Learning-Based Response Time Analysis in Real-Time Embedded Systems: A Simulation-Based Approach

Response time analysis is an essential task to verify the behavior of real-time systems. Several response time analysis methods have been proposed to address this challenge, particularly for real-time systems with different levels of complexity. Static analysis is a popular approach in this context, but its practical applicability is limited due to the high complexity of the industrial real-time systems, as well as many unpredictable runtime events in these systems. In this work-in-progress paper, we propose a simulation-based response time analysis approach using reinforcement learning to find the execution scenarios leading to the worst-case response time. The approach learns how to provide a practical estimation of the worst-case response time through simulating the program without performing static analysis. Our initial study suggests that the proposed approach could be applicable in the simulation environments of the industrial real-time control systems to provide a practical estimation of the execution scenarios leading to the worst-case response time.