DACAPO: a distributed computer architecture for safety-critical control applications

An architecture for a highly dependable real-time computer network is presented. The architecture and communication protocol are suited for cyclic time-deterministic applications typically found in embedded control systems. Particular attention has been directed towards the requirements of safety-critical automotive control systems. The scheduling of both network communication and application processes is determined at compile time and is thus completely deterministic. A DACAPO system consists of a number of nodes communicating over two serial buses. Each node is composed of two sets of functionally identical fail-silent units, thus providing tolerance against any single fault. A high degree of error detection coverage and the tolerance towards transient faults inherently associated with cyclic operation combine to yield an architecture with a very high safety level.