Evaluation of the multicore performance capabilities of the next generation flight computers

Abstract

Multicore architectures are currently under adoption in the aerospace domain, however their software remains single-threaded. In this paper we argue about the benefits offered by homogeneous parallel processing, both in terms of performance, which is necessary for the implementation of advanced functionalities, as well as in terms of certification and in particular about mastering multicore interference.We discuss the implementation details of this programming paradigm in avionics and space real-time operating systems. We experimentally evaluate the performance benefits offered by several high-performance multicore platforms which are considered good candidates for next generation flight computers, using homogeneous parallel processing under a qualifiable real-time operating system used in the aerospace domain. Our results indicate near to linear speed-ups compared to traditional sequential processing, showing the benefits of this approach.