System Software Abstraction Layer - much more than Operating System Abstraction Layer

  • Sunita Awasthi Singh Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
  • Bineesh P.K. Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
  • Satish Shetty K. Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
Keywords: Abstraction layer, API, Portability, secured, scalable, predictability, deterministic

Abstract

Current and future aircraft systems require real-time embedded software with greater flexibility compared to what was previously available due to the continuous advancements in the technology leading to large and complex systems. Portability of software as one of the aspects of this flexibility is a major concern in application development for avionics domain for fast development and integration of systems. Abstractions of the hardware platform which have been already introduced by the operating system community allow the software modules to be reused on different hardware and with different physical resources. Now operating system community has come up with an abstraction layer called operating system abstraction layer (OSAL) which along with the hardware abstraction unifies the OS architecture too. It provides a common set of primitives independent of the underlying operating system and its particular architecture. Factors such as reliability, scalability and determinism of any application largely depend on the design and architecture of the application. This is the most important and critical factor of real time systems such as mission computers of avionics systems, missile control system or control computers of space shuttle. It demands developer to perform feasibility of different software architecture to select the best alternative. Authors’ analysis shows that to make any real time application more secure, scalable, deterministic, and highly portable, OSAL has to be extended to more than just operating system abstraction. This new view of OSAL will be called as system software abstraction layer (SSAL). In this paper, authors attempt to highlight the efficiency of SSAL as well as detailed description of its main features and design considerations. Authors have implemented the SSAL on top of two well known OS (WinCE and Vxworks) and performed extensive evaluations, which shows that it effectively reduces portability efforts while achieving simplicity, predictability, security and determinism. This paper presents in brief, the API functionalities, its components, implementation, interfaces, advantages and overheads along with a case study.

Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(2), pp.214-222DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.4267

Author Biographies

Sunita Awasthi Singh, Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
Mrs Sunita Awasthi Singh obtained her BE (Elect. Instrumentation Engg.) from BIET, Jhansi, India in 1996. She is working as a Scientist at Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), Bangalore. Her area of expertise is development of real time embedded system software for various Fighter Aircrafts. Her core areas of interest are: Integrated modular avionics, board support package development, RTOS, device drivers.
Bineesh P.K., Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
Mr Bineesh PK obtained his BTech (Computer Science & Engg.) from NSSCE, Palakkad, in 2004. He is working as a Scientist at DARE, Bangalore, on real time embedded system software development. His areas of interest includes: RTOS, device drivers, and board support package.
Satish Shetty K., Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore
Mr Satish Shetty K has obtained AMIETE (Computer Science & Engg.) from IETE New Delhi, India in 2010. He is currently working as Senior Technical Assistant at DARE, Bangalore. His areas of interests are: RTOS, device drivers, and avionics communication standards.
Published
2013-03-23
How to Cite
Singh, S., P.K., B., & K., S. (2013). System Software Abstraction Layer - much more than Operating System Abstraction Layer. Defence Science Journal, 63(2), 214-222. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.4267
Section
Review Papers