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Documents authored by Burns, Alan


Document
Foreword
Foreword

Authors: Alan Burns and Steve Goddard

Published in: LITES, Volume 7, Issue 1 (2021): Special Issue on Embedded System Security. Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems, Volume 7, Issue 1


Abstract
Embedded systems are now an integral part of our lives. We have smart phones, smart meters, smart appliances, smart cars, smart grids, and smart houses--most relying on embedded systems with outdated security mechanisms, if they have any at all. A renewed emphasis on embedded systems security research is critical to our economies and our daily lives. This special issue on Embedded System Security attempts to contribute to this work by drawing attention to a number of key topics including Intrusion Detection and Tolerance, Confidence and Threat Modelling, Enhancing Dependability in Embedded Systems, and reducing Vulnerabilities in System Architectures for Embedded Systems. Two papers are included in this initial instalment of the Special Issue. In the first paper ``"Randomization as Mitigation of Directed Timing Inference Based Attacks on Time-Triggered Real-Time Systems with Task Replication" by Kristin Krüger, Nils Vreman, Richard Pates, Martina Maggio, Marcus Völp and Gerhard Fohler, the vulnerabilities of time-triggered systems are investigated. They note that the assumption that faults are independent, which is often made for accidental faults, is not valid for malicious attacks. They go on to introduce two runtime mitigation strategies to withstand directed timing inference. Both involve the introduction of a level of randomization within the usual deterministic behaviour of time-triggered systems. In the second paper ``"We know what you're doing! Application detection using thermal data", Philipp Miedl, Rehan Ahmed and Lothar Thiele consider how sensitive runtime information can be extracted from a system by just using temperature sensor readings from a mobile device. They employ a Convolutional-Neural-Network to identify the sequence of executed applications over time. They test their hypothesis via collected data from two state-of-the-art smartphones and real user usage patterns. The accuracy of their finding demonstrated that this is a clear vulnerability in mobile devices, including the potential to compromise sensitive user data.

Cite as

LITES, Volume 7, Issue 1: Special Issue on Embedded System Security, p. 0:i, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)


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@Article{burns_et_al:LITES.7.1.0,
  author =	{Burns, Alan and Goddard, Steve},
  title =	{{Foreword}},
  journal =	{Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems},
  pages =	{00:1--00:1},
  ISSN =	{2199-2002},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{7},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LITES.7.1.0},
  doi =		{10.4230/LITES.7.1.0},
  annote =	{Keywords: Foreword, Embedded System Security}
}
Document
The Safe and Effective Use of Learning-Enabled Components in Safety-Critical Systems

Authors: Kunal Agrawal, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 165, 32nd Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2020)


Abstract
Autonomous systems increasingly use components that incorporate machine learning and other AI-based techniques in order to achieve improved performance. The problem of assuring correctness in safety-critical systems that use such components is considered. A model is proposed in which components are characterized according to both their worst-case and their typical behaviors; it is argued that while safety must be assured under all circumstances, it is reasonable to be concerned with providing a high degree of performance for typical behaviors only. The problem of assuring safety while providing such improved performance is formulated as an optimization problem in which performance under typical circumstances is the objective function to be optimized while safety is a hard constraint that must be satisfied. Algorithmic techniques are applied to derive an optimal solution to this optimization problem. This optimal solution is compared with an alternative approach that optimizes for performance under worst-case conditions, as well as some common-sense heuristics, via simulation experiments on synthetically-generated workloads.

Cite as

Kunal Agrawal, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns. The Safe and Effective Use of Learning-Enabled Components in Safety-Critical Systems. In 32nd Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 165, pp. 7:1-7:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)


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@InProceedings{agrawal_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2020.7,
  author =	{Agrawal, Kunal and Baruah, Sanjoy and Burns, Alan},
  title =	{{The Safe and Effective Use of Learning-Enabled Components in Safety-Critical Systems}},
  booktitle =	{32nd Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2020)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-152-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{165},
  editor =	{V\"{o}lp, Marcus},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2020.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-123704},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2020.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Learning-enabled components (LECs), Safety-critical systems, Typical analysis, Performance optimization, Run-time monitoring}
}
Document
Transferring Real-Time Systems Research into Industrial Practice: Four Impact Case Studies

Authors: Robert I. Davis, Iain Bate, Guillem Bernat, Ian Broster, Alan Burns, Antoine Colin, Stuart Hutchesson, and Nigel Tracey

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 106, 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018)


Abstract
This paper describes four impact case studies where real-time systems research has been successfully transferred into industrial practice. In three cases, the technology created was translated into a viable commercial product via a start-up company. This technology transfer led to the creation and sustaining of a large number of high technology jobs over a 20 year period. The final case study involved the direct transfer of research results into an engineering company. Taken together, all four case studies have led to significant advances in automotive electronics and avionics, providing substantial returns on investment for the companies using the technology.

Cite as

Robert I. Davis, Iain Bate, Guillem Bernat, Ian Broster, Alan Burns, Antoine Colin, Stuart Hutchesson, and Nigel Tracey. Transferring Real-Time Systems Research into Industrial Practice: Four Impact Case Studies. In 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 106, pp. 7:1-7:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


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@InProceedings{davis_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.7,
  author =	{Davis, Robert I. and Bate, Iain and Bernat, Guillem and Broster, Ian and Burns, Alan and Colin, Antoine and Hutchesson, Stuart and Tracey, Nigel},
  title =	{{Transferring Real-Time Systems Research into Industrial Practice: Four Impact Case Studies}},
  booktitle =	{30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-075-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{106},
  editor =	{Altmeyer, Sebastian},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-89955},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: real-time systems, industrial impact, automotive, avionics}
}
Document
AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems

Authors: Alessandro Vittorio Papadopoulos, Enrico Bini, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 106, 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018)


Abstract
A system is said to be resilient if slight deviations from expected behavior during run-time does not lead to catastrophic degradation of performance: minor deviations should result in no more than minor performance degradation. In mixed-criticality systems, such degradation should additionally be criticality-cognizant. The applicability of control theory is explored for the design of resilient run-time scheduling algorithms for mixed-criticality systems. Recent results in control theory have shown how appropriately designed controllers can provide guaranteed service to hard-real-time servers; this prior work is extended to allow for such guarantees to be made concurrently to multiple criticality-cognizant servers. The applicability of this approach is explored via several experimental simulations in a dual-criticality setting. These experiments demonstrate that our control-based run-time schedulers can be synthesized in such a manner that bounded deviations from expected behavior result in the high-criticality server suffering no performance degradation and the lower-criticality one, bounded performance degradation.

Cite as

Alessandro Vittorio Papadopoulos, Enrico Bini, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns. AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems. In 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 106, pp. 14:1-14:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


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@InProceedings{papadopoulos_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.14,
  author =	{Papadopoulos, Alessandro Vittorio and Bini, Enrico and Baruah, Sanjoy and Burns, Alan},
  title =	{{AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems}},
  booktitle =	{30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018)},
  pages =	{14:1--14:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-075-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{106},
  editor =	{Altmeyer, Sebastian},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.14},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-89899},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2018.14},
  annote =	{Keywords: mixed criticality, control theory, run-time resilience, bounded overloads}
}
Document
AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems (Artifact)

Authors: Alessandro Vittorio Papadopoulos, Enrico Bini, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns

Published in: DARTS, Volume 4, Issue 2, Special Issue of the 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018)


Abstract
A system is said to be resilient if slight deviations from expected behavior during run-time does not lead to catastrophic degradation of performance: minor deviations should result in no more than minor performance degradation. In mixed-criticality systems, such degradation should additionally be criticality-cognizant. The applicability of control theory is explored for the design of resilient run-time scheduling algorithms for mixed-criticality systems. Recent results in control theory have shown how appropriately designed controllers can provide guaranteed service to hard-real-time servers; this prior work is extended to allow for such guarantees to be made concurrently to multiple criticality-cognizant servers. The applicability of this approach is explored via several experimental simulations in a dual-criticality setting. These experiments demonstrate that our control-based run-time schedulers can be synthesized in such a manner that bounded deviations from expected behavior result in the high-criticality server suffering no performance degradation and the lower-criticality one, bounded performance degradation.

Cite as

Alessandro Vittorio Papadopoulos, Enrico Bini, Sanjoy Baruah, and Alan Burns. AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems (Artifact). In Special Issue of the 30th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2018). Dagstuhl Artifacts Series (DARTS), Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 1:1-1:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


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@Article{papadopoulos_et_al:DARTS.4.2.1,
  author =	{Papadopoulos, Alessandro Vittorio and Bini, Enrico and Baruah, Sanjoy and Burns, Alan},
  title =	{{AdaptMC: A Control-Theoretic Approach for Achieving Resilience in Mixed-Criticality Systems (Artifact)}},
  pages =	{1:1--1:3},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Artifacts Series},
  ISSN =	{2509-8195},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{4},
  number =	{2},
  editor =	{Papadopoulos, Alessandro Vittorio and Bini, Enrico and Baruah, Sanjoy and Burns, Alan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DARTS.4.2.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-89691},
  doi =		{10.4230/DARTS.4.2.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: mixed criticality, control theory, run-time resilience, bounded overloads}
}
Document
Foreword
Foreword

Authors: Alan Burns

Published in: LITES, Volume 1, Issue 1 (2014). Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems, Volume 1, Issue 1


Abstract
I would like to welcome all readers to the first issue of this new not-for-profit open access journal: the Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems (LITES). Unless you have come across this journal by accident then you will already understand the key role that embedded systems have in modern life. One can hardly think of a single human activity that is not underpinned by such systems; transport, entertainment, supply lines for supermarkets, health care and drug production, energy production and transmission, robotic manufacturing, control systems and communication media of all kinds are now dependent on the fusion of embedded hardware and software. For researchers in this domain this provides great opportunities but also responsibilities. We need to make sure that society can justifiable rely on technology that is increasing beyond the understanding of most ordinary people. Computer-based technologies have been described as modern magic; it follows that we are therefore magicians. But the spells we cast must be based on sound principles, solid theory and demonstrable performance.One of the influences that embedded and other IT technology has had in the last decade is in publishing itself. Online services are now the norm. And early and open access to publicly funded research is now rightly demanded by Government bodies and related funding councils. This new journal has been created to meet this challenge. All papers are open access, with copyright being retained by the authors. Moreover, only a small fee is charged to authors due to low operational overheads and the support of Google and the Klaus Tschira Stiftung. But the lack of a physical page limit in an online-only journal does not mean that quality is undermined. All papers are thoroughly reviewed, with only the best work, in terms of originality and rigour, being accepted. Our aim is to evolve an excellent and effective venue for publish scholarly articles. To help achieve this aim LITES benefits greatly from having the name and reputation of Schloss Dagstuhl behind it.The volume of research material produced world-wide relating to embedded systems has lead to the spawning of many conferences and workshops, special issues and focused publications. In LITES we intend to cater for the broadest collection of relevant topics. We currently have subject editors to cover: the design, implementation, verification, and testing of embedded hardware and software systems; the theoretical foundations; single-core, multi-processor and networked architectures and their energy consumption and predictability properties; reliability and fault tolerance; security properties; applications in the avionics, automotive, telecommunication, medical and production domains; cyber-physical systems; high performance and real-time embedded systems; and hybrid systems. This is an impressive list, but it is not exhaustive. New areas will emerge and new editors will be appointed.LITES obtains its governance from EDAA (European Design and Automation Association) and EMSIG (Embedded Systems Special Interest Group) as a joint endeavour with Schloss Dagstuhl. EDAA/EMSIG appoint the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) and the subject area editors. The terms for editors is four years, renewable once. All editorial work is done voluntarily.The first few issues of the journal will contain standard papers that have been through the review process. Later, comments on previously published papers will be allowed and commentaries included that will help the reader trace forward the influence of each paper. Comments will be reviewed; commentaries will just need to be passed by the EiC. I hope that as a reader you will find the papers in this journal of interest and often inspirational. As a researcher I hope you will consider it as a worthy place to entrust your work. All the editorial team will work towards building up the reputation of the journal. I hope the community at large will be part of that journey.I am proud to be the founding EiC of this journal, but I promise not to include editorials in future issues. The papers are quite capable of introducing themselves.Alan Burns

Cite as

LITES, Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 0:i-0:ii, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2014)


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@Article{burns:LITES-v001-i001-a000,
  author =	{Burns, Alan},
  title =	{{Foreword}},
  journal =	{Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems},
  pages =	{00:1--00:2},
  ISSN =	{2199-2002},
  year =	{2014},
  volume =	{1},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LITES-v001-i001-a000},
  doi =		{10.4230/LITES-v001-i001-a000},
  annote =	{Keywords: }
}
Document
Realism in Statistical Analysis of Worst Case Execution Times

Authors: David Griffin and Alan Burns

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 15, 10th International Workshop on Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis (WCET 2010)


Abstract
This paper considers the use of Extreme Value Theory (EVT) to model worst-case execution times. In particular it considers the sacrifice that statistical methods make in the realism of their models in order to provide generality and precision, and if the sacrifice of realism can impact the safety of the model. The Gumbel distribution is assessed in terms of its assumption of continuous behaviour and its need for independent and identically distributed data. To ensure that predictions made by EVT estimations are safe, additional restrictions on their use are proposed and justified.

Cite as

David Griffin and Alan Burns. Realism in Statistical Analysis of Worst Case Execution Times. In 10th International Workshop on Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis (WCET 2010). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 15, pp. 44-53, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2010)


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@InProceedings{griffin_et_al:OASIcs.WCET.2010.44,
  author =	{Griffin, David and Burns, Alan},
  title =	{{Realism in Statistical Analysis of Worst Case Execution Times}},
  booktitle =	{10th International Workshop on Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis (WCET 2010)},
  pages =	{44--53},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-21-7},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2010},
  volume =	{15},
  editor =	{Lisper, Bj\"{o}rn},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.WCET.2010.44},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-28245},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.WCET.2010.44},
  annote =	{Keywords: WCET, Extreme value statistics, Gumbel distribution}
}
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