A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system that guarantees a certain capability within a specified time constraint. For example, an operating system might be designed to ensure that a certain object was available for a robot on an assembly line. In what is usually called a "hard" real-time operating system, if the calculation could not be performed for making the object available at the designated time, the operating system would terminate with a failure. In a "soft" real-time operating system, the assembly line would continue to function but the production output might be lower as objects failed to appear at their designated time, causing the robot to be temporarily unproductive. Some real-time operating systems are created
for a special application and others are more general purpose. Some existing general purpose operating systems claim to be a real-time operating systems. To some extent, almost any general purpose operating system such as Microsoft's Windows 2000 or IBM's OS/390 can be evaluated for its real-time operating system qualities. That is, even if an operating system doesn't qualify, it may have characteristics that enable it to be considered as a solution to a particular real-time application problem.
In general, real-time operating systems are said to require:
- Multitasking
- Process threads that can be prioritized
- A sufficient number of interrupt levels
Real-time operating systems are often required in small embedded operating systems that are packaged as part of microdevices. Some kernels can be considered to meet the requirements of a real-time operating system. However, since other components, such as device drivers, are also usually needed for a particular solution, a real-time operating system is usually larger than just the kernel.