A dependable online testing and upgrade architecture for real-time embedded systems

When real-time embedded system software needs to be upgraded, it will be more dependable if the new software is sufficiently tested on the actual deployment platform. The challenge is to provide a safeguard for protecting the normal operations from faulty upgrades. However, the safeguard must be not only efficient but also able to be added and taken away as needed without shutting down the normal operations. We have developed an architecture based on simplex architecture and process resurrection and have applied it to the inverted pendulum control system. The measurements show that the overhead is small and justifiable.