Clock Synchronization in Virtualized Distributed Real-Time Systems using IEEE 802.1AS and ACRN

TL;DR

This paper formalizes clock synchronization in virtualized distributed real-time systems, models IEEE 802.1AS protocol, and demonstrates a hypervisor-based implementation achieving native synchronization precision.

Contribution

It introduces a formal framework for virtual clock suitability, models the impact of virtualization on synchronization, and implements a dependent clock in ACRN with verified precision bounds.

Findings

Dependent clock in ACRN achieves native synchronization accuracy.

Upper bounds on IEEE 802.1AS synchronization precision are validated experimentally.

Virtualization impacts clock synchronization, but proper modeling and implementation can preserve precision.

Abstract

Virtualization of distributed real-time systems enables the consolidation of mixed-criticality functions on a shared hardware platform thus easing system integration. Time-triggered communication and computation can act as an enabler of safe hard real-time systems. A time-triggered hypervisor that activates virtual CPUs according to a global schedule can provide the means to allow for a resource efficient implementation of the time-triggered paradigm in virtualized distributed real-time systems. A prerequisite of time-triggered virtualization for hard real-time systems is providing access to a global time base to VMs as well as to the hypervisor. A global time base is the result of clock synchronization with an upper bound on the clock synchronization precision. We present a formalization of the notion of time in virtualized real-time systems. We use this formalization to propose a virtual clock condition that enables us to test the suitability of a virtual clock for the design of virtualized time-triggered real-time systems. We discuss and model how virtualization, in particular resource consolidation versus resource partitioning, degrades clock synchronization precision. Finally, we apply our insights to model the IEEE~802.1AS clock synchronization protocol and derive an upper bound on the clock synchronization precision of IEEE 802.1AS. We present our implementation of a dependent clock for ACRN that can be synchronized to a grandmaster clock. The results of our experiments illustrate that a type-1 hypervisor implementing a dependent clock yields native clock synchronization precision. Furthermore, we show that the upper bound derived from our model holds for a series of experiments featuring native as well as virtualized setups.