Object-based design of embedded software using real-time operating systems

Embedded systems are used in everyday electronic consumer products and industrial equipment, e.g. television sets, radios, cars, and mobile phones. Rapid developments which have taken place in computer hardware and software technologies have led to the increased complexity of embedded systems. Promising results have been achieved in the development of complex information processing systems using object-oriented methods. However, such methods have not been much used in the development of embedded software. Many features specific to the development of embedded software are not adequately supported by the current object-oriented and object-based design methods. This paper demonstrates how the results of object-oriented analysis can be mapped to designs using conventional real-time operating systems (RTOS). In particular, useful results in object-based design of embedded software can be obtained in a short term. This adaptive approach can be used as an intermediate step towards a "pure" object-oriented approach.<>