A Reliable Multicast Protocol for

Distributed Real-Time Systems?

G. Gr?unsteidl and H. Kopetz

Institut f?ur Technische Informatik

Technical University Vienna

Treitlstrasse 3/182/1

A-1040 Vienna, Austria

Research Report Nr. 9/91

May 1991

Accepted at the

8th IEEE Workshop on Real-Time Operating Systems

and Software, Atlanta, GA, USA, May 1991

Abstract

Distributed computer architectures are well accepted in the domain of real-time applications. To realize fault-tolerance, fail-silent node computers providing the same service can be clustered into Fault-Tolerant Units (FTUs). Each FTU provides a specified service as long as at least one of its node computers is operational. The communication between these FTUs has to be deterministic, reliable and timely, i.e. there must be a tight upper bound on the time it takes to send a message from one FTU to the other FTUs. This paper presents a communication system suitable for real-time applications that meets these requirements.

Keywords: Computer communication, Real-time computer systems, Atomic multicast, Fault-Tolerance, Distributed systems

?This work was supported in part by the ESPRIT Basic Research Project 3092 Predictably Dependable Computer Systems"