REAL-TIME

DATABASE
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
 WHAT ARE RTDBs?
A real-time database is a
processing system designed to
handle workloads whose state
is constantly changing or one
in which timely response to a
user request is needed.
 EXAMPLES
Real-time databases are useful for:
 accounting, banking in commerce
 law
 Medical records
 multi-media, network management systems, internet
service management
 process control(industrial control systems, spacecraft
control systems, air traffic control systems)
 reservation systems(airline, railways) and
 scientific data analysis.
 FAILURE OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
SYSTEM AT DELHI AIRPORT
 During a trial run of the new software platform
Autotrac-III, the system crashed, the air traffic control
(ATC) screens went blank

 It stopped transmitting inputs to the radar consoles,

which show the traffic in the airspace controlled by ATC
tower and give vital information like aircraft speed,
height and call-signs.

 The ATC officials quickly switched over to the earlier

system - Autotrac-II to restore air traffic
 TERMINOLOGIES
A TRANSACTION is a sequence of reads and
writes on the database to achieve some high level
function of the application.

A particular sequencing of actions of different

transactions is called a DATABASE SCHEDULE.

Databases restrict concurrent or simultaneous

execution of transactions through the use of
CONCURRENCY CONTROL PROTOCOLS
 Concurrency control protocols maintain the
integrity of the data by requiring the transactions
to satisfy four important properties known as
ACID properties.

 ATOMICITY : Either all or none of the

operations of a transaction are performed.

 CONSISTENCY : A transaction needs to

maintain integrity constraints on the
database.
 ISOLATION : Transactions are executed
concurrently as long as they do not
interfere in each other’s computations.

 DURABILITY : All changes made by a

committed transaction become permanent
in the database, surviving any subsequent
failures.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM
RDBMS?
The main differences between a
conventional database and a real-time
database lie in :
 Temporal characteristics of the stored
data
 Timing constraints imposed on the
database operations
 Performance goals
TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS
Data whose validity is lost after the elapse of some
pre-specified time interval are called temporal data
or perishable data.

EXAMPLE :
Consider the periodic data generated by
TEMPERATURE SENSOR.
The temperature sensor transmits temperature after
certain specific time interval.
As new temperature readings become available, the old
temperature data becomes stale.
 TIMING CONSTRAINTS
Every transaction is granted a specific time interval
called as DEADLINE before which it has to be
executed.
The type of response to a missed deadline depends on
whether the deadline is hard, soft, or firm.
 HARD DEADLINE:
 Periodic
 Example : Data gathered by a temperature sensor,
Also used in life critical systems.
 FIRM DEADLINE:
 Importance given to complete the transaction at
some point after the transaction arrives.
 Completing a transaction after its deadline has
expired may be harmful or not helpful.
 Both the firm and hard deadlines consider this.
 Example : autopilot system.

 SOFT DEADLINE:
 Aperiodic schedule.
 The arrival of each time for each task is unknown.
 Example : an operator switchboard for a telephone.
 PERFORMANCE METRICS

The performance of a real time

database is measured on the basis
of number of transactions
missing their deadlines per unit
time.
THANK
YOU