A WCET-Aware Compiler

In contrast to general-purpose systems, the correctness of real-time systems not only depends on the logical results of the computation but also on its temporal behavior specified by the worst-case execution time (WCET). Nowadays, software for embedded systems acting as real-time systems is written in high-level languages requiring the presence of a compiler. Modern compiler optimizations aim at reducing the program's average-case execution time completely ignoring the WCET. Tuning an application with respect to its worst-case execution time must be performed manually. To avoid this tedious and error-prone approach, an automation by the compiler is highly desired. This book faces this issue and describes the integration of a timing analyzer into a compiler infractructure. It presents flexible concepts describing the design and realization of a novel WCET-aware C compiler. Due to the combination of the extensive compiler knowledge on the program and the timing information, this compiler framework is best suited for the development of WCET-aware compiler optimizations. This book is intended for students but also for any reader interested in the construction of real-time compilers.