Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Resource arbitration
Also known as: Arbitration
German: Ressourcenarbitrierung
In automation and computing, resource arbitration is the mechanism that decides which of several simultaneous requesters is granted access to a shared resource, for example by priority, round robin or first come, first served, so that only one requester uses it at a time.
- System integration
In one sentence
Resource arbitration decides which of several simultaneous requesters gets access to a shared resource, e.g. by priority or round robin.
Example
Two robots request the same transfer station at the same time; the cell controller's arbiter grants access to the robot with the older request and queues the other.
How it applies
- Engineering: An arbiter must be the single authority for its resource. Distributed arbitration without a single authority needs a consensus mechanism and is much harder to get right.
- Fairness: Pure priority arbitration can starve low-priority requesters. Round robin or aging ensures that every requester is eventually served.
- Commissioning: Test truly simultaneous requests (same cycle) and requests arriving while the resource is being released.
- Documentation: State the arbitration rule in the functional specification. When operators see a machine waiting, diagnostics and troubleshooting documentation should explain that it is waiting for an arbitrated resource and which one.
Resource arbitration vs. resource lock
Arbitration decides who gets the resource. A Resource lock records and enforces that the winner holds it until release. Most systems use both: the arbiter grants the lock.