With the increase of complexity in automotive control systems, the amount of data that needs to be managed is also increasing. Using a real-time database management system (RTDBMS) as a tightly integrated part of the software development process can give significant benefits with respect to data management. However, the variability of data management requirements in different systems, and the heterogeneousness of the nodes within a system may require a distinct database configuration for each node. In this paper we introduce a software engineering approach for generating RTDBMS configurations suitable for resource-constrained automotive control systems, denoted the COMET development suit. Using software engineering tools to assist developers with design and analysis of the system under development, different database configurations can be generated from pre-fabricated components. Each generated COMET database contains only functionality required by the node it is executing on.

Abstract. In recent years the deployment of embedded systems has increased dramatically, e.g. in the domains of sensor networks or ubiquitous computing. At the same time the amount of data that have to be managed by embedded systems is growing rapidly. For this reason an adequate data management support is urgently needed. Current database technologies are not able to cope with the requirements specific to embedded environments. Especially the extreme resource constraints and the diversity of hardware plattforms and operating systems are challenging. To overcome this tension we argue that embedded database functionality has to be tailored to the application scenario as well as to the target platform. This reduces the resource consumption and customizes the data management to the characteristices of the plattform and the application scenarion. We show that component techniques and feature-oriented programming help to face the mentioned limitations without focusing on special-purpose software. We present the design and the implementation of a database storage manager family. We discuss how feature-oriented domain analysis and feature-oriented programming help to do this task. Our evaluation criteria are the number of features and the flexibility to combine these features in different valid variants. 1

In the last years the deployment of embedded real-time systems has increased dramatically. At the same time, the amount of data that needs to be managed by embedded real-time systems is increasing, thus requiring an efficient and structured data management. Hence, database functionality is needed to provide support for storage and manipulation of data in embedded real-time systems. However, a database that can be used in an embedded real-time system must fulfill requirements both from an embedded system and from a realtime system, i.e., at the same time the database needs to be an embedded and a real-time database. The real-time database must handle transactions with temporal constraints, as well as maintain consistency as in a conventional database. The main objectives for an embedded database are low memory usage, i.e., small memory footprint, portability to different operating system platforms, efficient resource management, e.g., minimization of the CPU usage, ability to run for long periods of time without administration, and ability to be tailored for different applications. In addition, development costs must be kept as low as possible, with short time-to-market and a reliable software. In this report we survey embedded and real-time database platforms developed in industrial and research environments. This survey represents the state-of-the-art in the area of embedded databases for embedded real-time systems. The survey enables us to identify a gap between embedded systems, real-time systems and database systems, i.e., embedded databases suitable for real-time systems are sparse. Furthermore, it is observed that there is a need for a more generic embedded database that can be tailored, such that the application designer can get an optimized database for a specif...

Increasing complexity of real-time systems, and demands for enabling their configurability and reusability are strong motivations for applying new software engineering principles, such as aspect-oriented and component-based development. In this paper we introduce a novel concept of aspectual component-based real-time system development. The concept is based on a design method that assumes decomposition of real-time systems into components and aspects, and provides a real-time component model that supports the notion of time and temporal constraints, space and resource management constraints, and composability. Initial results show that the successful application of the proposed concept has a positive impact on real-time system development in enabling efficient configuration of real-time systems, improved reusability and flexibility of real-time software, and modularization of crosscutting concerns. We provide arguments for this by presenting an application of the proposed concept on the design and development of a configurable embedded real-time database, called COMET. Furthermore, using the COMET system as an example, we introduce a novel way of handling concurrency in a real-time database system, where concurrency is modeled as an aspect crosscutting the system.

Data management functionality is not only needed in large scale database management systems, but also in embedded systems that are the predominant form of computing systems today. However, resource restrictions and heterogeneity of hardware complicate the development of data management solutions. In current practice, this typically leads to redevelopment of data management solutions since existing applications cannot be customized sufficiently. In this paper we describe our vision of tailor-made data management, based on a software product line approach, where data management software can be tailored to satisfy special requirements. We illustrate how such a software product line for data management functionality can be derived by downsizing existing database systems. 1

Today, often small, heterogeneous systems have to cooperate in order to fulfill a certain task. Interoperability between these systems is needed for their collaboration. However, achieving this interoperability raises several problems. For example, embedded systems might induce a higher probability for a system failure due to constrained power supply. Nevertheless, interoperability must be guaranteed even in scenarios where embedded systems are used. To overcome this problem, we use services to abstract the functionality from the system which realizes it. We outline how services can be generated using software product line techniques to bridge the heterogeneity of cooperating systems. Additionally, we address runtime changes of already deployed services to overcome system failures. In this paper, we show the runtime adaption process of these changes which includes the following two points. First, we outline why feature-oriented programming is appropriate in such scenarios. Second, we describe the runtime adaption process of services with feature-oriented programming.

Abstract: Today’s database management systems are mainly large and heavy-weight monoliths that, even worse, undergo steady extensions in functionality. This makes them highly complex and creates problems when it comes to build tailored extensions. Our goal is to introduce more flexibility and extensibility by founding our database architecture on the principles of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). In this paper, we present a Service-Based Data Management System (SBDMS) architecture that supports extensions according to user requirements. The architecture we propose consists of four major service layers (Storage Services, Access Services, Data Services, Extension Services). Each of these layers can flexibly be extended with new services that invoke other services from within or outside the system. In addition, the architecture’s extension mechanism allows application functionality to be easily integrated into the Service-Based Data Management System to support reuse and optimization of commonly used application functionality. 1

Current techniques used to design and implement database systems do not provide support for efficient implementation of crosscutting concerns in the database software, e.g., failure detection, database policies such as concurrency control and scheduling, and synchronization. Aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) is a new technique that provides an efficient way of modularizing crosscutting concerns in software systems. In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of applying AOSD to database systems thereby paving way for successful application of aspect languages to the database domain. Our focus is on embedded database systems, as a representative for a class of database systems. We show, by analyzing and re-engineering one commercial well-known embedded database system (Berkeley database), that aspect-orientation has promise, especially in enabling development of tailorable, maintainable, and evolvable database systems. 1.

Bezug: Universitätsbibliothek/Hochschulschriften- und

Virtual Reality enhances the development process of complex and inter-operating products due to bringing existing systems together with virtual prototypes. The modeling of existing products within the virtual reality environment and furthermore the properties of products and product combination are important factors for success in a product life cycle. A reduction of effort for modeling of existing products and simulation of properties can be achieved, when systems and their properties are transported to the virtual reality environment. In this paper, we present a service-oriented architecture for embedded systems and virtual reality. The multiplicity of interfaces, protocols, and hardware and software aspects requires an architecture that overcomes the related difficulties to increase efficiency. Service-oriented architectures make different scenarios in the product life cycle possible, whereas the implementation effort for embedded systems is reduced due to software reuse. Keywords: Embedded systems, Product life cycle, Service-oriented architecture, Virtual Reality.