PROARTIS Industrial Workshop marks end of successful project

PROARTIS partners and interested organisations from across Europe recently came together to learn how new tools, hardware and software architectures will allow faster computer hardware features to be used and analyzed more easily in reliable systems. The workshop was part of the final arrangements to conclude this 42-month research project funded by the EU, which formally finishes at the end of July 2013.

Interactive workshop / presentation format

Held in Toulouse and hosted by Airbus, the specially designed interactive workshop / presentation format for the day included presentations on:

• probabilistic timing analysis approaches (Barcelona Supercomputing Center);
• probabilistic timing analysis techniques and tools (INRIA / Rapita Systems); and
• an avionics case study (Airbus);
• exploitation opportunities (Rapita Systems).

What did attendees learn?

Industry attendees wanted to hear about the "software-only" project results that allow the mathematical rigour of PROARTIS to be applied to conventional deterministic hardware. Further discussion revealed that industry experts are very keen to understand the exact implications of such implementations – number of test-cases, amount of test coverage required and the time taken to complete analysis – and how tight pWCET estimates are (how close to common practice but now with much stronger guarantees). This is one of the areas where we expect that PROARTIS techniques can be more easily disseminated into industry.

PROXIMA

The follow-up PROARTIS project is called PROXIMA. Following the PROARTIS approach, the PROXIMA hypothesis is that probabilistic analysis techniques can provide efficient (tractable) and effective (tight) analysis of the temporal behaviour of complex mixed-criticality applications on novel multicore and manycore platforms. The concept is based on using probabilistic analysis techniques to derive safe and tight bounds on the temporal behaviour of applications, reflecting requirements on failure rates commensurate with their criticality. PROXIMA’s innovative solutions will use high Technology Readiness Level hardware and software components and analysis methods. The project will investigate how probabilistic analysis techniques and supporting mechanisms can be integrated with manycore processors, and how the results can be exploited by successful integration with commercial verification tools and operating systems. PROXIMA is an Integrated Project involving all 5 PROARTIS partners plus 1 University and 5 companies (3 final users and 2 tool providers). An Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) comprising leading EU companies will also be involved: Kalray and ARM as hardware designers; AdaCore, IBM and ETAS as compiler and Software experts; and Continental, Audi, BMW, CAF, DENSO, the European Space Agency, and Eurocopter as end users. Rapita Systems will provide timing analysis expertise and resources. More details on PROXIMA will follow in due course.