A Bailout Protocol for Mixed Criticality Systems

Abstract

To move mixed criticality research into industrial practice requires models whose run-time behaviour is acceptable to systems engineers. Certain aspects of current models, such as abandoning lower criticality tasks when certain situations arise, do not give the robustness required in application domains such as the automotive and aerospace industries. In this paper a new bailout protocol is developed that still guarantees high criticality tasks but minimises the negative impact on lower criticality tasks via a timely return to normal operation. We show how the bailout protocol can be integrated with existing techniques, utilising offline slack to further improve performance. Static analysis is provided for the strong schedulability guarantees, while scenario based evaluation via simulation is used to explore the effectiveness of the protocol.