Device control abstractions for workstation operating system

Unpredictable workloads on a general-purpose workstation operating system will cause disturbances in process scheduling that become visible to the user. Systems that combine real-time and general-purpose characteristics in a single operating system have met with mixed success. The advent of multiprocessor workstations makes it feasible to dedicate functionally specific behavior to separate processing units. Going beyond the intelligent I/O controller, a user-programmable device interface would provide the control abstractions necessary for the efficient manipulation of high-speed devices. The connection to the workstation operating system would still mimic the conventional device interface of open/close/read/write/control, but would include a channel for downloading control programming that adapts a device for user specific applications