User Tools

Site Tools


realtime:documentation:howto:debugging:latency

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revision Previous revision
Next revision Both sides next revision
realtime:documentation:howto:debugging:latency [2018/08/06 14:02]
ebugden Clarify sentence
realtime:documentation:howto:debugging:latency [2018/08/06 14:13]
ebugden Restructure page
Line 1: Line 1:
-====== ​Latencies ​======+====== ​Latency ​======
  
-In computing, the term //latency// is generally defined as "the time taken to perform a task". In a real-time context, the term //latency// often means something slightly different. ​When a real-time system is said to have //​latencies//​ or that it has a //latency// that needs to be debugged, the term //latency// means "a situation in which a task or an operation took too long to finish"​. In a real-time context, the time that it takes a system to perform a particular task (i.e. the latency of the task) is important as each task must be able to finish before its specified deadline. Having this second definition for the term //latency// can sometimes get a little confusing because the general definition of the term is also used when discussing real-time topics. So, it is important to remember that //latency// can mean slightly different things depending on how it is used.+When a real-time system is said to have //​latencies//​ or that it has a //latency// that needs to be debugged, the term //latency// means "a situation in which a task or an operation took too long to finish"​. In a real-time context, the time that it takes a system to perform a particular task (i.e. the latency of the task) is important as each task must be able to finish before its specified deadline.
  
-In a real-time context, if a task does not complete within the specified time limit it is as bad as if a task does not complete at all. This is why developers spend long amounts of time making sure that, even in the worst possible cases, a task can still complete before its deadline. This means that when evaluating the performance of a real-time system, the most important latency value to measure is the maximum latency.+If an RT task does not complete within the specified time limitit is as bad as if a task does not complete at all. This is why developers spend long amounts of time making sure that, even in the worst possible cases, a task can still complete before its deadline. This means that when evaluating the performance of a real-time system, the most important latency value to measure is the maximum latency
 + 
 +In computing, the term //latency// is generally defined as "the time taken to perform a task". As explained above, the term //latency// often means something slightly different when discussing an RT system. ​ Having this second definition for the term //latency// can sometimes get a little confusing because the general definition of the term is also used when discussing real-time topics. So, it is important to remember that //latency// can mean slightly different things depending on how it is used.