Embedded operating system

This theme focuses on the foundational design and implementation challenges of embedded operating systems (OS), emphasizing real-time constraints, concurrency, synchronization, communication, resource management, and the implications for education. Given the limited resources and timing constraints inherent in embedded hardware, the research explores how to build efficient, flexible OS kernels (including microkernels and RTOS) and how best to impart these principles through project-based education leveraging modern low-cost hardware like Raspberry Pi.

As embedded systems increasingly serve critical infrastructure and connect to networks, their software and hardware become targets of diverse security threats including malware and side-channel attacks. This theme investigates the particular vulnerabilities of embedded OSes under real-world constraints such as limited upgradeability, fixed-function software, and constrained resources. It also explores approaches in secure hardware-software co-design, fault tolerance, and the use of specialized hardware architectures to meet embedded security needs.

This theme examines the use of higher-level modeling languages and model-driven architecture (MDA) approaches to facilitate embedded OS and firmware development, enabling abstraction, automatic code generation, and integrated design-validation-deployment workflows. Given the escalating complexity of embedded and cyber-physical systems, research focuses on leveraging UML/SysML for system specification, improving multi-platform firmware productivity, and creating integrated interfaces like remote GUIs to manage distributed real-time embedded systems efficiently.