One of the most important issues in the development of distributed computer control systems is the ability to build software and hardware which is both reliable and time deterministic; this is an area where control engineering and computer science naturally meet.

This publication brings together the latest key papers on research and development in this field, allowing cross-fertilization between the two engineering disciplines involved and allowing both academics and industrial practitioners to find new insights and learn from each other's views.

Chapter headings: Real-Time Communication Architectures. Temporal Properties of Communication Systems. Architectures for DCCS. Open and Heterogeneous DCCS. Specification and Design Methods for DCCS. System Issues. Performance Issues. Applications. Author Index.