Originally Posted by
Water pilot
With the caveat that I have no inside knowledge of Boeing's programs and so could be talking though my hat, I would be surprised if there were anything as complex as a 'process' in this control system. Even the most simple and minimal operating system introduces a heck of a lot of unnecessary complexity. It is likely that everything runs in the same memory space (especially if it is a 286) and looks like one large interrupt driven program. They probably have some sort of minimal 'frame' so they can compile together the various developer's work, but it is probably quite small and simple compared to the millions of lines of code (literally) that you will see in an operating system.
Unless Boeing are literally working with technology from the stone age your description is about as far from reality as is possible for any modern safety related software.
How many safety critical software systems have you designed, had approved, and put in the field ?