Timing of Autonomous Driving Software: Problem Analysis and Prospects for Future Solutions

The software used to implement advanced functionalities in critical domains (e.g. autonomous operation) impairs software timing. This is not only due to the complexity of the underlying high-performance hardware deployed to provide the required levels of computing performance, but also due to the complexity, non-deterministic nature, and huge input space of the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms used. In this paper, we focus on Apollo, an industrial-quality Autonomous Driving (AD) software framework: we statistically characterize its observed execution time variability and reason on the sources behind it. We discuss the main challenges and limitations in finding a satisfactory software timing analysis solution for Apollo and also show the main traits for the acceptability of statistical timing analysis techniques as a feasible path. While providing a consolidated solution for the software timing analysis of Apollo is a huge effort far beyond the scope of a single research paper, our work aims to set the basis for future and more elaborated techniques for the timing analysis of AD software.