CNS Core: Small: Boomerang: A Symbiotic Software Architecture for Real-Time Distributed Embedded Systems

该项目的重点是开发实时分布式嵌入式系统（RTDES），用于半自动和无人驾驶汽车、机器人和制造等领域的定时和安全关键型应用。该系统被称为Boomerang，旨在在同一硬件上执行不同关键级别的任务之间的空间和时间隔离。这将确保具有严重失败后果的任务与不太重要的任务隔离，同时能够满足其时序要求。Boomerang使用一组运行在每个主机上的轻量级分区管理程序，在不同的来宾域之间安全地划分机器资源。它将支持实时操作系统（RTOS）和一个或多个遗留系统（如Linux或Android）在每个物理主机上共存，为手头的任务提供互利的共生关系。传统系统将获得实时功能，而实时操作系统将拥有丰富的功能，这些功能需要数年时间才能开发。Boomerang正在DriveOS的背景下进行评估，DriveOS是一款高性能的汽车系统，可能是自动驾驶的电动汽车，正在与工业合作伙伴一起建造。除了DriveOS之外，Boomerang还将为智能制造、机器人和交通系统等领域的新型网络物理应用提供机会，在这些领域，决策由机器做出，而不需要人工输入。Boomerang将为神经形态计算应用提供构建新的分布式系统的机会，允许实时任务管道处理大规模传感器输入，并产生类似于大脑在感觉和运动神经元之间通信的输出。吸取的经验教训将导致更安全，更可靠和更强大的分布式系统，有能力学习和作出明智的决定，对他们的环境。回旋镖RTDES设想端到端的过程以潜在的亚毫秒延迟运行，使其适用于人类控制不足的情况。通过这一项目，正在为本科生开发新的实时计算课程和新的研究机会。该项目还与波士顿大学校园内的一些外展活动合作，如无人机赛车俱乐部、BU BUILDS、SheHacks和Spark！旨在提高学生对计算机和创业的兴趣。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project focuses on the development of a real-time distributed embedded system (RTDES) for timing and safety-critical applications, in areas such as semi-autonomous and driverless cars, robotics and manufacturing. The proposed system, called Boomerang, aims to enforce spatial and temporal isolation between tasks of different criticality levels on the same hardware. This will ensure tasks with a severe consequence of failure are isolated from less important tasks, while being able to meet their timing requirements. Boomerang uses a collection of lightweight partitioning hypervisors running on each host to securely divide machine resources among different guest domains. It will support the co-existence of a real-time operating system (RTOS) and one or more legacy systems such as Linux or Android on each physical host, to provide a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship for the task at hand. The legacy systems will gain access to real-time capabilities, while the RTOS will be empowered with a rich collection of features that would take years to develop.Boomerang is being evaluated in the context of DriveOS, an automotive system for a high-performance, potentially autonomous, electric car being built with an industrial partner. Beyond DriveOS, Boomerang will provide opportunities for new classes of cyber-physical applications in smart manufacturing, robotics, and transportation systems, among others, where decisions are made by machines without recourse to human inputs. Boomerang will offer opportunities to build new distributed systems for neuromorphic computing applications, allowing real-time task pipelines to process large-scale sensor inputs and produce outputs similar to how a brain communicates between sensory and motor neurons. Lessons learned will lead to more safe, secure and robust distributed systems, with capabilities to learn and make informed decisions with respect to their environments. A Boomerang RTDES envisions end-to-end processes operating with potentially sub-millisecond latencies, making it suitable for situations where human control would be insufficient. Through this project, new courses on real-time computing and new research opportunities for undergraduate students are being developed. The project is also working with a number of outreach efforts on the Boston University campus such as the Drone Racing Club, BU BUILDS, SheHacks, and the Spark! Initiative to increase student interest in computing and entrepreneurship.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.