Periodic Report Summary - SCARLETT (Scalable and reconfigurable electronics platforms and tools)
Launched as part of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission, the SCARLETT project aimed to define a new integrated electronics architectural solution, namely distributed modular electronics (DME), for the on-board electronics domain. Coordinated by Thales Avionics, SCARLETT grouped 39 partners from 16 countries for a three and a half year joint effort that started in May 2008, representing a EUR 40 million budget, with a European Community contribution of EUR 23 million. SCARLETT main goals were to:
1. develop an approach to logical scalability to ensure adaptability to a wide range of aircraft
2. use reconfiguration as a means to increase operational availability of the aircraft
3. promote a higher layer of abstraction to relevant integrated modular avionics (IMA) actors to handle the DME Platform as a whole
4. identify the most efficient core set of DME components from which to develop a scalable and reconfigurable avionics platform
5. extend the IMA1G toolset so as to promote an avionics solution which would rely on a common non supplier dependant shared set of tools and data models.
The first project period was dedicated to the launch of the project and to the specification phase. The project structure was put into motion to ensure a smooth start of the design and development phase, which started late in the first period and lasted during the entire second period.
During its first period, SCARLETT analysed applicable aircraft and systems requirements covering various families of aircrafts. Reconfiguration scenarios were described and considered as a major influence to the design of the platform. This was a pre-requisite for an in-depth analysis that led to a platform architecture choice.
DME basic components were sufficiently characterised to identify what their new features should be to cope with SCARLETT goals. The DME development process, which specified the role of the various industrial actors in the development of IMA based avionics, was also revisited in the light of this new architecture, mainly for adaptation to the reconfiguration process.
Moreover, achieving a definition of the DME architecture as well as the DME process gave SCARLETT solid foundations to start addressing the toolset and platform level services. Those were major components of the capability to use the platform in the most efficient way.
From the beginning special attention was paid to address the demonstration issues. This was also the case for transversal activities, such as standardisation, certification of reconfiguration, project assessment and dissemination, which aimed at gathering and addressing the concern of partners engaged in the transverse activities.
Importantly, the partners were active in communicating and disseminating information on SCARLETT. A public website was opened, press releases were issued and SCARLETT was presented to various audiences. Finally, fruitful interactions were put in place with all other relevant European Community projects, notably TATEM from the Sixth Framework Programme. From these interactions all TATEM technical deliverables directly related to SCARLETT could be communicated to stakeholders.
The second project period was the time for the SCARLETT consortium to start designing the various DME components in the frame of the third period demonstration. Relying on the solid foundations built during the first period each SCARLETT partner started to focus on the IMA2G area of innovations.
First of all, SCARLETT defined a detailed implementation, both at aircraft level and DME component level, of the reconfiguration mechanisms. Also, SCARLETT focussed part of its second period efforts to bring an answer to IMA2G capabilities to host time critical functions. The analysis of time critical functions architecture and their possible mapping to DME components led SCARLETT partners to study a wide range of IMA2G technologies, e.g. operating system, field bus network solution, enhanced avionics data communication network (ADCN) backbone network, remote electronics unit, etc.
Following the first period activities in the area of development of processes and associated tools, i.e. in specifying the role of the various actors in the development of IMA-based avionics, SCARLETT reviewed and started the development process in the light of the IMA2G architecture. SCARLETT was able to de-risk the tool based IMA2G configuration process to be used during the final period's demonstrations. The advanced IMA2G new tool concepts like the early validation tool, the XML based configuration tool, the flexible input output or platform simulators etc. were specified, designed and, for some of them, demonstrated. The concept of considering the DME platform as a whole in order to include remote components and network led SCARLETT to propose a platform services definition, i.e. same service provided to all system functions independent of the DME component hardware plus operating system implementation, or platform services to ease management of the core processing module (CPM) itself.
The third period was the time for the SCARLETT consortium to start integrating the common set of DME components into each of the four domain oriented demonstrators. In doing so, SCARLETT dedicated a subsequent part of its effort during this period to finalise the development of each DME component.
The third period was also the time to initiate the process of configuring both the network and the individual DME components to meet the needs of the test applications, i.e. in terms of requested communication between applications, while the development of those applications was ongoing during the same time.
The generic platform concept, intended to help tuning tools, processes and DME components before use in the domain demonstrators, succeeded in living up to expectations. This effort on the generic platform clearly paved the way to a successful demonstration of the I/O intensive demonstrator at the end of this period. By doing so SCARLETT demonstrated the interoperability of the common set of DME component as well as new field bus technology in a full functional oriented demonstration.
Regarding advanced tooling for IMA2G, the early set-up of the four demonstrators which started soon after the beginning of the third period allowed a first use of the IMA2G advanced tooling and therefore provided the first lessons learnt. It was decided to maintain the development effort for simulation tools like AST, a network oriented tool, or PFS, i.e. the platform simulator. The SCARLETT concept of considering the DME platform as a whole enabled by a middleware platform layer was also developed during that period of time.
The focus for demonstration led to mainly develop reconfiguration, mass memory and graphic platform services. Typically, software reconfiguration mechanisms were implemented on board of the relevant DME components using a common API allowing for interoperability between the DME components coming from different SCARLETT partners. SCARLETT continued developing solutions to enhance IMA2G capabilities to host time critical functions. All the foreseen technologies to support those functions were developed and put together into different functional architectures of the same demonstrator. Comparison between those architectures, which was one of SCARLETT's goals, therefore appeared to be feasible.
During this period contact was established with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and a number of meetings were held to discuss the safety impacts of reconfiguration technology. Work progressed towards answering EASA questions and ensuring that the proposed technology would be suitable for application to civil large transport aircraft.
The third period helped the SCARLETT partners to refine the necessary details to share components and functions among themselves, particularly in the context of future research projects. The declaration of intention for use and the associated impact would be addressed during the last project period.
SCARLETT consortium members attended Aerodays 2011 in Madrid. That was the opportunity for SCARLETT to display some of the DME components available at that time. Apart from participating to a session, SCARLETT took the opportunity of this dissemination event to prepare educational commented presentations to address a wider public. Those presentations were available on the SCARLETT web site and provided a sound basis for understanding SCARLETT. In addition to this major event, SCARLETT partners were active in communicating and disseminating information on the project through either participation in other public events or publications. Further information on the project was provided at 'http://www.scarlettproject.eu/'.
1. develop an approach to logical scalability to ensure adaptability to a wide range of aircraft
2. use reconfiguration as a means to increase operational availability of the aircraft
3. promote a higher layer of abstraction to relevant integrated modular avionics (IMA) actors to handle the DME Platform as a whole
4. identify the most efficient core set of DME components from which to develop a scalable and reconfigurable avionics platform
5. extend the IMA1G toolset so as to promote an avionics solution which would rely on a common non supplier dependant shared set of tools and data models.
The first project period was dedicated to the launch of the project and to the specification phase. The project structure was put into motion to ensure a smooth start of the design and development phase, which started late in the first period and lasted during the entire second period.
During its first period, SCARLETT analysed applicable aircraft and systems requirements covering various families of aircrafts. Reconfiguration scenarios were described and considered as a major influence to the design of the platform. This was a pre-requisite for an in-depth analysis that led to a platform architecture choice.
DME basic components were sufficiently characterised to identify what their new features should be to cope with SCARLETT goals. The DME development process, which specified the role of the various industrial actors in the development of IMA based avionics, was also revisited in the light of this new architecture, mainly for adaptation to the reconfiguration process.
Moreover, achieving a definition of the DME architecture as well as the DME process gave SCARLETT solid foundations to start addressing the toolset and platform level services. Those were major components of the capability to use the platform in the most efficient way.
From the beginning special attention was paid to address the demonstration issues. This was also the case for transversal activities, such as standardisation, certification of reconfiguration, project assessment and dissemination, which aimed at gathering and addressing the concern of partners engaged in the transverse activities.
Importantly, the partners were active in communicating and disseminating information on SCARLETT. A public website was opened, press releases were issued and SCARLETT was presented to various audiences. Finally, fruitful interactions were put in place with all other relevant European Community projects, notably TATEM from the Sixth Framework Programme. From these interactions all TATEM technical deliverables directly related to SCARLETT could be communicated to stakeholders.
The second project period was the time for the SCARLETT consortium to start designing the various DME components in the frame of the third period demonstration. Relying on the solid foundations built during the first period each SCARLETT partner started to focus on the IMA2G area of innovations.
First of all, SCARLETT defined a detailed implementation, both at aircraft level and DME component level, of the reconfiguration mechanisms. Also, SCARLETT focussed part of its second period efforts to bring an answer to IMA2G capabilities to host time critical functions. The analysis of time critical functions architecture and their possible mapping to DME components led SCARLETT partners to study a wide range of IMA2G technologies, e.g. operating system, field bus network solution, enhanced avionics data communication network (ADCN) backbone network, remote electronics unit, etc.
Following the first period activities in the area of development of processes and associated tools, i.e. in specifying the role of the various actors in the development of IMA-based avionics, SCARLETT reviewed and started the development process in the light of the IMA2G architecture. SCARLETT was able to de-risk the tool based IMA2G configuration process to be used during the final period's demonstrations. The advanced IMA2G new tool concepts like the early validation tool, the XML based configuration tool, the flexible input output or platform simulators etc. were specified, designed and, for some of them, demonstrated. The concept of considering the DME platform as a whole in order to include remote components and network led SCARLETT to propose a platform services definition, i.e. same service provided to all system functions independent of the DME component hardware plus operating system implementation, or platform services to ease management of the core processing module (CPM) itself.
The third period was the time for the SCARLETT consortium to start integrating the common set of DME components into each of the four domain oriented demonstrators. In doing so, SCARLETT dedicated a subsequent part of its effort during this period to finalise the development of each DME component.
The third period was also the time to initiate the process of configuring both the network and the individual DME components to meet the needs of the test applications, i.e. in terms of requested communication between applications, while the development of those applications was ongoing during the same time.
The generic platform concept, intended to help tuning tools, processes and DME components before use in the domain demonstrators, succeeded in living up to expectations. This effort on the generic platform clearly paved the way to a successful demonstration of the I/O intensive demonstrator at the end of this period. By doing so SCARLETT demonstrated the interoperability of the common set of DME component as well as new field bus technology in a full functional oriented demonstration.
Regarding advanced tooling for IMA2G, the early set-up of the four demonstrators which started soon after the beginning of the third period allowed a first use of the IMA2G advanced tooling and therefore provided the first lessons learnt. It was decided to maintain the development effort for simulation tools like AST, a network oriented tool, or PFS, i.e. the platform simulator. The SCARLETT concept of considering the DME platform as a whole enabled by a middleware platform layer was also developed during that period of time.
The focus for demonstration led to mainly develop reconfiguration, mass memory and graphic platform services. Typically, software reconfiguration mechanisms were implemented on board of the relevant DME components using a common API allowing for interoperability between the DME components coming from different SCARLETT partners. SCARLETT continued developing solutions to enhance IMA2G capabilities to host time critical functions. All the foreseen technologies to support those functions were developed and put together into different functional architectures of the same demonstrator. Comparison between those architectures, which was one of SCARLETT's goals, therefore appeared to be feasible.
During this period contact was established with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and a number of meetings were held to discuss the safety impacts of reconfiguration technology. Work progressed towards answering EASA questions and ensuring that the proposed technology would be suitable for application to civil large transport aircraft.
The third period helped the SCARLETT partners to refine the necessary details to share components and functions among themselves, particularly in the context of future research projects. The declaration of intention for use and the associated impact would be addressed during the last project period.
SCARLETT consortium members attended Aerodays 2011 in Madrid. That was the opportunity for SCARLETT to display some of the DME components available at that time. Apart from participating to a session, SCARLETT took the opportunity of this dissemination event to prepare educational commented presentations to address a wider public. Those presentations were available on the SCARLETT web site and provided a sound basis for understanding SCARLETT. In addition to this major event, SCARLETT partners were active in communicating and disseminating information on the project through either participation in other public events or publications. Further information on the project was provided at 'http://www.scarlettproject.eu/'.