ZZ Building Timing Predictable Embedded Systems

A large class of embedded systems is distinguished from general purpose computing systems by the need to satisfy strict requirements on timing, often under constraints on available resources. Predictable system design is concerned with the challenge of building systems for which timing requirements can be guaranteed a priori. Perhaps paradoxically, this problem has become more difficult by the introduction of performance-enhancing architectural elements, such as caches, pipelines, and multithreading, which introduce a large degree of nondeterminism and make guarantees harder to provide. The intention of this paper is to sum-marize current state-of-the-art in research concerning how to build predictable yet performant systems. We consider how processor architectures, and programming languages can be devised for predictability. We also consider the integration of compilation and timing analysis, as well as strategies for predictability on multicores