The simple scheduler implemented so far provides only two states for the tasks, TASK_READY and TASK_RUNNING. A third state can be implemented to define a task that does not actually need to be resumed, because it is blocked waiting for an event or a timeout. A task can be waiting for a system event of some type, such as:
- Interrupt events from an input/output device in use by the task
- Communication from another task, such as the TCP/IP stack
- Synchronization mechanisms, such as a mutex or a semaphore, to access a shared resource in the system that is currently unavailable
- Timeout events
To manage the different states, the scheduler may implement two or more lists, to separate the tasks currently running, or ready to run, from ...
