Hardware support in a middleware for distributed and real-time embedded applications

Abstract

One of the main challenges in the development of tools and methodologies for a multiprocessor real-time embedded system is to reuse already developed software, but at the same time obtaining low memory footprint, low energy consumption, and minimal area, obviously addressing the real-time constraints. This work aims to face these problems at the middleware level. We show that adaptations in the platform architecture, for instance exploring hardware implementations of middleware services, such as task scheduling and communication, can drive better gains in application requirements like energy and performance, which are essential for embedded applications. This approach is coupled with a high flexibility in choosing either a hardware or a software implementation, because services are encapsulated into objects and the application development and the design space exploration at middleware level can be performed independently from each other, in a fully transparent way. Furthermore, the use of the object-oriented approach reduces time-to-market and development costs.