Title: "Collaborative Research: SoD-TEAM: A Feedback-Based Architecture for Highly Reliable Embedded Software"
The focus of this project is on developing a theory and architectural framework for incorporating feedback control as a main principle of software engineering. This proposal develops scientific foundations, tools, and architectural design principles to improve the reliability and reduce the development cost of mission-critical software. Two common approaches to ensure reliable system behavior are: 1) Scientific foundations, tools, and architectural principles for ensuring elimination of errors, and 2) foundations, tools, and architectural principles for ensuring tolerance to such errors. While the first solution is sufficient, building completely error-free large-scale systems has been an elusive exercise as evidenced by experiences with today's engineering artifacts (e.g., recalls on vehicles, cascading power blackouts, etc). Consequently, a new approach to robust software design, development and certification is needed that addresses the increasing cost and safety implications of the current practices. Feedback control has proven to be a very successful tool for ensuring correct behavior of complex, poorly modeled systems in the presence of uncertainty. This project applies principles of feedback control and stability envelopes to the engineering of software systems.
