Intro

Java has threads but they are not expressive enough to capture properties of real time activities. (e.g. deadline, cost, value etc.)
RT threads are also characterized by their execution patterns - periodic, sporadic, aperiodic. This has to be manually coded in standard Java threads.
Supporting RT Threads requires fundamental changes to the JVM.
Two classes: RealtimeThread and NoHeapRealtimeThread.

Periodic RT Thread

waitForNextPeriod() : Causes the current real-time thread to be suspended until the beginning of the next period. Each time it is called this method will block until the start of the next period unless the thread is in a deadline miss condition. In that case the operation of waitForNextPeriod is controlled by this thread's scheduler. Returns True (when the thread is next released ) when the thread is not in a deadline miss condition. Otherwise the return value is governed by this thread's scheduler.