Real-Time Computing

ArcelorMittal control room

At a steel mill in eastern France, this computerized control room monitors and controls the process of heating and rolling out long ribbons of steel in real-time.

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Reacting to the Real World

Taking a census? You can wait while computers crunch the numbers. Braking your car? Guiding a missile? Running an assembly line? Waiting is not recommended. Time matters.

Real-time computing responds to events as they happen, something even early computers were able to do. Demand for real-time computing began with the military, but swiftly expanded to industrial, medical and soon, everyday uses.