An integrated architecture for dependable embedded systems

Abstract

Summary form only given. A federated architecture is characterized in that every major function of an embedded system is allocated to a dedicated hardware unit. In a distributed control system this implies that adding a new function is tantamount to adding a new node. This has led to a order to achieve some functional coordination. Adding fault-tolerance to a federated architecture, e.g., by the provision of triple modular redundancy (TMR) leads to a further significant increase in the number of nodes and networks. The major advantages of a dedicated architecture are the physical encapsulation of the nearly autonomous subsystems, their outstanding fault containment and their clear-cut complexity management (independent development) in case the subsystems are nearly autonomous. An integrated distributed architecture for mixed-criticality applications must be based on a core design that supports the safety requirements of the highest considered criticality class. This is of particular importance in safety-critical applications, where the physical structure of the integrated system is determined to a significant extent by the independence requirement of fault-containment regions. The central part of an integrated distributed architecture for time-critical systems must provide the following core services: deterministic and timely transport of messages; fault tolerant clock synchronization; strong fault isolation with respect to arbitrary node failures; and consistent diagnosis of failing nodes. Any architecture that provides these core services can be used as a base architecture for an integrated distributed embedded system architecture. An example of such an integrated architecture is the time-triggered architecture (TTA). In this contribution we describe the structure and the services of the TTA that has been developed during the last twenty years and is deployed in a number of safety-critical applications in the transport sector.