1) The document discusses real-time operating systems (RTOS) and their use in embedded systems. An RTOS is an operating system that is designed to serve applications that require deterministic execution behavior and response times.
2) An RTOS kernel contains minimal services for tasks like scheduling, synchronization, and interrupt handling. It implements policies for prioritizing time-critical tasks.
3) Tasks in an RTOS can transition between different states like ready, running, blocked as they execute and wait for resources. An RTOS uses techniques like fixed-size memory blocks and preemptive multithreading to provide predictable timing.