Glenn Ashley Farrall

Containing Timing-Related Certification Cost in Automotive Systems Deploying Complex Hardware

Measurement-Based Probabilistic Timing Analysis (MBPTA) techniques simplify deriving tight and trustworthy WCET estimates for industrial-size programs running on complex processors. MBPTA poses some requirements on the timing behaviour of the hardware/software platform: execution times of end-to-end runs have to be independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). Hardware and software solutions have been deployed to accomplish MBPTA requirements. The latter has achieved the i.i.d. properties running on some commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processor designs. Unfortunately, software randomisation challenges functional verification needed for certification since it introduces indirections through pointers in the code. In this paper we propose a new approach to software randomisation able to contain its functional verification costs. Our approach performs software randomisation statically, as opposed to current dynamic approaches. We carefully review the requirements of the new approach and prove its feasibility.

PROXIMA: Improving Measurement-Based Timing Analysis through Randomisation and Probabilistic Analysis

The use of increasingly complex hardware and software platforms in response to the ever rising performance demands of modern real-time systems complicates the verification and validation of their timing behaviour, which form a time-and-effort-intensive step of system qualification or certification. In this paper we relate the current state of practice in measurement-based timing analysis, the predominant choice for industrial developers, to the proceedings of the PROXIMA (Probabilistic real-time control of mixed-criticality multicore systems) project in that very field. We recall the difficulties that the shift towards more complex computing platforms causes in that regard. Then we discuss the probabilistic approach proposed by PROXIMA to overcome some of those limitations. We present the main principles behind the PROXIMA approach as well as the changes it requires at hardware or software level underneath the application. We also present the current status of the project against its overall goals, and highlight some of the principal confidence-building results achieved so far.

Advanced Electronic Architecture Design for Next Electric Vehicle Generation

Future generations of electric vehicles (EVs) require a scalable, layered architecture addressing different system aspects such as scalable modules, uniform communication, and hardware (HW) and software (SW) architectures. This will reduce the number of electronic control units as well as the variety of communication, sensor data fusion and charging infrastructure interfaces. The architecture is based on distributed processing with novel propulsion systems and electronic control units implemented as embedded systems containing HW and SW algorithms. Sensing, actuation, signal processing and computing devices are embedded in the electronic equipment, motors, batteries and the mechanical components. This paper presents the current advances in novel EV architectures based on embedded computing devices, communication systems and management algorithms.

Combined simulator statistics and block code sampling to study performance enhancement of microarchitecture

This paper presents a simple approach combining the statistics of simulation and block code sampling to study the performance enhancement of the microarchitecture with duplicated pipelines (enhanced microarchitectures). We collect the statistics from the simulation of EEMBC benchmark code on a TriCore/spl trade/ 2.0 implementation and use them to sample blocks of code and simulate different enhanced microarchitectures. The new simulation results are used to analyse the performance benefits of each microarchitecture enhancement, which can narrow down the design space exploration.