Measuring the Impact of Interference Channels on Multicore Avionics
This work aims to improve the accuracy and reliability of timing analysis for multicore avionics systems, which is crucial for flight certification.
This paper addresses the challenge of analyzing software timing behavior in multicore avionics systems, which is complicated by interference from shared hardware resources. They propose a two-step approach: first, platform characterization measures hardware and RTOS sensitivity to interference channels using generators, and second, software characterization measures application timing behavior under generated interference.
Measurement-based analysis of software timing behavior provides important insight and evidence for flight certification of modern avionics systems. For multicore systems, however, this analysis is challenging due to interference effects from shared hardware resource usage. We present an approach to multicore timing analysis that uses interference generators to stress interference channels in multicore systems. The test methodology comprises two steps. First, platform characterization measures the sensitivity of the hardware and RTOS to targeted interference channels using a combination of interference generators. Second, software characterization measures the timing behavior of instrumented applications while interference is generated on shared resources.