This paper presents a novel methodology to develop scheduling algorithms. The scheduling problem is phrased as a control problem, and control-theoretical techniques are used to design a scheduling algorithm that meets specific requirements. Unlike most approaches to feedback scheduling, where a controller integrates a "basic" scheduling algorithm and dynamically tunes its parameters and hence its performances, our methodology essentially reduces the design of a scheduling algorithm to the synthesis of a controller that closes the feedback loop. This approach allows the re-use of control-theoretical techniques to design efficient scheduling algorithms; it frames and solves the scheduling problem in a general setting; and it can naturally tackle certain peculiar requirements such as robustness and dynamic performance tuning. A few experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the approach on a real-time benchmark.
's book @cite_14 is a comprehensive review of the applications of control theory to computing-system problems such as bandwidth allocation and unpredictable data traffic management. In general, control theory is applied to make computing systems adaptive, more robust, and stable. Adaptability, in particular, characterizes the response required in applications whose operating conditions change rapidly and unpredictably.
@cite_14
2015244008
Preface. PART I: BACKGROUND. 1. Introduction and Overview. PART II: SYSTEM MODELING. 2. Model Construction. 3. Z-Transforms and Transfer Functions. 4. System Modeling with Block Diagrams. 5. First-Order Systems. 6. Higher-Order Systems. 7. State-Space Models. PART III: CONTROL ANALYSIS AND DESIGN. 8. Proportional Control. 9. PID Controllers. 10. State-Space Feedback Control. 11. Advanced Topics. Appendix A: Mathematical Notation. Appendix B: Acronyms. Appendix C: Key Results. Appendix D: Essentials of Linear Algebra. Appendix E: MATLAB Basics. References. Index.