An Event Mechanism for Linux

摘要

This article is the first in a series describing a new event-based mechanism for Linux. This particular article focuses on the motivation, requirements and benefits of such a mechanism for carrier-grade Linux. The work of supporting a native event-based system in the Linux kernel started as a research project in 2001 at the Open Systems Lab (Ericsson Research, Corporate Unit) in Montreal, Canada. The goal was to provide Linux with an event-driven environment that could deliver better performance compared to existing solutions in the context of telecom applications. There has been a growing interest in bringing the Linux operating system to a carrier-grade level. For example, the OSDL Carrier-Grade Linux working group (www.osdl.org/ projects/cgl) currently is drafting a set of requirements to turn Linux into a solid carrier-grade server for Next Generation Networks.