Feedback EDF scheduling exploiting dynamic voltage scaling

Dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) is a promising method for embedded systems to exploit multiple voltage and frequency levels and to prolong battery life. However, pure DVS techniques do not perform well for systems with dynamic workloads where the job execution times vary significantly. We present a novel approach combining feedback control with DVS schemes targeting hard real-time systems with dynamic workloads. Our method relies strictly on operating system support by integrating a DVS scheduler and a feedback controller within the EDF scheduling algorithm. Each task is divided into two portions. Within the first portion, the objective is to exploit frequency scaling for the average execution time. We reserve enough time for the second portion to meet the deadline requirements up to the worst-case execution time following a last-chance approach. Feedback techniques make the system capable to select the right frequency and voltage settings for the first potion, as well as guaranteeing hard real-time requirements for the overall task. Simulation experiments demonstrate the ability of our algorithm to save up to 29% more energy than previous work for task sets with different dynamic workload characteristics.