DREMS: OS Support for Managed Distributed Real-time Embedded Systems

Distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems composed of mixed criticality task sets are increasingly being deployed in mobile and embedded cloud computing platforms. These DRE systems not only must operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales, but also require stringent assurances on the secure communications between the system’s tasks without violating timing constraints of the individual tasks. To address these new challenges this paper describes a novel distributed operating system. The paper focuses on the scheduler design to support the mixed criticality task sets, and a novel secure networking infrastructure. Empirical results from experiments involving a case study of a cluster of satellites emulated in a laboratory testbed validates our claims. Keywords—Mixed criticality tasks, security, operating systems, managed distributed systems.