Overview

Project Overview

The next generation of networked embedded systems (ES) necessitates rapid prototyping and high performance while maintaining key qualities like trustworthiness and safety. However, deployment of safety-critical ES suffers from complex software (SW) toolchains and engineering processes. Moreover, the current trend in autonomous systems relying on Machine Learning (ML) and AI applications in combination with fail-operational requirements renders the Verification and Validation (V&V) of these new systems a challenging endeavor. 

The XANDAR Approach

XANDAR will deliver a mature SW toolchain (from requirements capture down to the actual code integration on target including V&V) fulfilling the needs of the industry for rapid prototyping of interoperable and autonomous ES. Starting from a model-based system architecture, XANDAR will leverage novel automatic model synthesis and software parallelization techniques to achieve specific non-functional requirements setting the foundation for a novel real-time, safety-, and security- by-Construction (X-by-Construction) paradigm. For the first time, XbC-guided code generation for non-deterministic ML/AI applications will be combined with novel runtime monitors to ensure fail-operation in the presence of runtime faults and security exploitations. The project provides a consortium covering the full spectrum of ES and software engineering. XANDAR will be validated by an automotive OEM (BMW) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Leading European SMEs and enterprises such as Vector, AVN, and fentISS as well as successful academic partners will contribute their diverse knowhow in Model-Driven Engineering, Software Systems and V&V, multicore architectures, code generation, and security enforcements from higher-level behavioral models to actual runnables.

Objectives

The objectives that will be addressed by XANDAR are:

  • Provide holistic design methods and architectures that guarantee non-functional properties “by construction” throughout all phases of the software and system development lifecycle (SDLC)
  • Improve development productivity and software quality with a reusable library of safety & security patterns, trusted HW/SW templates and monitoring mechanisms
  • Enable model-based design automation for trustworthy embedded software in critical environments
  • Provide an interoperable, trustworthy and adaptive embedded HW/SW platform architecture that support runtime platform health monitoring and self-healing capabilities
  • Verification and validation of functional and non-functional requirements using simulation & other V&V techniques to show the effectiveness of the XbC paradigm
  • Verification and validation of functional and non-functional requirements using simulation & other V&V techniques to show the effectiveness of the XbC paradigm
  • Prototyping comprehensive avionics use-case application
  • Prototyping comprehensive automotive use-case application
  • Disseminate competence and raise awareness at European and worldwide scale