ARM-Based Embedded System Platform and Its Portability Research

Taking ARM as the hardware platform, the embedded system is built from both hardware and software aspects with the application as the center. In the hardware design, build the hardware platform scheme, design the schematic diagram as well as PCB, complete the hardware debugging, and ensure the system hardware platform function;in the software design, optimize the three-stage pipeline structure of ARM instruction system, design the instruction set, install the embedded system on the virtual machine, build the cross-toolchain, and set up the correct NFS network file system. Finish the design of the ARM-based embedded system platform, combined with the hardware requirements of the experimental platform, transplant the powerful Uboot as the Bootloader of the system, and further transplant the Linux-2.6. 32 kernel to the system start the operation normally, and finally, build the root file to finish the study of its portability.

Modeling and Analysis of Scheduling for Distributed Real-time Embedded Systems

Aimed at the deficiencies of resources based time Petri nets （RBTPN） in doing scheduling analysis for distributed real-time embedded systems, the assemblage condition of complex scheduling sequences is presented to easily compute scheduling length and simplify scheduling analysis. Based on this, a new hierarchical RBTPN model is proposed. The model introduces the definition of transition border set, and represents it as an abstract transition. The abstract transition possesses all resources of the set, and has the highest priority of each resource; the cxecution time of abstract transition is the longest time of all possible scheduling sequences. According to the characteristics and assemblage condition of RBTPN, the refinement conditions of transition border set are given, and the conditions ensure the correction of scheduling analysis. As a result, it is easy for us to understand the scheduling model and perform scheduling analysis.

LXI instrument development platform based on an open embedded operating system

This paper introduces the architecture and components of LXI instrument development platform based on an open embedded operating system,which is a modular and configurable platform.The platform is a total solution to develop LXI instrument modules and systems.On the other hand,it also supports other types of instrument development.This is a generic and efficient platform.At the end,this paper addresses the technical tends, challenges,and recormnends solutions.

A State-of-the-Art Survey on Real-Time Issues in Embedded Systems Virtualization

Virtualization has gained great acceptance in the server and cloud computing arena. In recent years, it has also been widely applied to real-time embedded systems with stringent timing constraints. We present a comprehensive survey on real-time issues in virtualization for embedded systems, covering popular virtualization systems including KVM, Xen, L4 and others.

Aspect-Oriented Design Method for Embedded Systems Based on Timed Statecharts

The formal modelling and verification method has become an effective way of improving the reliability and correctness of complex,safety-critical embedded systems.Statecharts are widely used to formally model embedded applications,but they do not realise the reasonable separation of system concerns,which would result in code scattering and tangling.Aspect-Oriented Software Development(AOSD)technology could separate crosscutting concerns from core concerns and identify potential problems in the early phase of the software development life cycle.Therefore,the paper proposes aspect-oriented timed statecharts(extended timed statecharts with AOSD)to separately model base functional requirements and other requirements(e.g.,scheduling,error handling),thereby improving the modularity and development efficiency of embedded systems.Furthermore,the dynamic behaviours of embedded systems are simulated and analysed to determine whether the model satisfies certain properties(e.g.,liveness,safety)described by computation tree logic formulae.Finally,a given case demonstrates some desired properties processed with respect to the aspect-oriented timed statecharts model.

Lookup Table Optimization for Sensor Linearization in Small Embedded Systems

This paper treats the problem of designing an optimal size for a lookup table used for sensor linearization. In small embedded systems the lookup table must be reduced to a minimum in order to reduce the memory footprint and intermediate table values are estimated by linear interpolation. Since interpolation introduces an estimation uncertainty that increases with the sparseness of the lookup table there is a trade-off between lookup table size and estimation precision. This work will present a theory for finding the minimum allowed size of a lookup table that does not affect the overall precision, i.e. the overall precision is determined by the lookup table entries’ precision, not by the interpolation error.

Design Pattern Representation for Safety-Critical Embedded Systems

Design Patterns, which give abstract solutions to commonly recurring design problems, have been widely used in the software and hardware domain. As non-functional requirements are an important aspect in the design of safety-critical embedded systems, this work focuses on the integration of non-functional implications in an existing design pattern concept. We propose a pattern representation for safety-critical embedded application design methods by including fields for the implications and side effects of the represented design pattern on the non-functional requirements of the overall systems. The considered requirements include safety, reliability, modifiability, cost, and execution time.

Microkernel Development for Embedded Systems

This paper presents the development of a microkernel with a device driver controller for embedded systems. The implementation was done in C language aiming low cost microcontrollers. The proposed system allowed to perform soft real-time activities while keeping the drivers and the application isolated by a secure layer. The callback system proved itself extremely simple to use while still maintaining the security of the system regarding the temporal constraints.

Analysis and Programming of Kernel for Embedded Systems

In this study, we present a miniOS kernel implemented via analysis of the context switching, the scheduler, and the memory management of the original OS kernel for an embedded system based on ARM core. Since this is a large subject, we have limited our scope to them only that made up an embedded operating system. The implemented miniOS kernel is composed only by them, to the exclusion of all other functions of the original kernel. Our goal is to modify the OS kernel depending on the product function. The implementation method of the miniOS kernel can be applicable to any OS being mounted based on the ARM core. Modifying the kernel depending on the product function can improve the OS booting speed as well as save the system memory. The functions of the scheduler, the context switching, and the memory management are described with the source in each section. The miniOS kernel was implemented in the Assembly and C language and was verified through the build and the test. The results are shown in the Section 5.

A Decision Support Framework for the Choice of Languages and Methods for the Design of Real Time Embedded Systems

The choice of methods or design languages is a crucial phase in the development of systems and software, also for real time and embedded systems. An open question that remains in the design of these types of systems is to build a method, or to choose one among those existing, capable to cover the life cycle of a project, and particularly the development phases. This article contributes to answer the question, by proposing an approach based on a multi-criteria comparative study, of few languages and methods dedicated to the design of real time and embedded systems. The underlying objective of this work is to present to designers a wide range of approaches, and elements that can guide their choices. In order to reach this goal, we propose different comparison criteria. Each criterion is divided into sub-criteria, so that the designers can refine their choices according to the qualities they prefer and wish to have in the method or language. We also define a rating scale which is used to assess the retained languages and methods. The scores obtained from this assessment are presented in tables, one table per criterion, followed by a summary table giving the overall scores. Graphics built from these tables are provided and intend to facilitate the judgement and thus the choice of the designers.

Design and implementation of platform for embedded Ethernet control system

A platform named EMECS based on embedded Ethernet control system is implemented.A PC running Fedora 6(Linux2.6)works as a central controller.A kit running Linux 2.4 based on Samsung2410A(ARM920t core)works as a remote controller and a DC motor(ESCA P28HSL18-219/204)made by Portescap Company works as a plant.Firstly,system modeling is presented by analyzing the characteristics of Ethernet and the plant,based on a proposed delay measurement method.Secondly,implementation of the system including program and hardware is described in detail.And then the delay is measured and the control results of the system are tested in three cases with different network loads as well.The platform is proved to have flexibility of running different control algorithms and extensibility of adding nodes.Experiment results demonstrate the validity of the system.

Design of Objects Tracking System Based on ARM Embedded Platform

In recent years, according to the need of intelligent video surveillance system increasing rapidly in metropolitan cities ,a design based on $3C2440 microprocessor and embedded Linux operating system is adopted for real-time video target tracking. However, it is very challenging as embedded systems usually afford limited processing power and limited resources. Therefore, to address this problem, a real-time tracking algorithm using multi-features based on compressive sensing is proposed and implemented The algorithm uses multiple matrix as the projection matrix of the compressive sensing and the compressed date as the multiple features to extract useful information needed by tracking process. Functions and libraries in OpenCV which were developed by Intel Corporation are utilized for building the tracking algorithms. It is tested with variant video sequences and the results show that the algorithm achieves stable tracking for the target moved of the light changed.

Analysis and Comparison of Five Kinds of Typical Device-Level Embedded Operating Systems

Today, the number of embedded system was applied in the field of automation and control has far exceeded a variety of general-purpose computer. Embedded system is gradually penetrated into all fields of human society, and ubiquitous embedded applications constitute the 'ubiquitous' computing era. Embedded operating system is the core of the em-bedded system, and it directly affects the performance of the whole system. Our Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Embedded Technology has successfully developed five kinds of device-level embedded operating systems by more than ten years’ efforts, and these systems are Webit 5.0, Worix, μKernel, iDCX 128 and μc/os-II 128. This paper mainly analyses and compares the implementation mechanism and performance of these five kinds of device-level embedded operating systems in detail.

An IPC-based Prolog design pattern for integrating backward chaining inference into applications or embedded systems

Prolog is one of the most important candidates to build expert systems and AI-related programs and has potential applications in embedded systems. However, Prolog is not suitable to develop many kinds of components, such as data acquisition and task scheduling, which are also crucial. To make the best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages, it is attractive to integrate Prolog with programs developed by other languages. In this paper, an IPC-based method is used to integrate backward chaining inference implemented by Prolog into applications or embedded systems. A Prolog design pattern is derived from the method for reuse, whose principle and definition are provided in detail. Additionally, the design pattern is applied to a target system, which is free software, to verify its feasibility. The detailed implementation of the application is given to clarify the design pattern. The design pattern can be further applied to wide range applications and embedded systems and the method described in this paper can also be adopted for other logic programming languages.

Natural orifice translumenal surgery:Flexible platform review

Natural orifice translumenal surgery(NOTES) has garnished significant attention from surgeons and gastroenterologists,due to the fusion of flexible endoscopy and operative technique.Preliminary efforts suggest that NOTES holds potential for a less invasive approach with certain surgical conditions.Many of the hurdles encountered during the shift from open to laparoscopic surgery are now being revisited in the development of NOTES.Physician directed efforts,coupled with industry support,have brought about several NOTES specific devices and platforms to help address limitations with current instrumentation.This review addresses current flexible platforms and their attributes,advantages,disadvantages and limitations.

“Instruction-Category” Approach of Test Suite Construction for Oven Embedded System

Being different from testing for popular GUI software, the “instruction-category” approach is proposed for testing embedded system. This approach is constructed by three steps including refining items, drawing instruction-brief and instruction-category, and constructing test suite. Consequently, this approach is adopted to test oven embedded system, and detail process is deeply discussed. As a result, the factual result indicates that the “instruction-category” approach can be effectively applied in embedded system testing as a black-box method for conformity testing.

The data platform of national special environment and disaster field observation stations based on grid environment

The Data Platform of Resource and Environment—whose data mainly come from field observation stations,spatial observations,and internet service institutions—is the base of data analysis and model simulation in geoscience research in China.Among this integrated data platform,the tasks of the data platform of field observation stations are principally data collection,management,assimilation,and share service.Taking into consideration the distributing characteristics of the data sources and the service objects,the authors formulated the framework of the field observation stations' data platform based on the grid technology and designed its operating processes.The authors have further defined and analyzed the key functions and implementing techniques for each module.In a Linux operating system,validation tests for the data platform's function on data replication,data synchronization,and unified data service have been conducted under an environment that of the simulating field stations.

Energy Efficient Scheduler of Aperiodic Jobs for Real-time Embedded Systems

Energy consumption has become a key metric for evaluating how good an embedded system is,alongside more performance metrics like respecting operation deadlines and speed of execution.Schedulability improvement is no longer the only metric by which optimality is judged.In fact,energy efficiency is becoming a preferred choice with a fundamental objective to optimize the system's lifetime.In this work,we propose an optimal energy efficient scheduling algorithm for aperiodic real-time jobs to reduce CPU energy consumption.Specifically,we apply the concept of real-time process scheduling to a dynamic voltage and frequency scaling(DVFS)technique.We address a variant of earliest deadline first(EDF)scheduling algorithm called energy saving-dynamic voltage and frequency scaling(ES-DVFS)algorithm that is suited to unpredictable future energy production and irregular job arrivals.We prove that ES-DVFS cannot attain a total value greater than C/ˆSα,whereˆS is the minimum speed of any job and C is the available energy capacity.We also investigate the implications of having in advance,information about the largest job size and the minimum speed used for the competitive factor of ES-DVFS.We show that such advance knowledge makes possible the design of semi-on-line algorithm,ES-DVFS∗∗,that achieved a constant competitive factor of 0.5 which is proved as an optimal competitive factor.The experimental study demonstrates that substantial energy savings and highest percentage of feasible job sets can be obtained through our solution that combines EDF and DVFS optimally under the given aperiodic jobs and energy models.

Low-Cost Embedded Controller for Complex Control Systems

Because of limited resource of embedded platforms, the computational complexity of advanced control algorithms raises significant challenges for the use of embedded systems in complex control field. A Scilab/Scicos based embedded controller is developed on which various control software can be easily modeled, simulated, implemented, and evaluated to meet the ever-expanding requirements of industrial control applications. Built on the Cirrus Logic EP9315 ARM systems-on-chip board, this embedded controller is possible to develop complex embedded control systems that employ advanced control strategies in a rapid and cost-efficient fashion. Due to the free and open source nature of the software packages used, the cost of the embedded controller is minimized.