Description

EEMDEF (Execution Environment Modeling of Distributed Embedded Functions) is a research project supported by KK-foundation and PROGRESS. In this project Mälardalen Real-Time research Centre (MRTC) cooperates with the following industrial partners:

• Arcticus Systems
• Hägglunds BAE Systems

EEMDEF project will target software for embedded control systems; software that is commonly used in, e.g., vehicles and industrial robots. These systems are characterized by having a mix of functions with diverse requirements on timing and dependability, operating in resource constrained environments, and where software reliability is paramount since upgrades are difficult, expensive, and software flaws can have disastrous impact (e.g. on personal and environmental safety, or devastate future revenues).

The complexity of the control systems of the vehicle industry, our specific focus, has rapidly been increasing in recent years. Of special concern in complex control systems with timing constraints is the possibility to model, predict and modify the execution behavior (how the vast amount of functions cooperate, are synchronized and their timing). This means that, in order to ensure that timing requirements are not violated, throughput is high, responsiveness is good, and/or that resources are utilized in an efficient manner, it is necessary to model requirements on execution behaviors and to model (or predict) the execution patterns that will occur when executing (running) the system. Using contemporary development techniques that are dependent on a mix of manually written code and code generated from semi-formal models such as UML, and using operating system specific constructs for managing data- and control-flow, results in systems whose execution behavior is virtually impossible to model or understand without thorough testing. Needless to say, modifying the execution behavior in this context is extremely difficult and tedious and the results of modifications are in reality virtually unpredictable.

EEMDEF Vision

In EEMDEF we will develop a framework that allow modeling and analysis of execution requirements (e.g. response times, deadlines, jitter, memory consumption and other metrics relevant for control systems) on an abstraction level that is close to the functional specification (i.e. abstracting away implementation details such as physical and logical allocation of functionality). We will leverage on state-of-the-art Model Based Development (MBD) via Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE) methods for control systems, using the Rubus Component Model v3, developed by Arcticus with close cooperation with MRTC, as base for expressing the functional architecture.

Using the techniques developed in EEMDEF, software developing organizations in the vehicular domain can decrease the costs for software development, configuration and testing. The analysis-engines will report key characteristics of the system without the need for tedious and expensive testing. The automated configuration and code-synthesis tools will facilitate rapid modifications of systems, allowing an efficient evolution of software within product families.

Press releases and more information

• Sveriges Television
• Västmanlands Läns Tidning
• Cision Wire
• Webfinanser

Read what Wikipedia has to say about:

• Real-Time Systems
• Embedded systems
• Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE)
• Program execution