Print This Page

Expected RESULTS

A summary of the expected results of the project is:

  • A contract specification and API that describes the interaction between the application and the underlying hardware (RTOS and networks).

  • An implementation of the contract framework in at least two operating systems: an open source RTOS and a commercial RTOS.

  • Implementations of the contract framework for several profiles designed for different architectures and resources: core services for all systems, extensions to multiprocessor architectures, extensions to reconfigurable architectures based on FPGAs.

  • An implementation of the contract framework on several networks: for standard network protocols, for a field bus, and for wireless networks.

  • A middleware layer that manages the contract negotiations for distributed transactions.

  • A top-level middleware layer consisting of a quality of service manager that translates the high-level application requirements into contract specifications.

  • A component-based framework adapted to supporting timing properties and integrated with the underlying contract framework.

  • A tracing mechanism that can profile the timing properties of a software application component.

  • A design methodology for the application contracts, capable of automatically using the information obtained by the tracing mechanism.

  • A simulation tool supporting the design methodology that is capable of performing design space exploration.

  • An interface for using the contract framework from a Matlab/Simulink design process.

  • An evaluation of the contract framework, the component-based framework and the design methodologies and tools through usage in three industrial applications.


The combination of all these project results will ensure a direct applicability of the framework in practical industrial development processes. Exploitation of the successful results can have a European Union scale, as two of the project partners (Thales and ENEA) are major players in the embedded systems market and may influence their well-established user base.