Multicore interference can present a significant challenge for computers hosting critical functionality, by allowing independent software executing on different processing cores to affect each other’s timing properties. In the worst case, this interference can cause deadline misses and functional failures. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand (and bound) the impact that multicore interference can have on a given platform. We discuss some examples of both simple and complex interference channels in space-relevant multicore hardware platforms and present a tooling solution that can be used to support the analysis of interference channels.

Dr Samuel Thompson is a Senior Multicore Analysis Engineer in the multicore team at Rapita Systems Limited, and has a significant role in both the development of Rapita’s multicore solution as well as the delivery of customer projects on multicore platforms. Sam’s professional background includes work on safety-critical automation projects, systems design, and the analysis of large disparate datasets. He received his PhD from the University of York for the analysis of sub-diffraction-limit light-scattering and dynamic interaction data from engineered nanoparticles.