Towards integration of adaptability and non-intrusive runtime verification in avionic systems

Unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) avionics call for advanced computing system architectures fulfilling strict size, weight and power consumption (SWaP) requisites, decreasing the vehicle cost and ensuring the safety and timeliness of the system. The AIR (ARINC 653 in Space Real-Time Operating System) architecture defines a partitioned environment for the development and execution of aerospace applications, following the notion of time and space partitioning (TSP), preserving application timing and safety requisites. The plan for a UAS mission may vary with the passage of time, according to its mode/phase of operation, and the vehicle may be exposed to unpredictable (environmental) events and failures, calling for the advanced adaptability and reconfigurability features included in the AIR architecture. This paper explores the potential of non-intrusive runtime verification (RV) mechanisms, currently being included in AIR, to improve system safety and to decrease the computational cost of timeliness adaptability and of the corresponding overhead on the system.