Embedded computer systems are getting increasingly distributed. This
can not only be seen on a small scale, e.g. in terms of multiprocessors
on a chip, but also in terms of embedded systems that are connected via 
various communication networks. Whereas classical methods from the worst
case timing analysis and real-time community focus on single resources,
new models and methods need to be developed that enable the design and
analysis of systems that guarantee end-to-end properties.

The talk covers a new class of methods based on real-time calculus. They
can be considered as a deterministic variant of queuing theory and allow
for (a) bursty input events and event streams, (b) heterogeneous 
composition of scheduling methods (EDF, FP, TDMA, WFQ, ...), 
(c) distributed computation and communication resources (d) detailed 
modeling of event stream correlations and resource behavior and 
(d) hard worst case bounds. Besides introducing the basic models 
and methods, some application studies are covered also.

It appears that this class of new methods provide a major step 
towards the analysis and design of predictable distributed systems.