From NIWeek: Timing Issues Could Affect Safety-Critical Embedded Systems

Product developers need to be more aware of software timing and synchronization issues, especially in safety-critical systems such as automotive airbags and robotic surgical tools, an embedded design expert warned today during a keynote event at NIWeek 2010.

Jeff Kodosky, co-founder of National Instruments Corp., told an audience of approximately 4,000 engineers that real-time performance of embedded products is already suffering in some cases, largely due to inattention to such issues. Smart phones and handheld devices are experiencing timing problems, he said, and those problems are small compared to the issues that will be faced as embedded technology migrates more prominently into safety-critical designs.

"People have been building these systems all along, and they're not always as reliable as we hope," said Kodosky, who serves as Business and Technology Fellow for NI, a maker of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation. "We want a much higher threshold of confidence that these systems will work correctly."

Kodosky cited examples of potential problems for automotive airbags, robotic surgical devices, defense and aerospace systems, as well as future vehicle brake-by-wire and steer-by-wire systems. He said that while smart phones and handheld devices can be easily shut down when a timing issue occurs, the same is not true for safety-critical products. "If you're in a critical automotive situation and you jam on your brakes or you need your airbag, you expect those systems to work," he said. "Anyplace where you put a computer between you and some action, you need to be sure there aren't any software glitches."

Kodosky blamed the speedy evolution of computer processors for many of today's timing issues. "It's an extremely difficult problem," he told Design News. "All of the things that make processors run faster have confounded the developer's ability to create determinant real-time systems."

To help solve the problem, Kodosky said that university-based computer science programs need to be more vigilant in teaching students to deal with timing issues. Today, he said, students are virtually unaware if timing intervals in an embedded system are too long or irregular, in part because they are trained in desktop programming, where real-time performance isn't typically an issue. That, he said, must change.

"To the extent that you believe that computers will be involved in everyday products, you will need more embedded programmers, rather than desktop programmers," he said.

Without better software development tools, timing problems could also be particularly vexing for so-called "domain experts" - that is, doctors and scientists who want to create innovative products but don't have a programming background.

"Timing problems will make it more difficult for the new ‘Edisons' of the world who are trying to make software-based products," Kodosky said. "It's our job to allow those new Edisons to invent."