Discrete event simulation for the purpose of real-time performance evaluation of distributed hardware-in-the-loop simulators for autonomous driving vehicle validation

Hardware-in-the-loop test benches are distributed computer systems including software, hardware and networking devices, which require strict real-time guarantees. To guarantee strict real-time of the simulator the performance needs to be evaluated. To evaluate the timing performance a discrete event simulation model is built up. The input modeling is based on measurements from the real system in a prototype phase. The results of the simulation model are validated with measurements from a prototype of the real system. The workload is increased until the streaming source becomes unstable, by either exceeding a certain limit of bytes or exceeding the number of parallel software processes running on the cores of the central processing unit. To evaluate the performance beyond these limits, the discrete event simulation model needs to be enriched by a scheduler and a hardware model. To provide real-time guarantees an analytical model needs to be built up

Ensuring Reliable and Predictable Behavior of IEEE 802.1CB Frame Replication and Elimination

Ultra-reliable and low-latency communication has received significant research attention. A key part of this evolution are the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards, which extend Ethernet with real-time mechanisms. To guarantee high reliability, the standard IEEE 802.1CB-2017 Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability enables redundant communication over disjoint paths. While this mechanism is essential for time-critical applications, the standard contains some fundamental limitations that can compromise safety. Although some of these limitations have been addressed, none of the previous works provide solutions to these problems. This paper presents solutions to four main limitations of the IEEE 802.1CB-2017 standard. These are 1) choosing match versus vector recovery algorithm, 2) defining the length of the sequence history, 3) setting a timer to reset the sequence history, and 4) dimensioning the burst size in case of link failures. We show how these challenges can be solved by using best- and worst-case path delays of the network. We have performed simulations to illustrate the impact of the limitations and prove the correctness of our solutions. Thereby, we demonstrate how our solutions can improve reliability in TSN networks and propose these methods as guidance for users of the IEEE 802.1CB standard

MMBnet 2017 - Proceedings of the 9th GI/ITG Workshop „Leistungs-, Verlässlichkeits- und Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung von Kommunikationsnetzen und Verteilten Systemen“

Nowadays, mathematical methods of systems and network monitoring, modeling, simulation, and performance, dependability and reliability analysis constitute the foundation of quantitative evaluation methods with regard to software-defined next-generation networks and advanced cloud computing systems. Considering the application of the underlying methodologies in engineering practice, these sophisticated techniques provide the basis in many different areas. The GI/ITG Technical Committee “Measurement, Modelling and Evaluation of Computing Systems“ (MMB) and its members have investigated corresponding research topics and initiated a series of MMB conferences and workshops over the last decades. Its 9th GI/ITG Workshop MMBnet 2017 „Leistungs-, Verlässlichkeits- und Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung von Kommunikationsnetzen und Verteilten Systemen“ was held at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany, on September 14, 2017. The proceedings of MMBnet 2017 summarize the contributions of one invited talk and four contributed papers of young researchers. They deal with current research issues in next-generation networks, IP-based real-time communication systems, and new application architectures and intend to stimulate the reader‘s future research in these vital areas of modern information society

Specification and Implementation of CAN Arbitration in UPPAAL

In dieser Arbeit stellen wir eine durch Zeitautomaten modellierte Spezifikation des Mediumzugriffs im CAN-Protokoll vor sowie ihre Implementierung in UPPAAL. Zeitliche Anforderungen wurden dabei durch entsprechende Uhren-Nebenbedingungen erfasst. Dieses Zeitautomaten-Modell wurde anschließend automatisch verifiziert (Model Checking), wobei mehrere Anforderungen identifiziert wurden, die das CAN Protokoll erfüllen muß (wie Deadlock-Freiheit des Modells, Übertragungsrecht für die höchstpriore Nachricht, exklusives Übertragungsrecht für beliebigen CAN-Adapter nach der gewonnenen Arbitrage etc.). All diese Eigenschaften wurden in einer Variante der temporalen Logik CTL spezifiziert; die automatische Verifikation selbst wurde dabei mit UPPAAL durchgeführt, einem Model Checker für zeitautomaten-basierte Modelle

Next-Generation Satellite Communication Networks

This paper gives an overview of our recent activities in the field of satellite communication networks, including an introduction to geostationary satellite systems and Low Earth Orbit megaconstellations. To mitigate the high latencies of geostationary satellite networks, TCP-splitting Performance Enhancing Proxies are deployed. However, these cannot be applied in the case of encrypted transport headers as it is the case for VPNs or QUIC. We summarize performance evaluation results from multiple measurement campaigns. In a recently concluded project, multipath communication was used to combine the advantages of very heterogeneous communication paths: low data rate, low latency (e.g., DSL light) and high data rate, high latency (e.g., geostationary satellite)

How to Model and Predict the Scalability of a Hardware-In-The-Loop Test Bench for Data Re-Injection?

This paper describes a novel application of an empirical network calculus model based on measurements of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test system. The aim is to predict the performance of a HIL test bench for open-loop re-injection in the context of scalability. HIL test benches are distributed computer systems including software, hardware, and networking devices. They are used to validate complex technical systems, but have not yet been system under study themselves. Our approach is to use measurements from the HIL system to create an empirical model for arrival and service curves. We predict the performance and design the previously unknown parameters of the HIL simulator with network calculus (NC), namely the buffer sizes and the minimum needed pre-buffer time for the playback buffer. We furthermore show, that it is possible to estimate the CPU load from arrival and service-curves based on the utilization theorem, and hence estimate the scalability of the HIL system in the context of the number of sensor streams

14. GI/ITG KuVS Fachgespräch Sensornetze

14. GI/ITG KuVS Fachgespräch Sensornetze der GI/ITG Fachgruppe Kommunikation und Verteilte System

Towards a 5G Satellite Communication Framework for V2X

In recent years, satellite communication has been expanding its field of application in the world of computer networks. This paper aims to provide an overview of how a typical scenario involving 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) for vehicle to everything (V2X) applications is characterized. In particular, a first implementation of a system that integrates them together will be described. Such a framework will later be used to evaluate the performance of applications such as Vehicle Monitoring (VM), Remote Driving (RD), Voice Over IP (VoIP), and others. Different configuration scenarios such as Low Earth Orbit and Geostationary Orbit will be considered

ITANS: Incremental Task and Network Scheduling for Time-Sensitive Networks

Recent trends such as automated driving in the automotive field and digitization in factory automation confront designers of real-time systems with new challenges. These challenges have arisen due to the increasing amount of data and an intensified interconnection of functions. For distributed safety-critical systems, this progression has the impact that the complexity of scheduling tasks with precedence constraints organized in so-called cause-effect chains increases the more data has to be exchanged between tasks and the more functions are involved. Especially when data has to be transmitted over an Ethernet-based communication network, the coordination between the tasks running on different end-devices and the network flows has to be ensured to meet strict end-to-end deadlines. In this work, we present an incremental heuristic approach that computes schedules for distributed and data-dependent cause-effect chains consisting of multi-rate tasks and network flows in time-sensitive networks. On the one hand, we provide a common task model for tasks and network flows. On the other hand, we introduce the concept of earliest and latest start times to speed up the solution discovery process and to discard infeasible solutions at an early stage. Our algorithm is able to solve large problems for synthetic network topologies with randomized data dependencies in a few seconds on average under strict end-to-end deadlines. We have achieved a high success rate for multi-rate cause-effect chains and an even better result for homogeneous or harmonic chains. Our approach also showed low jitter for homogeonous cause-effect chains