Design of TDMA-based in-car networks: Applying multiprocessor scheduling strategies on time-triggered switched ethernet communication

Real-time Ethernet variants gain importance for communication infrastructure of various time-critical domains, such as in-car networks. Synchronous time-triggered traffic guarantees strict timing but requires a detailed schedule for all participants. Designing these schedules by hand is extensive work and with increasing network size almost impossible. In this paper, we contribute a mapping of the time-triggered network scheduling problem into the domain of multiprocessor scheduling. This set of transformation rules allows us to apply established scheduling algorithms as well as new strategies to organise time-triggered switched networks. Experimental results from a prototype implementation of a scheduling framework based on this mapping show the feasibility of our concept. The framework demonstrates a multiple solver approach that uses algorithms with different optimality criteria in parallel.