An efficient Associative Processor solution to an Air Traffic Control problem

This paper proposes a SIMD solution to air traffic control (ATC) using an enhanced SIMD machine model called an Associative Processor (AP). This differs from previous ATC systems that are designed for MIMD computers and have a great deal of difficulty meeting the predictability requirements for ATC, which are critical for meeting the strict certification standards required for safety critical software components. The proposed SIMD solution will support accurate and meaningful predictions of worst case execution times and will guarantee all deadlines are met. Also, the software will be much simpler and smaller in size than the current corresponding ATC software. An important consequence of these features is that the V&V (Validation and Verification) process will be considerably simpler than for current ATC software. Additionally, the associative processor is enhanced SIMD hardware and is considerably cheaper and simpler than the MIMD hardware currently used to support ATC. The ClearSpeed CSX600 accelerator is used to emulate the AP model. A preliminary implementation of the proposed method has been developed and experimental results comparing MIMD and CSX600 approaches are presented. The performance of CSX600 has better scalability, efficiency, and predictability than that of MIMD.