On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 5:24 PM, Sam Mason <sam@samason.me.uk> wrote:
> Even then it's not useful to class it as real-time; nothing "bad"
> happens if you don't get a response before timeout the user just gets an
> error message. Real-time applies when if you don't get a response the
> plane crashes or a heart stops because the pacemaker hasn't put out a
> signal in time.
Think of a network router: it is neither a pacemaker nor an airplane
but is definitely a real-time system. If it cannot complete its
processing on time, not only is it useless, it may actually bring down
significant numbers of other systems.
- Marsh