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Design for Timing Predictability

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Abstract

A large part of safety-critical embedded systems has to satisfy hard real-time constraints. These need sound methods and tools to derive run-time guarantees that are not only reliable but also precise. The achievable precision highly depends on characteristics of the target architecture, the implementation methods and system layers of the software. Trends in hardware and software design run contrary to predictability. This article describes threats to timing predictability of systems, and proposes design principles that support timing predictability. The ultimate goal is to design performant systems with sharp upper and lower bounds on execution times.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

    Lothar Thiele

  2. Informatik, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Reinhard Wilhelm

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  1. Lothar Thiele
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  2. Reinhard Wilhelm
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Thiele, L., Wilhelm, R. Design for Timing Predictability. Real-Time Systems 28, 157–177 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TIME.0000045316.66276.6e

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