Fairness in periodic real-time scheduling

The issue of temporal fairness in periodic real-time scheduling is considered. It is argued that such fairness is often a desirable characteristic in real-time schedules. A concrete criterion for temporal fairness - pfairness - is described. The weight-monotonic scheduling algorithm, a static priority scheduling algorithm for generating pfair schedules, is presented and proven correct. A feasibility test is presented which, if satisfied by a system of periodic tasks, ensures that the weight-monotonic scheduling algorithm will schedule the system in a pfair manner.