Extending Component-Based Approaches for Multithreaded Design of Multiprocessor Embedded Software

Multiprocessor embedded software presents major challenges including the increased complexity and stringent performance requirements raised by parallel processing capability. Although component-based approaches can greatly alleviate the complexity problem, traditional approaches do not provide adequate support for performance requirements on multiprocessors. In this paper, we extend component-based approaches for performance-aware design and analysis of multiprocessor embedded software. The proposed approach begins with a component model that is able to capture concurrent and performance-critical behavior based on UML activity diagrams. It then identifies and exploits potential sources of concurrency within components to produce a multithreaded software design targeted at multiprocessors. We also provide a schedulability analysis that can be used for validating multithreaded software design from a temporal perspective.