A Minimal Object Oriented Real-Time Operating System in C++

Most embedded software is currently developed using the C programming language, even though its low level of abstrac- tion requires a lot of effort to the programmer. The C++ language is a better choice because: it raises the level of abstraction; it is strongly typed, so it prevents many com- mon programming mistakes; it can be made as efficient as C through fine-grained customisation of memory mechanisms; it can be easily adapted to domain-specific needs. In ad- dition, recent compilers have grown in maturity and per- formance, and the new standard considerably improves the language by introducing new concepts and an easier syntax. In this paper we present ADOK, a minimal Real-Time Op- erating System entirely written in C++ with the exception of a few lines of assembler code. It directly offers a C++ interface to the developer, and it provides a flexible schedul- ing framework which allows the developer to customise the scheduling to its needs. In particular, we implement a two- level scheduler based on Earliest Deadline First, the Stack Resource Policy protocol for sharing resources and support for mode changes. We demonstrate through examples and a small case-study that ADOK can substantially improve productivity without sacrificing on performance.