Development of system supervision and control software for a micromanipulation system

This paper presents the realization of a modular software architecture that is capable of handling the complex supervision structure of a multi degree of freedom open architecture and reconfigurable micro assembly workstation. This software architecture initially developed for a micro assembly workstation is later structured to form a framework and design guidelines for precise motion control and system supervision tasks explained subsequently through an application on a micro assembly workstation. The software is separated by design into two different layers, one for real-time and the other for non-realtime. These two layers are composed of functional modules that form the building blocks for the precise motion control and the system supervision of complex mechatronics systems

A Functional Architecture Approach to Neural Systems

The technology for the design of systems to perform extremely complex combinations of real-time functionality has developed over a long period. This technology is based on the use of a hardware architecture with a physical separation into memory and processing, and a software architecture which divides functionality into a disciplined hierarchy of software components which exchange unambiguous information. This technology experiences difficulty in design of systems to perform parallel processing, and extreme difficulty in design of systems which can heuristically change their own functionality. These limitations derive from the approach to information exchange between functional components. A design approach in which functional components can exchange ambiguous information leads to systems with the recommendation architecture which are less subject to these limitations. Biological brains have been constrained by natural pressures to adopt functional architectures with this different information exchange approach. Neural networks have not made a complete shift to use of ambiguous information, and do not address adequate management of context for ambiguous information exchange between modules. As a result such networks cannot be scaled to complex functionality. Simulations of systems with the recommendation architecture demonstrate the capability to heuristically organize to perform complex functionality

A Software-Defined Channel Sounder for Industrial Environments with Fast Time Variance

Novel industrial wireless applications require wideband, real-time channel characterization due to complex multipath propagation. Rapid machine motion leads to fast time variance of the channel's reflective behavior, which must be captured for radio channel characterization. Additionally, inhomogeneous radio channels demand highly flexible measurements. Existing approaches for radio channel measurements either lack flexibility or wide-band, real-time performance with fast time variance. In this paper, we propose a correlative channel sounding approach utilizing a software-defined architecture. The approach enables real-time, wide-band measurements with fast time variance immune to active interference. The desired performance is validated with a demanding industrial application example.Comment: Submitted to the 15th International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems (ISWCS 2018

Model based code generation for distributed embedded systems

Embedded systems are becoming increasingly complex and more distributed. Cost and quality requirements necessitate reuse of the functional software components for multiple deployment architectures. An important step is the allocation of software components to hardware. During this process the differences between the hardware and application software architectures must be reconciled. In this paper we discuss an architecture driven approach involving model-based techniques to resolve these differences and integrate hardware and software components. The system architecture serves as the underpinning based on which distributed real-time components can be generated. Generation of various embedded system architectures using the same functional architecture is discussed. The approach leverages the following technologies – IME (Integrated Modeling Environment), the SAE AADL (Architecture Analysis and Design Language), and Ocarina. The approach is illustrated using the electronic throttle control system as a case study

On the response surface methodology and designed experiments for computationally intensive distributed aerospace simulations

Distributed real-time simulation is the focus of intense development with complex systems being represented by individual component simulations interacting as a coherent model. Commercial off the shelf (COTS) and Freeware real-time software exists to provide data communication channels between he components subject to adequate system bandwidth. However, if the individual models are too computationally intensive to run in real-time, then the performance of the real-time simulation architecture is compromised. In this paper, model representations are developed from dynamic simulation by the Response surface Methodology, allowing complex systems to be included in a real-time environment. A Permanent Magnet AC motor drive simulation with model reference control for a more electric aircraft application is examined as a candidate for inclusion in a realtime simulation environment

FAILSAFE Health Management for Embedded Systems

The FAILSAFE project is developing concepts and prototype implementations for software health management in mission- critical, real-time embedded systems. The project unites features of the industry-standard ARINC 653 Avionics Application Software Standard Interface and JPL s Mission Data System (MDS) technology (see figure). The ARINC 653 standard establishes requirements for the services provided by partitioned, real-time operating systems. The MDS technology provides a state analysis method, canonical architecture, and software framework that facilitates the design and implementation of software-intensive complex systems. The MDS technology has been used to provide the health management function for an ARINC 653 application implementation. In particular, the focus is on showing how this combination enables reasoning about, and recovering from, application software problems

A scalable architecture for real-time monitoring of large information systems

Data centers supporting cloud-based services are characterized by a huge number of hardware and software resources often cooperating in complex and unpredictable ways. Understanding the state of these systems for reasons of management and service level agreement requires scalable monitoring architectures that should gather and evaluate continuosly large flows in almost real-time periods. We propose a novel monitoring architecture that, by combining a hierarchical approach with decentralized monitors, addresses these challenges. In this context, fully centralized systems do not scale to the required number of flows, while pure peer-to-peer architectures cannot provide a global view of the system state. We evaluate the monitoring architecture for computational units of gathering and evaluation in real contexts that demonstrate the scalability potential of the proposed system

System Software Abstraction Layer - much more than Operating System Abstraction Layer

Current and future aircraft systems require real-time embedded software with greater flexibility compared to what was previously available due to the continuous advancements in the technology leading to large and complex systems. Portability of software as one of the aspects of this flexibility is a major concern in application development for avionics domain for fast development and integration of systems. Abstractions of the hardware platform which have been already introduced by the operating system community allow the software modules to be reused on different hardware and with different physical resources. Now operating system community has come up with an abstraction layer called operating system abstraction layer (OSAL) which along with the hardware abstraction unifies the OS architecture too. It provides a common set of primitives independent of the underlying operating system and its particular architecture. Factors such as reliability, scalability and determinism of any application largely depend on the design and architecture of the application. This is the most important and critical factor of real time systems such as mission computers of avionics systems, missile control system or control computers of space shuttle. It demands developer to perform feasibility of different software architecture to select the best alternative. Authors’ analysis shows that to make any real time application more secure, scalable, deterministic, and highly portable, OSAL has to be extended to more than just operating system abstraction. This new view of OSAL will be called as system software abstraction layer (SSAL). In this paper, authors attempt to highlight the efficiency of SSAL as well as detailed description of its main features and design considerations. Authors have implemented the SSAL on top of two well known OS (WinCE and Vxworks) and performed extensive evaluations, which shows that it effectively reduces portability efforts while achieving simplicity, predictability, security and determinism. This paper presents in brief, the API functionalities, its components, implementation, interfaces, advantages and overheads along with a case study.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(2), pp.214-222, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.426