SHF:Small: Scalable Synchronization for Distributed Embedded Real-Time Systems

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The project seeks to develop scalable synchronization mechanisms based on software transactional memory (or STM) for handling concurrency control in distributed, embedded, multiprocessor real-time systems. The project explores several competing abstractions for supporting STM (in such systems), investigate the relative merits of these approaches, and design and develop the protocols and algorithms necessary to support them. The project also seeks to identify the tradeoffs between semantic simplicity and efficient implementations of different STM systems, with particular emphasis on augmenting obstruction-free STM implementations with real-time contention managers. Among the algorithms that are being designed include real-time distributed commit protocols, distributed real-time cache coherence protocols, scheduling algorithms that can provide timeliness assurances given the retry behavior of STM, and efficient STM implementations. The project?s algorithms and protocols are being implemented and made publicly available in an open source form suitable for a real-time operating system or a real-time virtual machine. The project?s algorithms, protocols, analysis techniques, and implementations will allow distributed embedded real-time system programmers to use STM to simplify (distributed) concurrency control. Broader impacts of the project are sought through efforts to transition the project's results by collaboration with The MITRE Corporation and US Naval Surface Warfare Center, and increasing cultural interaction between students and faculty in the US and students and faculty in the Middle East and North Africa region, through graduate advising and teaching in the VT-MENA (Virginia Tech ? Middle East and North Africa) program.