RTEMS C User's Guide
Priority inheritance is an algorithm that calls for the lower priority task holding a resource to have its priority increased to that of the highest priority task blocked waiting for that resource. Each time a task blocks attempting to obtain the resource, the task holding the resource may have its priority increased.
RTEMS supports priority inheritance for local, binary semaphores that use the priority task wait queue blocking discipline. When a task of higher priority than the task holding the semaphore blocks, the priority of the task holding the semaphore is increased to that of the blocking task. When the task holding the task completely releases the binary semaphore (i.e. not for a nested release), the holder's priority is restored to the value it had before any higher priority was inherited.
The RTEMS implementation of the priority inheritance algorithm takes into account the scenario in which a task holds more than one binary semaphore. The holding task will execute at the priority of the higher of the highest ceiling priority or at the priority of the highest priority task blocked waiting for any of the semaphores the task holds. Only when the task releases ALL of the binary semaphores it holds will its priority be restored to the normal value.
RTEMS C User's Guide
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