupt
handling is required. In order to determine the continuous real-
time data handling by the embedded OSs, interrupt handling
time delays are measured. The delays measured are as Iollows:
- Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) delay: the diIIerence in
time between the occurrence oI a hardware interrupt
and calling oI its corresponding ISR
- Interrupt Service Task (IST) delay: the time it takes to
return to the task aIter termination oI the ISR.
B. Priority Basea Multi-process Testing
In order to test real-time data processing, several processes
with diIIerent priorities were executed. A timer is set Ior each
thread, and the start time is recorded. The thread enters sleep
mode Ior the duration oI time set by the user. When the timer
expires, the process wakes up and records the termination time.
The test measures the jitter Ior the duration oI the task. The test
is repeated several times, and the precision oI timer jitter used
in each thread is measured.
978-1-4673-4828-7/12/$31.00 20122 IEEE ICTC 2012
C. Inter-Process Communication(IPC) Testi
IPC is used to share data and synchroniz
processes. Pipe, semaphore, shared memory
are some examples oI IPC. IPC can reduce
compared to Iile system or I/O sharing. For t
experiment, real-time perIormance measurem
each embedded OS platIorm is carried out.

IV. HARDWARE PLATFOR
A. Interrupt Delay Test Result
IPC is used to share data and synchroniz
processes. Pipe, semaphore, shared memory
are some examples oI IPC. IPC can reduce
compared to Iile system or I/O sharing. For t
experiment, real-time perIormance measurem
each embedded OS platIorm is carried out.
Figure 1. Interrupt Delay
B. Priority Basea Multi-Process Test Result
10 threads with diIIerent priorities are ex
delay is set to 1ms Ior each thread. Figu
Embedded Linux displays constant perIorm
thread priority. In Windows CE 6.0, th
depending on the priority assigned.


Figure 2. Priority-based Multi-Proce

ing
ze among diIIerent
y, message queue
e system overhead
the purposes oI the
ment oI a pipe Ior
RM
ze among diIIerent
y, message queue
e system overhead
the purposes oI the
ment oI a pipe Ior
y Results
t
xecuted. The timer
ure 2 shows that
ance regardless oI
he jitter increases
ess Results
C. IPC Test Result
IPC test uses two processes
overhead involved. The time
through the pipe between the tw
equation Ior the measurement i
T
pipe
=
where T
pipe
is the pipe delay
execution time, and N is the
carried out.
Figu
V. CO
In this paper, the real-tim
Linux and Windows CE was t
based platIorm. ISR processing
priority based multi-process, an
each embedded OS to evalua
results show that Embedded
than Windows CE. Windows
similar to Embedded Linux in m
ACKNOWL
This work was supporte
Technology Development pr
SoItware Update System Ior
Ministry oI Knowledge Econom
REFER
|1| Peter Feuerer, 'Benchmark and
on embedded Linux, Phil. Tra
529551, April 2007.
|2| A. Barbalace, A. Luchetta, G. M
Taliercio, 'PerIormance Compa
Xenomai in a Hard Real-time Ap
ConIerence, 2007.
|3| Seungkwon Cho, Youngil Kim
Comparison oI Embedded Mob
ConIernece on Advanced Comm
2007.
|4| Samsung S3C6410 RISK Microp
2009.
s. Each process has no additional
it takes Ior the data to pass
wo processes was measured. The
s as Iollows
T
total
/ N (1)
y time, T
total
is the total test
number oI times the test was
ure 3. IPC Results
ONCLUSION
me perIormance oI Embedded
tested using an ARM processor
g delay, IST delay, time jitter in
nd IPC have been measured Ior
ate real-time perIormance. Test
Linux handles interrupts better
s CE perIormed better than or
multi-process and IPC tests.
LEDGMENT
ed by the IT Industry Core
rogram (10041705, Universal
Automotive AVN/ECU) oI the
my.
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