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A Toolkit for Reliable Communication in Distributed Computer-Controlled Systems
Ref: HURRAY-TR-0022       Publication Date: 1, Oct, 2000

Abstract:
The use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components in the development of Distributed Computer-Controlled Systems (DCCS) minimises costs and development time. However, when using COTS, the reliability and availability requirements of a DCCS must be guaranteed by a software-based fault-tolerance approach. It is obvious that the dependability (reliability and availability) of a DCCS lies, in a great extent, in its communication infrastructure. Thus, in DCCS, there is the need for dependable and time-bounded communication services. The use of COTS networks and components poses new problems to the reliability of DCCS. Controller Area Network (CAN) is a fieldbus network suitable for small-scale Distributed Computer Controlled Systems, being appropriate for transferring short real-time messages. However, they are also known to present some reliability problems, which can lead to an inconsistent message delivery, thus to an unreliable behaviour of the supported applications. In this paper, a set of atomic multicasts for CAN networks is presented, which prevent the occurrence of these unreliable behaviours. The proposed protocols also explore the CAN synchronous properties to minimise its run-time overhead, and thus to provide a timely service to the supported applications.

Luis Miguel Pinho

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Francisco Vasques