Fly-By-Wireless for Next Generation Aircraft: Challenges and Potential solutions

”Fly-By-Wireless” paradigm based on wireless connectivity in aircraft has the potential to improve efficiency and flexibility, while reducing weight, fuel consumption and maintenance costs. In this paper, first, the opportunities and challenges for wireless technologies in safety-critical avionics context are discussed. Then, the assessment of such technologies versus avionics requirements is provided in order to select the most appropriate one for a wireless aircraft application. As a result, the design of a Wireless Avionics Network based on Ultra WideBand technology is investigated, considering the issues of determinism, reliability and security

Ethernet - a survey on its fields of application

During the last decades, Ethernet progressively became the most widely used local area networking (LAN) technology. Apart from LAN installations, Ethernet became also attractive for many other fields of application, ranging from industry to avionics, telecommunication, and multimedia. The expanded application of this technology is mainly due to its significant assets like reduced cost, backward-compatibility, flexibility, and expandability. However, this new trend raises some problems concerning the services of the protocol and the requirements for each application. Therefore, specific adaptations prove essential to integrate this communication technology in each field of application. Our primary objective is to show how Ethernet has been enhanced to comply with the specific requirements of several application fields, particularly in transport, embedded and multimedia contexts. The paper first describes the common Ethernet LAN technology and highlights its main features. It reviews the most important specific Ethernet versions with respect to each application field’s requirements. Finally, we compare these different fields of application and we particularly focus on the fundamental concepts and the quality of service capabilities of each proposal

Using network calculus to optimize the AFDX network

This paper presents quantitative results we obtained when optimizing the setting of priorities of the AFDX traffic flows, with the objective to obtain tighter latency and queue-size deterministic bounds (those bounds are calculated by our Network Calculus tool). We first point out the fact that setting randomly the priorities gives worse bounds than using no priorities, and we then show experiments on the basis of classic optimization techniques such as a descent method and a tentative AlphaBetaassisted brute-force approach: both of them haven’t brought significantly better results. We finally present experiments based on genetic algorithms, and we show how driving these algorithms in an adequate way has allowed us to deliver a full range of priority configurations that bring tighter bounds and allow the network traffic designer to trade off average gains of 40% on all the latency bounds against focused improvement on the largest queue-size bound (up to a 30% reduction)

Performance analysis of a Master/Slave switched Ethernet for military embedded applications

Current military communication network is a generation old and is no longer effective in meeting the emerging requirements imposed by the next generation military embedded applications. A new communication network based upon Full Duplex Switched Ethernet is proposed in this paper to overcome these limitations. To allow existing military subsystems to be easily supported by a Switched Ethernet network, our proposal consists in keeping their current centralized communication scheme by using an optimized master/slave transmission control on Switched Ethernet thanks to the Flexible Time Triggered (FTT) paradigm. Our main objective is to assess the performance of such a proposal and estimate the quality of service we can expect in terms of latency. Using the Network Calculus formalism, schedulability analysis are determined. These analysis are illustrated in the case of a realistic military embedded application extracted from a real military aircraft network, to highlight the proposal's ability to support the required time constrained communications

A Modeling Framework for Schedulability Analysis of Distributed Avionics Systems

This paper presents a modeling framework for schedulability analysis of distributed integrated modular avionics (DIMA) systems that consist of spatially distributed ARINC-653 modules connected by a unified AFDX network. We model a DIMA system as a set of stopwatch automata (SWA) in UPPAAL to analyze its schedulability by classical model checking (MC) and statistical model checking (SMC). The framework has been designed to enable three types of analysis: global SMC, global MC, and compositional MC. This allows an effective methodology including (1) quick schedulability falsification using global SMC analysis, (2) direct schedulability proofs using global MC analysis in simple cases, and (3) strict schedulability proofs using compositional MC analysis for larger state space. The framework is applied to the analysis of a concrete DIMA system.Comment: In Proceedings MARS/VPT 2018, arXiv:1803.0866

Full duplex switched ethernet for next generation "1553B" -based applications

Over the last thirty years, the MIL-STD 1553B data bus has been used in many embedded systems, like aircrafts, ships, missiles and satellites. However, the increasing number and complexity of interconnected subsystems lead to emerging needs for more communication bandwidth. Therefore, a new interconnection system is needed to overcome the limitations of the MIL-STD 1553B data bus. Among several high speed networks, Full Duplex Switched Ethernet is put forward here as an attractive candidate to replace the MIL-STD 1553B data bus. However, the key argument against Switched Ethernet lies in its non-deterministic behavior that makes it inadequate to deliver hard timeconstrained communications. Hence, our primary objective in this paper is to achieve an accepted QoS level offered by Switched Ethernet, to support diverse "1553B"-based applications requirements. We evaluate the performance of traffic shaping techniques on Full Duplex Switched Ethernet with an adequate choice of service strategy in the switch, to guarantee the real-time constraints required by these specific 1553B-based applications. An analytic study is conducted, using the Network Calculus formalism, to evaluate the deterministic guarantees offered by our approach. Theoretical analysis are then investigated in the case of a realistic "1553B"-based application extracted from a real military aircraft network. The results herein show the ability of profiled Full Duplex Switched Ethernet to satisfy 1553B-like real-time constraints

Securing Real-Time Internet-of-Things

Modern embedded and cyber-physical systems are ubiquitous. A large number of critical cyber-physical systems have real-time requirements (e.g., avionics, automobiles, power grids, manufacturing systems, industrial control systems, etc.). Recent developments and new functionality requires real-time embedded devices to be connected to the Internet. This gives rise to the real-time Internet-of-things (RT-IoT) that promises a better user experience through stronger connectivity and efficient use of next-generation embedded devices. However RT- IoT are also increasingly becoming targets for cyber-attacks which is exacerbated by this increased connectivity. This paper gives an introduction to RT-IoT systems, an outlook of current approaches and possible research challenges towards secure RT- IoT frameworks

Performance optimization of a UWB-based network for safety-critical avionics

To reduce the aircraft weight and maintenance costs while guaranteeing system performance and reliability, an alternative avionic communication architecture based on Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and TDMA protocol is proposed to replace the back-up part of safety-critical avionics network. The analysis and performance optimization of such a proposal is tackled as follows. First, appropriate system modeling and timing analysis, using Network Calculus and Integer Linear Programing (ILP) approach, are provided to evaluate the end-to-end delays and verify system predictability. Then, an optimization approach to find the optimal TDMA cycle duration, which minimizes the end-to-end delays, is proposed. Finally, the efficiency of our proposal to enhance the system performance is validated through a realistic avionic case study

Design and Implementation of COTS-Based Aircraft Data Network Using Embedded Linux

Aircraft Data Network (ADN) is a data communication developed specifically for the aircraft environment. In such environments required data communication system that can work in real time and has a high level of reliability. One of the standards in ADN is Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) based on the ARINC 664 specification that is data communication standard for ADN that uses IEEE 802.3 standard on physical layer 1 and 2. It becomes the gap and challenge to implement the standard on the component of COTS By utilizing Linux-based embedded systems. The features designed and implemented in this paper are the switching and fault tolerant data components of ARINC 664. From the tests obtained, several results show that ADN functional features can be implemented and can simulate ADN mechanisms including fault tolerance capabilities. But there are performance limitations that the average jitter value of 3380 microseconds obtained has not met the requirements for use on aircraft that should be in the range of 500 microseconds