A study of Xtratum as a tool for space and time partitioning in safety-critical avionics software

Abstract

Usually it’s admissible that a software application fails due to some reasons that we usually call ‘bugs’. On the other hand, there are environments in which a software failure is not admissible due to the potential catastrophic consequences that it could have, we are then speaking about critical software. Nevertheless, it might happen that a system needs to mix both critical and non-critical software, for example a train can have software for handling its breaks (critical) and software for displaying a film for the passengers (non-critical). In such case a problem is how to separate critical from non-critical software, as developing critical software is much more expensive in time and resources. The present document addresses the above problem using a selected technology (XtratuM) for developing software applications which mix critical and non-critical software. This project is developed within the environment of a team that develops software for a space micro launcher, but notice that the main objective is not developing a final application but perform the first steps in using XtratuM for creating a development guide that aims to help the team to develop the final software faster.