IMEC launches research program to improve dynamic behavior of embedded systems

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE 2009 – SAN JOSE, CA – March 31, 2009 – To deal
with the increasing dynamism in (networked) embedded systems, IMEC launches
a new research program. This program will focus on moving the management of
the system’s resources from the design phase to runtime software solutions.
The resulting embedded systems will be more flexible and efficient, and
will have a shorter time-to-market. Systems that would profit from such
improved dynamism are, for example, multimedia appliances, from servers to
mobile devices, standalone or connected in a video processing network.
Other examples are cognitive radios, sensor networks, body area networks,
or smart energy grid applications.

Today’s embedded systems operate under increasingly dynamic conditions.
They have to support unpredictable interaction with users or with the
environment. And they should work with widely varying input data,
downloadable software, online services, and a wider range of software
applications than is traditionally supported by embedded systems.
Worst-case system designs take into account all this unpredictability
upfront, resulting in overallocated resources, higher costs and longer
time-to-market. In addition, embedded systems that are connected in a
network also have to deal with the dynamism and unpredictability of
distributed systems, further increasing the design challenges. This forces
designers of embedded systems to consider alternatives to the traditional
design methods.

IMEC’s new research program will examine methods to optimally exploit the
flexibility offered by modern hardware platforms and networks. These have
the hardware that is needed to implement a more dynamic behavior: multiple
heterogeneous processing cores, including general-purpose processors. And
in a distributed setting, the number and variety of available processing
elements is even larger. This allows more flexibility to select processing
resources for executing software, not only at design time, but also at run
time.

The goal of IMEC’s program is to create a run-time resource manager that
addresses the dynamically changing conditions and makes a trade-off between
processing availability and type, communication bandwidth, power
consumption, or any other relevant constraint, while meeting the required
quality of service. In addition, the program will contribute to the
software infrastructure that exchanges information with the run-time
manager. Different versions of this infrastructure will range from
light-weight to advanced, depending on the openness of the software
development methods used in a particular project. Advanced infrastructure
will offer techniques such as virtualization, managed code, just-in-time
compilation and optimization.

The URL for this release is
ttp://www2.imec.be/imec_com/dynamic-behavior-embedded-systems.php

About IMEC
IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and
nanotechnology. Its research focuses on the next generations of chips and
systems, and on the enabling technologies for ambient intelligence. IMEC’s
research bridges the gap between fundamental research at universities and
technology development in industry. Its unique balance of processing and
system know-how, intellectual property portfolio, state-of-the-art
infrastructure and its strong network of companies, universities and
research institutes worldwide position IMEC as a key partner for shaping
technologies for future systems.
IMEC vzw is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has a sister company in the
Netherlands, IMEC-NL, concentrating on wireless autonomous transducer
solutions, and has representatives in the US, China, Japan and Taiwan. Its
staff of more than 1650 people includes more than 500 industrial residents
and guest researchers. In 2008, its revenue (P&L) is estimated at about 264
million euro. Further information on IMEC can be found at www.imec.be.

Contacts:
IMEC : Katrien Marent, Director of External Communications, T: +32 16 28 18
80, katrien.marent {at} imec(.)be

Barbara Kalkis, Maestro Marketing & PR, T : +1 408 996 9975,
kkalkis {at} compuserve(.)com