Can C# .NET be used for hard real-time?

Question

Given that the familiar form of .NET is run on Windows, which is not a real-time O/S, and MONO runs on Linux (standard kernel is also not a real-time O/S).

Given also, that any memory allocation scheme offering garbage collection (as in "managed" .NET), and indeed any heap memory scheme will introduce non-deterministic, potentially non-trivial delays into an application's execution behavior.

Is there any combination of alternate host O/S and coding paradigm in which one can leverage all of the power and conveniences of C# .NET while implementing a solution which can execute designated portions of code within tightly specified time constraints? e.g. start a C# method every 10ms to a tolerance of less than 1ms, with completion time determined only by the work performed in the method itself?

Obviously, the application would have to be carefully written; time-critical code would have to avoid memory allocations; the application would have to have completed all its memory allocation etc. work and have no other threads active once the hard real-time loop is started. Also, the host O/S would have to support real-time scheduling.

Is this possible within the .NET / MONO framework, or is it precluded by the design of the .NET runtime, framework, and O/Ss on which it (or compatible equivalent) is supported?

For example: is it possible to do reliable fine-grained (~1ms) machine control purely in C# with something like NETduino, or do they have limits or require alternate strategies for such applications?

Answer 1

Short Answer: No.

Longer answer: The closest you can get is running the .net Micro Framework directly on Hardware, but the TinyCLR still doesn't give you deterministic timings. Microsoft has Windows CE/Windows Embedded Compact as their real time offering, but even that is only real time for slower tasks (I believe somewhere in the range of 50 microseconds or more - not sure if that qualifies for Hard Real Time)

I do not know if it were technically possible to create a real-time c# implementation, but no one has done one and even .net native isn't made for that.