Abstract: A communication function for connecting, via a network, distributed hardware in a distributed control system, prioritizes the queuing of messages on the network according both to a message priority established by the user and the context of the task and according to a deadline period by which the task must be executed. In this way, the normal queuing of messages for a communication network does not defeat the guarantee of the completion time of the execution of tasks. The same scheduling method may be used for the tasks themselves.

Abstract: A distributed control system employs a number of autonomous cooperative units that intercommunicate with bids and counter bids to allocate the production of a product among them. Bidding closure is obtained in an environment where each autonomous cooperative unit can propagate multi-threaded bidding chains, by attaching a response time value to each propagated bid indicating when a response must be received. Sub-bids from that propagated bid forward a reduced version of this response time value that accounts for the sub-bid processing time. Thus, all bidding is concluded within the response time value. Participants in a successful bidding chain are notified so that in the future they may direct bids toward bidding partners that have historically proven successful as part of a successful bidding chain.

Abstract: An interrupt handler is provided for a real-time control system that prevents interrupts which occur asynchronously with respect to control tasks from upsetting guarantees of timely execution of the control tasks. For interrupts associated with the communication of messages between portions of a control task over the distributed system, the interrupts are converted to proxy tasks that may be scheduled like any task in a multitasked-operated system. More generally, interrupts may be assigned to a predetermined interrupt window being a portion of the total processing bandwidth of the processor. In pre-allocating the processor bandwidth to the control tasks, this interrupt window may be subtracted out thereby guaranteeing adequate bandwidth for both interrupt processing and user tasks.

Abstract: In an autonomous cooperative control system a job description of job steps is drafted in a scripting language and compared to corresponding machine steps associated with each independently controlled machine also drafted in the same scripting language for simple comparison and generation of sub-bids for further bidding. The machine steps generated for each ACU provides a vocabulary for the job description language which may be further simplified by hiding lower level machine steps in the ACUs to be activated only upon a matching with a job step. The ACUs may select between connected and unconnected messaging based on historical communication patterns to reduce network traffic.

Abstract: An operating system for distributed industrial controllers ensures the completion of enrolled application programs within a predetermined time span as is required for robust industrial control by preallocating dynamic and static hardware resources on a per application basis and in a manner that ensures execution of the application within the necessary time constraints. Portions of the distributed operating system may be distributed at particular hardware resources to provide necessary modeling for those hardware resources in making the commitments to resource bandwidths.