The implementation of real-time communication within the design of embedded systems becomes more and more the real system bottleneck. For this reason the evaluation of the communication characteristics is very essential in an early design stage. In this paper we present an evaluation method for real-time communication based on rapid prototyping. Key points are the ISO/OSI layer conform implementation, exchangeable hardware and software modules and the adaptation of a wide range of real-time protocols. These aspects are implemented and illustrated in our casestudy: Two interacting robots with five degrees of freedom, each.

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Most embedded systems consist of distributed but highly interconnected applications. Lots of resources are invested to design and implement reliable and efficient communication systems. This paper introduces a new approach for the prototyping of communication structures and protocols. The developed methodology was embedded in the IFS-Flow (Interface Synthesis Flow) that generates glue logic between incompatible tasks and media. The presented approach allows us to construct complex communication prototypes in restricted embedded systems more efficiently. Therefore, five optimization strategies were defined for the generation of interfaces (IFB). The computation of dedicated protocols between the spread interfaces helps us to overcome structural communication gaps comprising an efficient and reliable communication. An example shows the practicability of the approach and presents achievable advantages.

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Abstract:In the embedded systems domain predictability, fault tolerance and high-speed data transmission rates are key challenges for the interface design. Multiple tasks and channels communicate through different protocols with each other. In this paper we present a consistent design approach for configurable realtime interfaces. An interface design methodology therefore should regard the relationship between distributed tasks, channels and supported protocols within a HW/SW Codesign scenario. The model dependent parameters are important information for this process and are represented in a formal UMLbased way. As result of the design process an interface-block (IPB) is generated which considers all these parameters. A complex embedded system in the context of a case study implements a collision avoidance algorithm for two interacting robots. It demonstrates the usability of this concept for an implementation of HW/SW-interfaces with respect to the real-time restrictions ..