An Ada Runtime System Implementation of the Ravenscar Profile for High Speed Application-Layer Data Switch

Abstract

The Top Layer Networks AppSwitch™ is a coordinated hardware and software Layer 7-application switch designed to provide Application Control for data communication networks by automatically prioritizing network traffic according to the user and the application that is generating the messages. The AppSwitchTM software was developed in Ada95 (A companion paper describes how that software was built [1]). The nature of the application and the need for efficiency has dictated that the use of multiple task communication and synchronization be kept simple and straightforward. As a result, the communication and synchronization needs are very similar those defined in the Ravenscar Profile. Top Layer Networks found it necessary to construct an Ada runtime system that efficiently supported the Ravenscar Profile. The paper will describe the details of our Ravenscar Profile and will summarize its impact on the performance of the AppSwitch™ software.