Programming Atomic Multicasts in CAN
Ref: HURRAY-TR-0014 Publication Date: 1, Oct, 2000
Programming Atomic Multicasts in CAN
Ref: HURRAY-TR-0014 Publication Date: 1, Oct, 2000Abstract:
In Distributed Computer-Controlled Systems (DCCS), both real-time
and dependability (reliability and availability) requirements are of major
concern. In such systems, a special emphasis must be given to the underlying
communication infrastructure, which must provide timely and dependable
communication services. CAN networks are usually considered suitable to
support small-scale DCCS. However, they are also known to present some
reliability problems, which can lead to an unreliable behaviour of the
supported applications.
In this paper, an atomic multicast protocol for CAN networks is presented
that prevents the occurrence of such unreliable behaviour. The protocol
explores the CAN synchronous properties to minimise its run-time overhead,
and thus to provide a timely service to the supported applications.
The implementation of such protocol in Ada, on top of the Ada version of
Real-Time Linux is presented, which is used to demonstrate the suitability
of the platform for reliable communications in DCCS. However, some
impairments to the use of this platform exist, since multitasking must be
implemented directly on top of low-level mechanisms, which are error prone
and complex to use. There is also a lack of a complete interface with the
Real-Time Linux kernel, which precludes, for instance, the correct use of
Ada interrupt handling.
Document:
Notes: Also published in ACM Ada Letters, Vol XXI, N. 1, pp. 79-84, ACM Press, March 2001.
Record Date: 1, May, 2000