At the Toulouse International Congress ERTS2 2016 (embedded real-time systems and software), ONERA and the company RTaW combined efforts to present a joint paper, developed within the framework of their collaboration agreement in the field of critical embedded systems.
Jörn Migge, CTO of RTaW and Marc Boyer, ONERA scientist
A modern civil aircraft has hundreds of computers, sensors and actuators on board, which communicate with each other through a shared network. The proper operation of the aircraft requires calculation and communication times to be controlled. The network is part of this chain and we cannot afford to have delays or unexpected blockages, as can happen with the Internet. The evaluation of the network reaction time requires the implementation of mathematical theories in which ONERA is a world expert.
Since 2009, ONERA and the company Real Time-at-Work have collaborated on several projects. ONERA is in charge of the theoretical developments and RTaW is in charge of their implementation in the form of software. They have co-published more than 10 research articles.
Under the collaboration agreement signed in August 2015, RTaW implements ONERA’s know-how in the commercial version of its software, and becomes a preferred partner for future advances made by ONERA in the field of embedded systems. This expertise developed for the field of avionics can be applied to other industrial fields where the operation of the system depends on the communication time.
Example of AFDX ( Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet) topology
ONERA and critical embedded systems
ONERA has a lengthy experience in the heterogeneous, distributed and real-time simulation of aeronautical networks (CAN, AFDX), as well as in formal methods for modeling and characterizing their performance. ONERA participated in the ADCN+ project (new embedded communication architectures, with Airbus), is leading the Pegase project (improved network calculation performance guarantees, with Thales) and hosts the experimental network platform Demav. ONERA regularly publishes in simulation, real-time and aeronautics conferences.
Real Time-at-Work (RTaW)
RTaW is an independent SME specializing in critical real-time system design and, more specifically, in verifying timing and dependability properties by means of formal approaches. Its employees hold several patents in this field and are the authors of dozens of publications.
Thus, RTaW works with system integrators and equipment manufacturers in the automotive, avionics and satellite fields. RTaW also develops code generation and virtual prototyping software technology for engineering approaches based on models suitable for critical systems.
