Dependable Communication Synthesis for Distributed Embedded Systems

Embedded control applications such as drive-by-wire in cars require dependable interaction between various sensors, processors, and actuators. This paper addresses the design of low-cost communication networks guaranteeing to meet both the performance and fault-tolerance requirements of such distributed applications. We develop a fault-tolerant allocation and scheduling method which maps messages on to a minimum-cost multiple-bus system to ensure predictable inter-processor communication. The proposed method targets time-division multiple access (TDMA) communication protocols, and is applicable to protocols such as FlexRay and TTP which have recently emerged as networking standards for embedded systems such as automobile controllers. Finally, we present a case study involving some advanced automotive control applications to show that our approach uses the available network bandwidth efficiently to achieve jitter-free message transmission.

[1]  Hermann Kopetz,et al.  TTP - A time-triggered protocol for fault-tolerant real-time systems , 1993, FTCS-23 The Twenty-Third International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing.

[2]  Petru Eles,et al.  Scheduling with bus access optimization for distributed embedded systems , 2000, IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale Integr. Syst..

[3]  Jennifer C. Hou,et al.  Distance-Constrained Scheduling and Its Applications to Real-Time Systems , 1996, IEEE Trans. Computers.

[4]  John A. Stankovic,et al.  Dynamic end-to-end guarantees in distributed real time systems , 1994, 1994 Proceedings Real-Time Systems Symposium.

[5]  Kang G. Shin,et al.  Combined Task and Message Scheduling in Distributed Real-Time Systems , 1999, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[6]  E. A. Bretz.  By-wire cars turn the corner , 2001 .

[7]  Marilyn Wolf,et al.  An architectural co-synthesis algorithm for distributed, embedded computing systems , 1997, IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale Integr. Syst..

[8]  Hermann Kopetz,et al.  Real-time systems , 2018, CSC '73.

[9]  David S. Johnson,et al.  Fast Algorithms for Bin Packing , 1974, J. Comput. Syst. Sci..

[10]  Donal Heffernan,et al.  Expanding Automotive Electronic Systems , 2002, Computer.

[11]  Wayne H. Wolf,et al.  Co-synthesis of heterogeneous multiprocessor systems using arbitrated communication , 1999, 1999 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design. Digest of Technical Papers (Cat. No.99CH37051).

[12]  Robert Mores,et al.  FlexRay - The Communication System for Advanced Automotive Control Systems , 2001 .

[13]  Kwei-Jay Lin,et al.  Jitter control in time-triggered systems , 1996, Proceedings of HICSS-29: 29th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[14]  Hector Garcia-Molina,et al.  Deadline Assignment in a Distributed Soft Real-Time System , 1997, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[15]  Xiaobo Sharon Hu,et al.  Codesign of architectures for automotive powertrain modules , 1994, IEEE Micro.

[16]  Wayne Wolf,et al.  Communication synthesis for distributed embedded systems , 1995, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD).

[17]  James W. Layland,et al.  Scheduling Algorithms for Multiprogramming in a Hard-Real-Time Environment , 1989, JACM.

[18]  Alice C. Parker,et al.  Synthesis of application-specific multiprocessor architectures , 1991, 28th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference.

[19]  Nagarajan Kandasamy.  Design of low-cost dependable systems for distributed embedded applications. , 2003 .

[20]  G. Borriello,et al.  Communication synthesis for distributed embedded systems , 1998, 1998 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design. Digest of Technical Papers (IEEE Cat. No.98CB36287).