High speed data acquisition: Running a realtime process and a time‐shared system (UNIX) concurrently

A technique is outlined by which a normal time‐shared operating system may be modified to permit concurrent processing of a realtime data sampling operation and the typical time‐insensitive operations of the time‐shared system. Guidance is given regarding the implementation of such a proposal and it is discussed in relation to the UNIX operating system. It is pointed out that concurrent processing of a multi‐user time‐shared system and a single‐user time‐dependent sampling routine offers a more efficient use of the computer processor, when realtime sampling must be undertaken, while still offering a service to other users. Such a scheme may be an alternative to implementing a full‐scale realtime operating system for the exclusive use of the sampling operations.