PROXIMA research project begins on 1st October

PROXIMA (Probabilistic real-time control of mixed-criticality multicore and manycore systems) brings leading European aerospace and automotive companies, hardware designers, compiler and software experts, and tool developers together with academic knowledge to investigate how probabilistic analysis techniques and supporting mechanisms can be integrated with manycore processors. PROXIMA will also determine how the results can be exploited by successful integration with commercial verification tools and operating systems. The successor to the PROARTIS project (http://www.proartis-project.eu/), PROXIMA proposes to demonstrate that the temporal behaviour of mixed-criticality complex real-time embedded systems executing on multicore and manycore platforms can be analysed effectively via innovative probabilistic techniques. The concept is based on using probabilistic analysis techniques to derive safe and tight bounds on the temporal behaviour of applications, reflecting requirements on failure rates commensurate with their criticality. PROXIMA’s innovative solutions will use high Technology Readiness Level hardware and software components and analysis methods. The objective is for PROXIMA to provide a complete infrastructure; harnessing the full potential of new processor resources, demonstrating and supporting effective temporal analysis, bringing the probabilistic approach to a state of technological readiness, and priming multiple EU industry sectors in its use via a number of case studies. PROXIMA is an Integrated Project involving all five PROARTIS partners and additional organisations:

• Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain) (Lead partner);
• Rapita Systems (UK);
• SYSGO SAS (France);
• University of Padua (Italy);
• Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA) (France);
• Aeroflex Gaisler (Sweden).
• Airbus (France);
• The University of York (UK);
• Astrium SAS (France);
• Ikerlan (Spain);
• Infineon Technologies UK Ltd (UK).

An Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) comprising leading EU companies will also be involved: Kalray and ARM as hardware designers; AdaCore, IBM and ETAS as compiler and software experts; and Continental, Audi, BMW, CAF, DENSO, the European Space Agency, and Eurocopter as end users. Rapita Systems will provide timing analysis expertise and resources. Part funded by €4.6m from the EU, PROXIMA runs for three years from October 1st 2013.