Various implementations of the described subject associate a plurality of threads that are sorted based on thread priority with a run queue in a deterministic amount of time. The run queue includes a first plurality of threads, which are sorted based on thread priority. The second plurality of threads is associated with the run queue in a bounded, or deterministic amount of time that is independent of the number of threads in the associated second plurality. Thus, the various implementations of the described subject matter allow an operating system to schedule other threads for execution within deterministic/predetermined time parameters.