Reducing Interrupt Latency at Linux Kernel Level for Real-Time Network

Linux is not well suited for real-time environment. Redesigning it for real-time systems, however, is a very complex and challenging task. In this paper, we suggest an approach to convert a large system like Linux into a real-time system with minimal changes. We observe that most of real-time systems demand real-time performance only for a couple of devices they are targeting for. Our approach focuses on this target device and modifies the original system only where this device is involved. This approach is more practical in that it does not unnecessarily change the whole system and in that it still satisfies the demands of most real-time systems. We picked network device as an example. We assumed the device sometimes got a real-time packet which should be processed immediately.