X-by-Construction Design framework for Engineering Autonomous & Distributed Real-time Embedded Software Systems

Project Information

XANDAR

Grant agreement ID: 957210

DOI

10.3030/957210

Project closed

EC signature date 13 August 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 4 962 985,00

EU contribution

€ 4 962 985,00

Coordinated by

KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - XANDAR (X-by-Construction Design framework for Engineering Autonomous & Distributed Real-time Embedded Software Systems)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The development of modern embedded systems, such as autonomous air and ground vehicles, is often subject to a complex set of requirements. The seamless integration into large-scale networks, a steadily increasing demand for computational performance, and the application of non-deterministic Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are three of the many challenges to be tackled by embedded system developers. At the same time, they need to ensure a sufficient degree of safety and security. To reduce development costs, minimise the risk of catastrophic failures, and prevent unauthorised system access, automated approaches for the systematic consideration of these requirements are of major importance.
The goal of the collaborative research project XANDAR was to research such approaches, combine them into a prototypical design framework, and evaluate their applicability to real-world scenarios. The framework consists of two major components: a model-based toolchain for embedded software systems and a self-healing runtime architecture for modern System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms. The toolchain relies on the X-by-Construction (XbC) paradigm, which is a strategy to auto-generate system implementations that exhibit well-defined runtime properties.
At the end of the project, two practical use cases were employed to evaluate the capabilities of the resulting framework: (1) a sensor fusion pipeline for automated road vehicles provided by the BMW Group and (2) a pilot assistance system provided by the German Aerospace Center. Using the XANDAR framework, the consortium was able to address the requirements of both use cases successfully.
In summary, XANDAR’s ambitious project mission has led to numerous novel approaches, methodologies, and tools for the development of software in autonomous and distributed embedded systems. These results pave the way for follow-up innovations in the form of a commercially viable XbC toolchain and applied research building up the proposed concepts.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed during the three-year project can be categorised into three broad focus areas: (1) development and integration of the XANDAR design framework, (2) use case design and toolchain evaluation, and (3) exploitation/dissemination activities. Work on the XANDAR design framework was in turn structured into the development of the XbC toolchain and the creation of the XANDAR runtime architecture, which bridges the gap between software applications and targeted SoCs.
With respect to the XbC toolchain, the consortium first defined the XANDAR development process, created metamodels that serve as the entry point into the toolchain, and developed editors that allow toolchain users to make use of these metamodels. The process defines risk-oriented safety/security activities aligned with normative standards such as ISO/SAE 21434. It further defines a library of safety/security patterns that automate the implementation of selected safety and security mechanisms, which is one of the cornerstones of XANDAR. Finally, the consortium created semi-automated procedures that generate binaries for target platforms and complemented it with a toolset to verify and validate certain runtime properties of the resulting systems. In parallel, the XANDAR runtime architecture was developed for a type 1 hypervisor and the Linux operating system.
The development of the framework was guided by the continuous use case design. More specifically, real-world requirements from the automotive and the aerospace domain were used to define capabilities that the design framework is expected to provide. These capabilities include support for model-based function and timing simulations or the automatic generation of software for modern SoC hardware. In the final phase of the project, the consortium showed that these capabilities are available and can be used to automate essential portions of the use case development process.
Finally, the consortium has actively shared and promoted the approaches. Over the course of the project, for example, they published them in 22 peer-reviewed papers and presented them in 33 conferences and other events. All partners have devised individual exploitation plans and will make use of the results in a suitable manner, e.g. by evaluating them for the integration into commercial products.
A more detailed overview of the performed work can be found in the Public Final Activity Report, which is publicly available as deliverable D6.7 of the XANDAR project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

At the end of the three-year project, XANDAR advanced the state of the art with a novel XbC approach to tackle the aforementioned challenges, a prototypical implementation of this approach in the form of a design framework, and evaluation results that demonstrate its applicability to real-world systems.
The results are primarily available in the form of public deliverables and conference papers. In addition, the XANDAR partners plan to continue the dissemination of their results after the end of the project, e.g. by organising tutorials or contributing implementations to future projects and initiatives.
The availability of the results has significant potential to increase the productivity and the quality of embedded solutions created in Europe. A commercial application of the developed concepts can accelerate the development of new products and services, e.g. in the form of self-driving cars. From a safety and security point of view, the methods can further reduce risk for human/environmental harm, avoid vulnerabilities, and increase public confidence in such products or services. In addition, from an academic perspective, the achieved project results are expected to pave the way for applied research that benefits from the XANDAR concepts.

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