Towards preventing error propagation in a real-time Ethernet switch

Abstract

[eng] Flexible Time-Triggered communication (FTT) allows a distributed embedded system (DES) to adapt to changing real-time requirements at runtime. This facilitates the con­tinuo us operation of the DES under dynamic environments that change aver time. However, for continuous opera­tion, high reliability in the nodes of the DES is also cru­cial. This can be achieved using node replication, as fong as failure independence between replicas is ensured, which calls for preventing the propagation of errors. Our goa! is to prevent the propagation of Byzantine node behaviours and to ensure that local errors in the channel cannot dis­turb the global communication. For this, we construct the HaRTESIPG switch, a new switch based on the HaRTES implementation of FTT for Ethernet. This paper presents as a first step a study of the possible errors that may lead to Byzantine node behaviours and a global communication disturbance in HaRTES, as well as some ideas on how to prevent the propagation of these errors in HaRTES/PG.