Exploring the Impact of Task Preemption on Dependability in Time-Triggered Embedded Systems: A Pilot Study

In this paper, we explore the impact of task preemption on the dependability of a single-processor embedded control system. Our particular focus in this exploratory study is on static-priority, time-triggered scheduler architectures. The study is empirical in nature and we employ a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed, representing a cruise control system for a passenger vehicle, in conjunction with fault-injection to perform the dependability comparisons. The results we have obtained suggest that the presence of preemption may have a negative influence on dependability; however further work is needed in this area before more general conclusions may be drawn.