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Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 375

38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

ECRTS 2026, Lund, Sweden, July 7-10, 2026

Editors: Angeliki Kritikakou

Issue

DARTS, Volume 8, Issue 1

Special Issue of the 34th Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2022)

Editors: Angeliki Kritikakou and Matthias Becker

Issue

DARTS, Volume 7, Issue 1

Special Issue of the 33rd Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2021)

Editors: Alessandro Biondi and Angeliki Kritikakou

Document

Complete Volume

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026

LIPIcs, Volume 375, ECRTS 2026, Complete Volume

Authors: Angeliki Kritikakou

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

LIPIcs, Volume 375, ECRTS 2026, Complete Volume

Cite as

38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 1-570, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@Proceedings{kritikakou:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026,
  title =	{{LIPIcs, Volume 375, ECRTS 2026, Complete Volume}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{1--570},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-268738},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026},
  annote =	{Keywords: LIPIcs, Volume 375, ECRTS 2026, Complete Volume}
}

Document

Front Matter

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.0

Front Matter, Table of Contents, Preface, Conference Organization

Authors: Angeliki Kritikakou

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Front Matter, Table of Contents, Preface, Conference Organization

Cite as

38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 0:i-0:xviii, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kritikakou:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.0,
  author =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  title =	{{Front Matter, Table of Contents, Preface, Conference Organization}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{0:i--0:xviii},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.0},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-268722},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.0},
  annote =	{Keywords: Front Matter, Table of Contents, Preface, Conference Organization}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.1

Critical-Section Granularity for Multi-Resource Systems with Nested Critical Sections

Authors: Catherine E. Nemitz, Tanya Amert, and Jonad Pulaj

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Typical models of resource-sharing real-time tasks provide the worst-case task execution time and the duration of each critical section during which a resource is accessed. Such models abstract away the detailed behavior of a task, which may make several individual accesses within a single critical section, incurring access overhead once for the entire critical section. Considering a more fine-grained model with individual access and non-access segments at the forefront gives more control in the system design process; choosing how accesses are grouped into critical sections enables balancing trade-offs between overhead and blocking based on other system parameters, including task deadlines. This paper presents an optimal approach for multi-resource systems that allow any given task to use up to two resources, including support for nested critical sections. This is achieved by extending analysis to multiple resources and constructing a Quadratically-Constrained Integer Program to determine critical sections. This approach is compared to heuristics on the basis of schedulability and its runtime is explored. Further extension to support more resources per task is discussed.

Cite as

Catherine E. Nemitz, Tanya Amert, and Jonad Pulaj. Critical-Section Granularity for Multi-Resource Systems with Nested Critical Sections. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 1:1-1:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{nemitz_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.1,
  author =	{Nemitz, Catherine E. and Amert, Tanya and Pulaj, Jonad},
  title =	{{Critical-Section Granularity for Multi-Resource Systems with Nested Critical Sections}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265859},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Real-time systems, shared resources, fixed-priority scheduling, schedulability}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.2

Preempt Less, Schedule Better: Revisiting PCG for Real-Time Uniform Processors

Authors: Yahya Hamdani, Pascal Richard, Antoine Bertout, Joël Goossens, and Emmanuel Grolleau

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

We address the problem of scheduling periodic implicit-deadline real-time tasks on m uniform processors. We introduce PCG^*, an optimal TL-plane algorithm based on PCG [Chen and Hsueh, 2008], which guarantees at most 2(m - 1) preemptions per TL-plane, matching the best-known theoretical bound for uniform platforms. The proposed algorithm advances the state of the art by offering an optimal real-time scheduling solution with a tight preemption bound within TL-planes. The numerical experiments presented in this work provide strong evidence that PCG^* yields a substantial reduction in the number of preemptions relative to PCG. When applied to identical processor platforms, PCG^* is also a best-possible polynomial time algorithm in terms of preemptions in a TL-plane, matching the (m-1) preemption bound achieved by LRE-TL [Funk, 2010].

Cite as

Yahya Hamdani, Pascal Richard, Antoine Bertout, Joël Goossens, and Emmanuel Grolleau. Preempt Less, Schedule Better: Revisiting PCG for Real-Time Uniform Processors. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 2:1-2:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{hamdani_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.2,
  author =	{Hamdani, Yahya and Richard, Pascal and Bertout, Antoine and Goossens, Jo\"{e}l and Grolleau, Emmanuel},
  title =	{{Preempt Less, Schedule Better: Revisiting PCG for Real-Time Uniform Processors}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265863},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Real-Time Scheduling, Uniform Multiprocessor Platforms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.3

Probabilistic Schedulability Analysis for Mixed-Criticality DAG Tasks on Multiprocessors

Authors: Hiroto Takahashi, Atsushi Yano, and Takuya Azumi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Mixed-criticality DAG task systems on multiprocessors require schedulability analysis to guarantee that safety-critical tasks meet their deadlines. Conventional approaches rely on worst-case execution times (WCETs), which account for extremely rare pathological scenarios and consequently lead to significant over-provisioning of processor cores. This paper proposes a probabilistic schedulability analysis that exploits the statistical rarity of multiple vertices within a DAG exceeding their expected execution budgets. By grouping vertices within each DAG into small clusters and bounding the probability that more than one vertex in a cluster overruns, the method assigns each cluster a tighter execution budget than the sum of individual WCETs, thereby reducing the number of cores required. The clustering configuration is optimized via simulated annealing to minimize total core usage while maintaining a designer-specified bound on the system-level probability of deadline misses. Experiments on synthetic task sets demonstrate that the proposed method reduces the required number of cores by up to 36% compared to a deterministic baseline, with larger gains for DAGs exhibiting higher internal parallelism.

Cite as

Hiroto Takahashi, Atsushi Yano, and Takuya Azumi. Probabilistic Schedulability Analysis for Mixed-Criticality DAG Tasks on Multiprocessors. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 3:1-3:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{takahashi_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.3,
  author =	{Takahashi, Hiroto and Yano, Atsushi and Azumi, Takuya},
  title =	{{Probabilistic Schedulability Analysis for Mixed-Criticality DAG Tasks on Multiprocessors}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265871},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Mixed-Criticality Systems, DAG Tasks, Probabilistic Analysis, Federated Scheduling, Real-Time Systems}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.4

Boost-At-The-Tail: Work-Triggered Frequency Boosting for Fixed-Priority Scheduling

Authors: Behnam Khodabandeloo, Chengzi Huang, and Pontus Ekberg

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Fixed-priority (FP) scheduling is widely used in safety-critical real-time systems due to its simplicity and analyzability, yet it may fail to schedule task sets whose worst-case response-time bounds exceed deadlines by small margins. Meanwhile, modern processors increasingly support short-term frequency boosting, providing additional processing capacity subject to thermal and power constraints. This paper introduces Boosted-FP, a fixed-priority scheduling framework that augments a given FP policy with controlled, limited frequency boosting. The key idea is to activate boosting based on the worst-case remaining execution demand of the currently executing job, thereby confining high-frequency execution to the tail of jobs. Per-task boost parameters are computed offline using standard fixed-priority response-time analysis under the chosen priority assignment, while boost activation decisions are made online using worst-case remaining-work information. We show that Boosted-FP preserves hard real-time guarantees by relating its execution behavior to that of a task set with reduced execution times. Leveraging the sustainability of fixed-priority schedulability analysis with respect to execution-time reductions, we establish that any task set schedulable under the modified execution bounds is also schedulable under the proposed framework. We evaluate the framework under a global boost-budget constraint and show experimentally that boost usage remains bounded and often well below the offline provisioned budget. Together, these results demonstrate that controlled, work-triggered boosting can safely extend the schedulable region of fixed-priority scheduling without abandoning static priorities.

Cite as

Behnam Khodabandeloo, Chengzi Huang, and Pontus Ekberg. Boost-At-The-Tail: Work-Triggered Frequency Boosting for Fixed-Priority Scheduling. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 4:1-4:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{khodabandeloo_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.4,
  author =	{Khodabandeloo, Behnam and Huang, Chengzi and Ekberg, Pontus},
  title =	{{Boost-At-The-Tail: Work-Triggered Frequency Boosting for Fixed-Priority Scheduling}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265884},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Fixed Priority Scheduling, Boost frequency, Execution slack}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.5

Nancy-Playground: A Console Calculator for Deterministic Network Calculus

Authors: Raffaele Zippo and Giovanni Stea

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Deterministic Network Calculus (DNC) provides a rigorous algebra for worst-case performance analysis of networks. It allows researchers to compute bounds on worst-case characteristics of systems through algebraic expressions that may appear simple on paper but often require heavy computations, making software support essential. Libraries such as Nancy offer a rich API for DNC computations in C#, but they require programming expertise. In contrast, RTaW’s min-plus playground (MPPG) provides a simpler, calculator-like syntax for DNC computations; however, it is proprietary and web-hosted, limiting offline use and reproducibility. We present nancy-playground, an open-source, locally runnable console that implements the same MPPG syntax while executing computations through the Nancy library. This tool enables reproducible scripting, interactive exploration, and a seamless transition to full programs by converting MPPG scripts into C# code. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of nancy-playground, as well as its main features for researchers and practitioners in the DNC community.

Cite as

Raffaele Zippo and Giovanni Stea. Nancy-Playground: A Console Calculator for Deterministic Network Calculus. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 5:1-5:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{zippo_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.5,
  author =	{Zippo, Raffaele and Stea, Giovanni},
  title =	{{Nancy-Playground: A Console Calculator for Deterministic Network Calculus}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{5:1--5:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.5},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265970},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.5},
  annote =	{Keywords: Deterministic Network Calculus, min-plus algebra, tooling}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.6

Automated and Precise Deterministic NetCal Calculations from Models to Bounds

Authors: Wlad Pesotsky, Eric Hermsen, and Steffen Bondorf

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

The deterministic variant of Network Calculus (NetCal, NC) enables for calculating worst-case performance guarantees in communication networks. We present the NetworkCalculus.org Deterministic Network Calculator (NCorg DNC), a tool for Deterministic Network Calculus (DNC) that extends the previous DiscoDNC by significantly enhancing its capabilities for modeling and analysis of real-world applications. The tool offers a new end-to-end solution: Starting from the prevalent model of a full-duplex Ethernet-like networks with output queueing, the NCorg DNC offers automated conversion to its DNC model as well as application of state-of-the-research DNC analysis methods to derive worst-case delay bounds. Another significant step forward are new numerical capabilities that can model and analyze, among others, discrete data arrivals as well as service. While we enhance features and capabilities, we keep the cost in terms of tool runtimes at bay. Our numerical evaluation showcases improved performance bounding w.r.t to previous DiscoDNC results and a comparative experimental tool performance study quantifying the computational impact of the added functionality. Overall, the NCorgDNC provides a more versatile and extensible foundation for deterministic performance analysis in modern networked systems.

Cite as

Wlad Pesotsky, Eric Hermsen, and Steffen Bondorf. Automated and Precise Deterministic NetCal Calculations from Models to Bounds. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 6:1-6:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{pesotsky_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.6,
  author =	{Pesotsky, Wlad and Hermsen, Eric and Bondorf, Steffen},
  title =	{{Automated and Precise Deterministic NetCal Calculations from Models to Bounds}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265986},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Network Calculus, Real-Time Systems}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.7

Controlling Adaptive HARQ Erasure Coding for Real-Time Transport Under Channel Model Mismatch

Authors: Moritz Miodek, Marlene Böhmer, and Thorsten Herfet

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Networking is an essential component of real-time cyber-physical systems, and hence, networking problems are increasingly real-time problems. As these systems expand beyond single, controlled links, they require predictably reliable end-to-end communication primitives, effectively transferring their deadline constraints to the underlying multi-hop network. Standard transport protocols often optimize either only for latency (e.g., UDP) or for full reliability (e.g., TCP, QUIC), with the latter potentially leading to unbounded retransmission delays. Partial reliability bridges the gap between these extremes, offering configurable reliability within a bounded delay. To remain bandwidth-efficient and robust to dynamic network conditions, these schemes must abandon static forward error correction (FEC) and move toward adaptive loss recovery. A fundamental challenge is the model mismatch problem: real-time adaptive loss recovery schemes require simple, efficiently interpretable models to estimate network conditions, yet these models systematically underfit complex real-world network dynamics. To provide robustness against this inherent underfitting, we present a closed-loop control architecture that applies an adaptive safety margin to the network estimates, ensuring the system meets a deadline-constrained reliability target. We frame this contribution within the Predictably Reliable Real-time Transport protocol (PRRT), which allows applications to configure a loss and deadline constraint. The control system observes the packet delivery deficit (packet debt) to quantify the extent to which the end-to-end packet-loss rate deviates from the application’s target loss rate. A compensated loss rate is then fed into a novel constraint-aware, anytime incremental search algorithm that derives a near-optimal Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) coding configuration that combines the benefits of proactive and reactive packet-loss recovery to satisfy the application’s loss and delay constraints. New to this search is its awareness of the encoding and decoding complexity of the resulting coding configurations. This allows devices to adaptively limit the search space to configurations within their computational capabilities, which is essential for constrained edge devices. We provide a new high-performance Rust reference implementation of PRRT and demonstrate that the system converges towards the target loss rate, even under model mismatch, while also quickly adapting to shifts in network conditions.

Cite as

Moritz Miodek, Marlene Böhmer, and Thorsten Herfet. Controlling Adaptive HARQ Erasure Coding for Real-Time Transport Under Channel Model Mismatch. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 7:1-7:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{miodek_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.7,
  author =	{Miodek, Moritz and B\"{o}hmer, Marlene and Herfet, Thorsten},
  title =	{{Controlling Adaptive HARQ Erasure Coding for Real-Time Transport Under Channel Model Mismatch}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265994},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Real-time networks, transport protocol, HARQ, adaptive erasure coding, closed-loop control, anytime search, network reliability, model mismatch}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.8

Alignment Sets for Sensor Fusion Against Temporal Misalignment

Authors: Daniel Kuhse, Mario Günzel, Harun Teper, Lars Willemsen, Georg von der Brüggen, and Jian-Jia Chen

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Sensor fusion algorithms combine data from multiple sensors to produce more accurate and reliable results. However, temporal misalignment between sensors, caused by factors such as clock drift, jitter or networking delays, can significantly degrade fusion quality. Prior work on modeling temporal misalignment in sensor fusion algorithms assumes that in the ideal case all samples should be aligned with the same reference time point. We show that this assumption limits its applicability when samples are intentionally taken at different time points, e.g., when a single sensor is sampled multiple times or when sensors operate at different frequencies. In this paper, we introduce alignment sets, which allow system designers to explicitly specify the intended alignment between samples. This flexibility enables more precise temporal misalignment measures that better reflect the actual requirements of sensor fusion scenarios. We prove that alignment sets generalize the prior definitions of temporal misalignment of sensor fusion algorithms. We also provide an evaluation on a camera-LiDAR fusion pipeline for 3D object detection, showing that alignment sets provide more accurate misalignment measures and robustness estimates.

Cite as

Daniel Kuhse, Mario Günzel, Harun Teper, Lars Willemsen, Georg von der Brüggen, and Jian-Jia Chen. Alignment Sets for Sensor Fusion Against Temporal Misalignment. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 8:1-8:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kuhse_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.8,
  author =	{Kuhse, Daniel and G\"{u}nzel, Mario and Teper, Harun and Willemsen, Lars and von der Br\"{u}ggen, Georg and Chen, Jian-Jia},
  title =	{{Alignment Sets for Sensor Fusion Against Temporal Misalignment}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-266004},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Sensor Fusion, Temporal Misalignment, Robustness, Timing Analysis}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.9

Randomizing Parallel Real-Time Tasks: A Scheduler-Oblivious Mechanism to Harness Security

Authors: Xiuqi Zhang and Risat Mahmud Pathan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Periodic parallel task models, such as Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), offer significant potential for modeling safety-critical real-time applications, but can introduce security vulnerabilities on multicore platforms. The deterministic schedules of periodic real-time tasks can be exploited through schedule-based side-channel attacks - causing missed deadlines or leaking sensitive information. Schedule randomization can address this vulnerability, yet existing work targets sequential tasks and lacks models that incorporate security for parallel workloads while meeting the real-time constraints. Furthermore, no widely accepted metric quantitatively measures the security gained from randomization against different attacker classes. This paper proposes Controlled DAG Randomization (CDR), a scheduler-oblivious framework that randomizes the schedule of periodic real-time DAG tasks while preserving hard deadline guarantees. Each DAG is transformed into an Augmented DAG (ADAG) via two mechanisms: dependency augmentation, which adds edges to constrain concurrency, and temporal augmentation, which inserts additional vertices/subtasks that introduce random delays. At runtime, two algorithms randomize the structure of each released instance of the DAG: one adds random precedence edges, and the other assigns randomized execution budgets to the augmented subtasks of the ADAG - both while maintaining schedulability. Two attacker-aware metrics, System Threat and Task Distribution Entropy, are proposed, targeting intrusive and observation-based attackers, respectively. Extensive simulations on single- and multi-task systems show significant vulnerability reductions. We also observe that increased resources do not always strengthen security and can diminish randomization effectiveness, highlighting the need for carefully designed schedules to realize real security benefits.

Cite as

Xiuqi Zhang and Risat Mahmud Pathan. Randomizing Parallel Real-Time Tasks: A Scheduler-Oblivious Mechanism to Harness Security. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 9:1-9:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{zhang_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.9,
  author =	{Zhang, Xiuqi and Pathan, Risat Mahmud},
  title =	{{Randomizing Parallel Real-Time Tasks: A Scheduler-Oblivious Mechanism to Harness Security}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:25},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-266014},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: Real-time systems, DAG scheduling, side-channel defense}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.10

DART: A Real-Time Address-Randomization Defense with Predictable Timing

Authors: Patrick Dobranowski, Owen Rice, Ryan Burrow, Nathan Burow, and Bryan C. Ward

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 375, 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)

Abstract

Embedded and real-time systems are increasingly connected and deployed in safety and mission-critical environments, making them a persistent target for attacks capable of compromising industrial control systems and other embedded devices. At the same time, these devices often have strict real-time requirements that require predictable worst-case performance. However, many strong and widely deployed software-security defenses are designed and evaluated with respect to average-case performance, a more important metric in enterprise systems. The worst-case performance of such defenses is not well understood and indeed such defenses are less commonly deployed in embedded systems. In particular, one class of commonly deployed defenses in enterprise systems is code randomization, which protects a system by altering the layout of the virtual address space so that attackers cannot easily target specific parts of a vulnerable application, but randomization is often seen as fundamentally counter to real-time predictability. This paper presents DART, a real-time address randomization defense with page-level randomization. DART randomizes code in the virtual address space at page-level granularity under placement constraints that move cache behavior from a runtime OS-allocator property to a statically encoded binary property, allowing for timing analysis. An analysis of DART’s timing behavior on a real-time testbed demonstrates how the design makes layout-induced timing variance bounded and characterizable across the space of layouts produced, supporting predictable execution-time analysis. The resulting layout search space is then analyzed, and a closed-form expression for the randomization entropy induced by DART is derived. Evaluation results across TACLeBench binaries show increased combinatorial entropy with modest numbers of virtual memory pages per cache color, providing a suitable defense that outperforms traditional virtual-memory protections for attacks such as partial-pointer overwriting or more broadly control-flow hijacking.

Cite as

Patrick Dobranowski, Owen Rice, Ryan Burrow, Nathan Burow, and Bryan C. Ward. DART: A Real-Time Address-Randomization Defense with Predictable Timing. In 38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 375, pp. 10:1-10:26, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{dobranowski_et_al:LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.10,
  author =	{Dobranowski, Patrick and Rice, Owen and Burrow, Ryan and Burow, Nathan and Ward, Bryan C.},
  title =	{{DART: A Real-Time Address-Randomization Defense with Predictable Timing}},
  booktitle =	{38th European Conference on Real-Time Systems (ECRTS 2026)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:26},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-429-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{375},
  editor =	{Kritikakou, Angeliki},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-266021},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECRTS.2026.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: real-time systems, address-space layout randomization, code randomization, worst-case execution time, cache coloring, embedded systems security}
}

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