"Based on the academic and commercial experience of the author, the book is an ideal companion to final year undergraduate options or MSc modules in the area of real-time systems design. The broad spectrum of subjects dealt with will aid professional programmers faced with their first real-time project whilst extending students' knowledge and skills into an area of computing which has increasing relevance in a modern world of telecommunications and 'intelligent' equipment using embedded microcontrollers." Assuming a certain level of general systems design and programming experience, the author uses practical, industrial experience to give an effective introduction to the field without the need for advanced mathematics. Programming examples using GNU/Linux are included in the book.