SmartOS: An OS Architecture for Sustainable Embedded Systems

Abstract

The number of embedded devices is growing, and so are the concerns about dependability and sustainability. However, the life-span of modern devices is commonly very short, due to their lack of long-term maintainability in both hardware and software. This yields an increased amount of e-waste, as the individual devices are commonly very cheap and can therefore easily be replaced in case of (partial) obsolescence. In this work, we show an operating system architecture which is designed to make embedded systems more sustainable and prepared for long-term use. To do so, we implement a general basic architecture alongside extended concepts and special features within the operating system. Our approach is based on hardware/software co-design and the opportunity to update software as well as hardware in a modular way at runtime. Therefore, logic reconfiguration of the host platform, dynamic software composition and integration, as well as formal methods for verification and portability are supported.