In: IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, Volume 5, Issue 7, pages 749-762. IEEE Press, July 1994.
Abstract: We propose a methodology for programming multiprocessor event-driven systems. Thismethodology is based on two programming levels: the task level, which involvesprogramming the basic actions that may be executed in the system as units with a singlecontrol thread; and the job level, on which parallel programs to be executed by thecomplete multiprocessor system are developed. We also present the structure andimplementation of an operating system designed as the programming support for software development under the proposed methodology. The model that has been chosen for the representation of the system software is based on an extended Petri net, which provides a well-established conceptual model for the development of the tasks, thus allowing a totally independent and generic development. This model also facilitates job-level programming, since the Petri net is a very powerful description tool for the parallel program.
Keywords: operating systems (computers); Petri nets; conceptual model; event-driven systems; extended Petri net; extended Petri net model; job-levelprogramming; operating system; parallel programming; parallel programs; programming environments; programming support; shared memory systems; shared memorymultimicroprocessor operating system; software development; softwareengineering; system software; task level programming.