Collaborative Research: CSR-EHS: Modeling and Exploiting Cross-Layer Timing in Distributed Embedded Systems

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Embedded and hybrid system (EHS) applications are highly networked systems with end-to-end requirements that involve interactions among multiple layers (application, middleware, network, OS, architecture) in a distributed environment. A holistic approach to understanding timing in these distributed cross layer systems is critical since: EHS applications often face end-to-end hard or soft real-time needs; timing granularities for cross-layer systems can vary by orders of magnitude posing a challenge for timing analysis that can account for these variations; and knowledge of timing parameters at the different levels can dramatically improve the utility and performance of EHS applications that often execute in constrained environments where CPU, memory, network bandwidth and device energy is limited. This project explores the notion of cross-layer timing in highly distributed embedded systems using a blend of formal methods and experimental systems, bringing together researchers with expertise in embedded computing, distributed systems and formal methods. The project will (1) develop novel formal methodologies for modeling and reasoning about cross-layer timing properties in distributed embedded systems, and (2) design mechanisms/policies that will cost-effectively address the QoS/performance tradeoffs based on the cross-layer timing analyses. The results will be validated and tested in the context of mobile multimedia applications that execute in highly dynamic environments and present interesting opportunities for tradeoff analysis and enforcement. A comprehensive solution to the timing issue will enable the wider applicability and adoption of distributed embedded applications and lay the groundwork for the unified treatment of other non-functional constraints across multiple abstraction levels.