With real time systems embedded into a huge number of products, today's engineers are required to understand both the analysis and design of such systems in order to work with them successfully during product development. Fundamentals of Real Time Systems combines theory and practice to help students and practicing engineers gain a working knowledge of real time systems. The book uses authentic code snippets and examples to introduce and reinforce concepts in real-time systems programming, data structures, kernels and operating systems, tasks, scheduling algorithms, communication mechanisms, and reliability and applications. Clear, informative, and accessible, Fundamentals of Real Time Systems gives both students and professionals a good working knowledge of the subject matter, without overwhelming them with technical details and processor specifications. The text is suitable for engineering and computer science courses that cover embedded systems, real time systems, and embedded development. Mukul Shirvaikar earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Shirvaikar is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Texas, Tyler. His research focuses on real time image processing, and he serves as associate editor of the Journal of Real Time Image Processing. Theodore Elbert, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is emeritus professor of computer science at the University of West Florida. He served as chairman of the Computer Science Department, where he helped bring concepts of software engineering into the department's curricula.