Inter-Partition Messenger for Avionic Virtual Machine Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for inter-partition communication in avionic systems, such as those following the ARINC 653 standard, face challenges in efficiently routing safety-critical messages between partitioned applications while ensuring real-time communication and adherence to safety standards.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an inter-partition messaging system that uses inter-partition messengers residing on virtual machines to determine message types, identify recipient applications, and route messages based on subscription data and routing protocols, allowing for communication between applications in different partition spaces without external devices, while ensuring compliance with safety standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If partitioned systems are used to meet safety requirements, then reliability is improved, but inter-partition communication complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces inter-partition messengers as intermediary components that reside in the hypervisor layer between partitioned applications. These messengers handle message routing, type determination, and delivery coordination, thereby simplifying the communication interface for applications while maintaining partition isolation and safety requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication system is segmented into distinct functional components: message producers in sending partitions, inter-partition messengers in the hypervisor, and message consumers in receiving partitions. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific tasks, improving reliability through clear separation of concerns while managing complexity through modular design.
2Speed
If real-time communication is implemented between partitions, then communication speed is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-registering message types and subscription relationships before actual communication occurs. The inter-partition messengers maintain lookup tables of message type to application mappings, enabling direct routing without complex runtime analysis, thus achieving real-time performance with reduced runtime complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses message type identifiers and routing information as simplified copies or proxies for the full communication context. Instead of managing complex direct connections between all partition pairs, the system uses lightweight message type tokens that reference pre-configured routing information, reducing system complexity while maintaining fast communication.
3Adaptability or versatility
If message routing between virtual machines is implemented, then communication versatility is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Routing configurations and message type mappings are established in advance during system initialization. The inter-partition messengers preload routing tables that map message types to target partitions and applications, enabling O(1) lookup during message transmission rather than requiring complex runtime routing decisions, thus reducing processing overhead while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
Each inter-partition messenger is customized to handle specific message types and routing scenarios relevant to its partition context. The messengers maintain local caching of routing information for their specific communication patterns, reducing the processing overhead associated with universal routing logic while supporting diverse communication requirements across different partition pairs.
Data Source
AI summary
In an example, a method can include determining, at a first inter-partition messenger, a message type for a message generated by a first application. The first inter-partition messenger and the first application can reside on a first virtual machine. The method can include identifying, at the first inter-partition messenger, a second application that is to receive the message based on the message type and message subscription data, generating, at the first inter-partition messenger, message routing data for routing of the message from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine, causing, at the first inter-partition messenger, the message to be routed from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine based on the message routing data, and receiving, at the second inter-partition messenger, the message for use thereof by the second application. The second inter-partition messenger and the second application can reside on the second virtual machine.