Abstract
The development of time-critical Distributed Avionics Applications (DAAs) pushes beyond the limit of existing modeling methodologies to design dependable systems. Aerospace and industrial automation entail high-integrity applications where execution time is essential for dependability. This tempts us to use modeling technologies from one domain in another. The challenge is to demonstrate that they can be effectively used across domains whilst assuring temporally dependable applications. This paper shows that an IEC61499-modeled DAA can satisfy temporal dependability requirements as to end-to-end flow latency when it is properly scheduled and realized in a fully deterministic avionics platform that entails Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) computation along with Time-Triggered Protocol (TTP) communication. Outcomes from the execution design of an IEC61499-based DAA model for an IMA-TTP platform are used to check runtime correctness through DAA control stability. IEC 61499 is a modeling standard for industrial automation, and it is meant to facilitate distribution and reconfiguration of applications. The DAA case study is a Distributed Fluid Control System (DFCS) for the Airbus-A380 fuel system. Latency analysis results from timing metrics as well as closed-loop control simulation results are presented. Experimental outcomes suggest that an IEC61499-based DFCS model can achieve desired runtime latency for temporal dependability when executed in an IMA-TTP platform. Concluding remarks and future research direction are also discussed.
Highlights
Avionics systems have undergone transformations since first aircraft have flown
Experimental outcomes suggest that an IEC61499-based Distributed Fluid Control System (DFCS) model can achieve desired runtime latency for temporal dependability when executed in an Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA)-Time-Triggered Protocol (TTP) platform
The latter involve networked computers and entail distributed, federated, and integrated avionics architectures. They are more lightweight and efficient than former solutions whilst providing higher performance. They facilitate the realization of Distributed Avionics Applications (DAAs), mainly favoring systems dependability due to the fault tolerance provided by the distribution of functionalities
Summary
Avionics systems have undergone transformations since first aircraft have flown. They have gone through changes due to technological innovations to provide airborne capabilities (mostly required for aircraft management). The updates include typical avionics equipment for communication, navigation, and surveillance systems and technologies for vehicle systems such as flight control systems, fuel systems, and hydraulic systems. This continuous improvement and modernization brings along an inexorable evolution of the avionics architecture. The evolutionary process of architectural avionics approaches goes from former centralized and analogue solutions to latter decentralized and digital ones [1] The latter involve networked computers and entail distributed, federated, and integrated avionics architectures. They are more lightweight (reduction of wiring) and efficient (reduction of power consumption) than former solutions whilst providing higher performance ( they are more complex and expensive). They facilitate the realization (implementation and integration) of Distributed Avionics Applications (DAAs), mainly favoring systems dependability due to the fault tolerance provided by the distribution of functionalities
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