Model-Based System Design of Time-Triggered Architectures - Avionics Case Study

With the growing complexity of distributed systems, the inter-communication within and between subsystems is increasing. The time-triggered communication approach in the time-triggered architecture (TTA) offers deterministic, fault-tolerant communication services with additional features that enable the developers to better manage complexity and to find design flaws earlier in the development process. However, to fully utilize the advantages of TTA, the authors advocate the use of a model-based design process. This paper reports on experiences with such a model-based design of an avionics system, realized as a TTA using commercial modeling tools and extensions that support the time triggered protocol (TTP). A goal of the dependable embedded components and systems (DECOS) project, an integrated project within the European Union Framework Programme 6, is to explore the integrated distributed time-triggered architecture paradigm. A high-lift flap system serves to validate and demonstrate this paradigm in the aerospace application domain. This paper gives an overview of the application and the system architecture, and describes the model-based development process. However, the authors also still see room for improvement, in particular regarding the integration and presentation of information for the designer