26.2. Compile-time specialization
A statically extensible system is reconfigured at compile time. This allows customization to a specific workload, either by omitting parts of the system which would be unused, or by selecting between different implementations of a particular interface which provide different trade-offs.
This is typified by the Scout operating system, designed to manage data flows within internet appliances, for instance handling video and audio data within a set-top box (Montz et al., 1995). A running Scout system comprises modules whose interconnections are specified at build time. For example, Figure 26.1 shows how modules might be configured for receiving an MPEG format video stream over the network and rendering it to the ...
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