Proposing a Hybrid Software Execution Environment for Distributed Embedded Systems

The size and complexity of large-scale distributed embedded systems such as automotive and process controls have increased recently. Sophisticated systems that are safe and environmentally friendly require numerous types of sensor data, which are collected from various devices and sent to computers through networks. To develop such large-scale distributed embedded systems with high quality and productivity, we have developed a virtual execution environment platform. This platform integrates numerous CPU simulators and various device simulators through the network and provides network-wide simulation functionalities. In this paper, we propose a hybrid software execution environment and describe the development and evaluation of the technology element required in its implementation. The hybrid software execution environment integrates virtual and real software execution environments in order to check functional behavior of distributed embedded software in a more realistic environment. In the environment, CPU simulators and device simulators are implemented as Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) objects, and messages in the simulation objects are transferred at the actual rate in the target setting.