Our Research
Research Focus: Dependability
Software is already widely used today in application areas that place high demands on certain quality properties of the software. In many cases, software is a component of a system. Software solutions are often structured in a distributed manner. In addition, the scope of software products is constantly increasing. Modern development methods - e.g. object orientation - complement established methods and partly displace them. The work carried out at our chair aims at the investigation of methods for the quality-oriented development of software for embedded systems. The current focus is on object-oriented methods, especially in their application to safety-critical, highly available, and real-time software-intensive systems. The continuous scope growth of software systems and their distributed design are given special attention. Research is currently being conducted on object-oriented techniques, aspects of distributed software, and quantified proof of software properties. The research work is partly carried out in direct cooperation with industry.
Current Projects
Virtual Engineering for Smart Embedded Systems (ViSE)
Contact Person : M.Sc. Rasha Abu Qasem
Contact Person : M.Sc. Anil Ranjitbhai Patel
02.05.2018 - 30.04.2021
Digitalization is one of the main drivers of innovation in almost all sectors of the economy. In addition to the growing importance of smartphones, the cloud and intelligent business processes, digitization has now also reached the core of the German and Rhineland-Palatinate economy.
The resulting collective intelligence of smart embedded systems offers invaluable potential, but at the same time poses numerous open challenges for industry and research. This is because software in safety-critical systems such as cars, machines or medical devices endangers human lives in the event of a fault and must therefore meet strict safety norms and standards.
ViSE project concentrates on developing methods and technologies that enable resilient intelligence in smart embedded systems. The project would enable the cooperation between TUK with its strong background in system engineering, Fraunhofer Innovation Center for Smart Embedded Systems - ENARIS and the Fraunhofer Performance Center "Simulation- and Software-based Innovations".
This project has two major goals in focus:
- Methods for virtual quality assurance:
Methods of quality assurance of smart embedded systems would be investigated, in particular with the aim of proving safety, using virtual processes. Concepts in the context of virtual engineering will be developed. The security concept-based derivation of coverage dimensions and associated testing criteria also would be investigated.
- Dynamic Safety Management in Resilient Architectures
Smart embedded systems are characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, which results from the fact that neither the collaboration partners of the systems nor the environmental situations and operating conditions of the systems can be sufficiently predicted. Within this scope, concepts for safety management at runtime will be developed.
Offene Digitalisierungsallianz für die Pfalz (ODPfalz)
https://www.innovative-hochschule.de/de/innovative-hochschulen/odpfalz/
Contact Person : M.Sc. Brian Tewanima Löwe
01.01.2018 - 21-12-2022
Initiatoren des Verbundvorhabens „Offene Digitalisierungsallianz für die Pfalz (ODPfalz)“ sind die Hochschule (HS) und die Technische Universität (TU) Kaiserslautern. Sie stärken mit dem Vorhaben ODPfalz ihren forschungsbasierten Ideen-, Wissens- und Technologietransfer, vernetzen sich regional umfassend und gestalten durch die Entwicklung einer ausgeprägten Innovationskultur im Kontext der Digitalisierung die Zukunft für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in der Pfalz anhand folgender drei Leitziele:
- das Miteinander der Hochschulen untereinander und mit der Region intensivieren
- den themenspezifischen Transfer im Bereich der Digitalisierung stärken
- eine Innovationskultur entwickeln
Das Verbundvorhaben unter Koordination der HS gliedert sich in die vier themenspezifischen Innovationsbereiche „Bildung“, „Gesundheit“, „Fahrzeuge“ und „Produkte“, die sich aus transferaktiven Forschenden beider Hochschulen und Partnern der Region zusammensetzen, um interdisziplinär für Fachgebiete hoher wirtschaftlicher und gesellschaftlicher Relevanz die digitale Transformation mitzugestalten. Transfer neuester Erkenntnisse zu digitalen Lehr- und Lernformaten, neue Transferstrukturen für digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen, Simulations- und Virtualisierungstechniken für Mensch-Fahrzeug-Umwelt Szenarien und der Transfer von modernen Kombinationen aus digitalen Produktentwicklungs- und Design-Thinking-Methoden stehen dabei im Mittelpunkt.
ODPfalz intensiviert die Zusammenarbeit der Hochschulen auf strategischer, struktureller und operativer Ebene. Die durchzuführenden Maßnahmen bearbeiten sie entsprechend ihrer jeweiligen Expertise. In den Innovationsbereichen werden Forschende unterschiedlicher Disziplinen hochschulübergreifend forschungsbasierten Transfer betreiben. Die Transfer- und Forschungsreferate beider Hochschulen sind maßgeblich an der Organisation des Verbundvorhabens beteiligt und gewährleisten eine Vernetzung mit angrenzenden Projekten.
Unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Liggesmeyer sowie apl. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mario Trapp werden die Kompetenzen der Software- und System-Entwicklung im Bereich der Dependability; Safety & Security und des Model-Based Software Engineering in den Innovationsbereich „Produkte“ eingebracht.
Collaborative Embedded Systems (CrESt)
https://crest.in.tum.de/
Contact person : M.Sc. Nishanth Laxman
01.02.2017 - 30.04.2020
For years, there has been a significant shift in engineering of embedded and cyber-physical systems towards dynamically formed collaborative systems of cyber-physical systems. Dynamic system clusters are essential to technology-driven visions of the future, as exemplified by automatic transport of humans and things, Smart Cities, advanced medicine technology, intelligent factories, and assisted living.
The goal of the project „Collaborative Embedded Systems“ (CrESt) is to create a framework for the development of collaborative embedded systems to address the novel challenges. The approach will build on the SPES development methodology and contribute to the competitiveness of the German industry in this highly promising field of application.
Completed projects
Automotive, Railway and Avionics Multicore Systems II (ARAMiS II)
http://www.aramis2.org/
Contact Person : M.Sc. Sebastian Müller
01.10.2016 - 30.09.2019
Safety-critical applications in the domains automotive and avionics as well as the future topic Industry 4.0 show a clear and still increasing demand for digital processing power. This can be provided by multicore technologies. The cooperation project ARAMiS, successfully completed in March 2015, demonstrated that multicore processors can also be used in safety-critical applications.
Based on these findings, ARAMiS II aims at development processes, tools and platforms for the efficient use of multicore architectures available in industry. The ARAMiS II consortium started its work on October 1st, 2016. It consists of 33 partners and is scheduled for three years. The project budget is 24 Mio. Euros in total. ARAMiS II is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research with ca. 15 Mio. Euro. It is coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.
Embedded Multi-Core systems for Mixed Criticality applications in dynamic and changeable real-time environments (EMC²)
http://www.artemis-emc2.eu/
Contact Person : M.Sc. Sebastian Müller
01.04.2014 - 30.06.2017
Embedded systems are the key innovation driver to improve almost all mechatronic products with cheaper and even new functionalities. They support today’s information society as inter-system communication enabler. A major industrial challenge arises from the need to face cost efficient integration of different applications with different levels of safety and security on a single computing platform in an open context. EMC² finds solutions for dynamic adaptability in open systems, provides handling of mixed criticality applications under real-time conditions, scalability and utmost flexibility, full scale deployment and management of integrated tool chains, through the entire lifecycle. The objective of EMC² is to establish Multi-Core technology in all relevant Embedded Systems domains.
EMC² is a project of 101 partners of embedded industry and research from 16 European countries with an effort of about 770 person years and a total budget of about 94 million Euro.
Industrie und Forschung aus 16 europäischen Ländern. Das Projektvolumen beträgt 94 Millionen Euro.
Automotive, Railway and Avionics Multicore Systems (ARAMiS)
01.12.2011 - 30.11.2014
The German Ministry of Education and Research supports the development of novel computer processor concepts for the operation in future traffic systems. The goal of “ARAMiS” is the improvement of the operational safety of automobiles, trains and airplanes. Within the scope of ARAMis new concepts for the application of powerful computer processors with multiple cores in transportation and traffic systems are developed to increase the safety, efficiency and the comfort of those systems.
Up to now only single-core processors are used in airplanes and automobiles, because their behavior can be predicted with certainty which is a prerequisite for the certification of safety-critical systems. But single-core processors are reaching their limits and are increasingly disappearing from the market. The ARAMiS project unites well-known research institutes and fabricators from automobile-, transportation- and aircraft industries as well as hard- and software producers to develop highly performant multi-core processors.
ARAMiS is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and more than 30 industrial partners.
Software Platform Embedded Systems 2020 XTCore (SPES XTCore)
http://spes2020.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/spes_xt-home.html
Contact person: Dr. Mario Trapp
01.05.2012 - 30.04.2015
The shift from traditional Embedded Systems to Cyber-Physical Systems increases system complexity and thus the demand for system quality. In order to develop high quality Embedded Systems, SPES_XTCore will create new and innovative methods and tools to assist the industry in creating innovative systems whose high complexity could not be handled by existing approaches. SPES_XTCore consists of six Engineering Challenges which depend on four transversal workgroups.
Within this project, the research group “Software Engineering: Dependability” of the University of Kaiserslautern works mainly on the assessment of development artifacts, incremental certification, modular safety case, and the modularization and composition of heterogeneous safety analysis techniques in in the application domains of avionics and automotive.
SPES_XTCore is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and unites 21 partners from research and academia from all over Germany, including well-known companies like Siemens, Daimler and EADS.
Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität für höchste Sicherheit und Zuverlässigkeit von Eingebetteten Systemen (ViERforES) - Phase 2
http://vierfores.iese.fraunhofer.de/
01.01.2011 - 30.09.2013
The greater part of the microcontrollers produced worldwide is used in embedded systems with the applications ranging from domestic appliance to airplanes. Many devices that we naturally use in our everyday lives fall into this category. Embedded systems are of enormous technical and economic importance. Embedded systems are never “standalone” systems, but are always connected to and communicating with other systems, e.g. mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electronic or information systems. These systems have a major influence on the properties of safety, reliability and availability and are thus decisive factors in automotive-, medical- and production engineering as well as the energy industry, all of which are application areas considered in the project. The primary goal of the project is the enhancement of the safety and reliability of complex technical systems by interlinking methods and technologies with these application areas. The methods and technologies are developed and evaluated tailored to specific applications as well as in a generally applicable way. This follows the goal of transferring methodological knowledge to the application areas and of generalizing the methods to enable a future-proof software engineering.
ViERforES is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Scalable Visual Analytics: Interactive Visual Analysis Systems of Complex Information Spaces (DFG-SPP)
http://visualanalytics.de
Ansprechpartner: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Peter Liggesmeyer
In research and development as well as numerous application areas fast growing data sets develop with ever higher complexity and dynamics. A central challenge is to filter the substantial information and to communicate it to humans in an appropriate way. Interactive visual data analysis techniques extend the perceptual and cognitive abilities of humans with automatic data analysis techniques. Only by a combination of data analysis (Data Mining) and visualization techniques an effective access to otherwise unmanageably complex data sets is possible. Visual analysis techniques make the unexpected more easily discoverable and help to gain new cognitions and insights.
DFG-SPP is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität für höchste Sicherheit und Zuverlässigkeit von Eingebetteten Systemen (ViERforES)
http://vierfores.iese.fraunhofer.de
01.07.2008 - 31.12.2010
The greater part of the microcontrollers produced worldwide is used in embedded systems with the applications ranging from domestic appliance to airplanes. Many devices that we naturally use in our everyday lives fall into this category. Embedded systems are of enormous technical and economic importance. Embedded systems are never “standalone” systems, but are always connected to and communicating with other systems, e.g. mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electronic or information systems. These systems have a major influence on the properties of safety, reliability and availability and are thus decisive factors in automotive-, medical- and production engineering as well as the energy industry, all of which are application areas considered in the project. The primary goal of the project is the enhancement of the safety and reliability of complex technical systems by interlinking methods and technologies with these application areas. The methods and technologies are developed and evaluated tailored to specific applications as well as in a generally applicable way. This follows the goal of transferring methodological knowledge to the application areas and of generalizing the methods to enable a future-proof software engineering.
ViERforES is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Innovation alliance for Embedded Systems, Software Plattform Embedded Systems 2020 (SPES2020)
http://spes2020.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/
Ansprechpartner: Dr. Mario Trapp
01.07.2008 - 31.12.2010
Embedded systems are of vital importance in many high-tech branches. Especially in Germany the high productivity- and quality-requirements that apply to any technical product “Made in Germany” must also be applied to embedded systems. German quality is well-known precisely in those areas that include a high proportion of embedded software, like avionics, automotive-, medical-, manufacturing- and automation engineering. The targeted development of high-quality embedded systems is a key competence. The management of increasingly powerful, comprising, distributed and thus more complex embedded systems is a scientific and technical challenge.
SPES2020 („Softwareplattform Embedded Systems 2020“) is a national innovation alliance with the goal of professionalizing the cross-domain production process. SPES unites the effort of 8 research partners and 15 industrial partners (e.g. Siemens, EADS).
In this context the research group “Software Engineering: Dependability” works on the question of how software engineering and safety engineering can be interleaved more closely, e.g. by automatically deriving safety models from the software design and - vice versa - the integration of measures into the software development process to increase safety