[Update 10/16] What is the fundamental performance limiting factor that has dominated that last 30 years of computer architecture? The obvious answer is the disparity
Read moremore on missed wakeup
Here are some conventions [Update: typos fix, Friday] We are concerned with state machines and sequences of events. The prefixes of a sequence include the
Read moreThe lost wakeup problem
One basic problem in operating system design is how to make efficient blocking requests. Thread A wants something from Thread B (or ISR B) and
Read moreOSIM Madrid and Value Manifolds
Spent a couple of very interesting days at the OSIM conference in Madrid as part of my consulting for WindRiver which has a very powerful
Read moreApple’s strategic brilliance
I may be reading too much into it, but Apple looks to have come up with a strategy to pass Microsoft in the next ten
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Carbon neutral processors and ecocidal operating systems
Data centers are reckless consumers of power. Since modern processors leak somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of their peak power consumption even when idle
Read moreUnderlying requirement for hard real-time
Simple point that is widely ignored: you need hard real-time capability to offer any meaningful “soft” real-time. Let’s suppose you say that you can drop
Read moreuniversal machinery
If even 20% of what Peter Gutman says is so, then I’ve been optimistic in my assessement of DRM.
Read moreNotes on unintended security effects
I’ve been complaining about the security implications of DRM and “trusted computing” and “safe boot” for some time now. Susan Landau points out that the
Read moreBuilding what customers want
Visting LinuxWorld in San Francisco reminded me that one of the advantages Apple has in the cell-phone market is that it can set design goals
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