Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Planning and Resource Allocation for Hard Real-time, Fault-Tolerant Plan Execution

  • Published:
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We describe the interface between a real-time resource allocation system with an AI planner in order to create fault-tolerant plans that are guaranteed to execute in hard real-time. The planner specifies the task set and all execution deadlines required to ensure system safety, then the resource utilization. A new interface module combines information from planning and resource allocation to enforce development of plans feasible for execution during a variety of internal system faults. Plans that over-utilize any system resource trigger feedback to the planner, which then searches for an alternate plan. A valid plan for each specified fault, including the nominal no-fault situation, is stored in a plan cache for subsequent real-time execution. We situate this work in the context of CIRCA, the Cooperative Intelligent Real-time Control Architecture, which focuses on developing and scheduling plans that make hard real-time safety guarantees, and provide an example of an autonomous aircraft agent to illustrate how our planner-resource allocation interface improves CIRCA performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. T. Abdelzaher, A. Shaikh, F. Jahanian, and K. Shin, “RTCAST: lightweight multicast for real-time process groups,” in IEEE Real-Time Technol. Applicat. Symp., Boston, MA, 1996.

  2. T. F. Abdelzaher, and K. G. Shin, “Optimal combined task and message scheduling in distributed real-time systems,” in IEEE Real-Time Syst. Symp., Pisa, Italy, 1995.

  3. T. F. Abdelzaher, and K. G. Shin, “Combined task and message scheduling in distributed real-time systems,” IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst., vol. 10, no. 11, 1999, pp. 1179-1191.

    Google Scholar 

  4. E. M. Atkins, “Plan generation and hard real-time execution with application to safe, autonomous flight,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1999.

  5. E. M. Atkins, E. H. Durfee, and K. G. Shin, “Plan development using local probabilistic models,” in Proc. Twelfth Conf. Uncertainty Artif. Intell., 1996, pp. 49-56.

  6. E. M. Atkins, E. H. Durfee, and K. G. Shin, “Buying time for resource-bounded planning,” in AAAI-97 Workshop: Building Resource-Bounded Reasoning Systems Technical Report, 1997, pp. 7-11.

  7. E. M. Atkins, E. H. Durfee, and Kang G. Shin, “Detecting and reacting to unplanned-for states,” in Proc. Fourteenth Nat. Conf. Artif. Intell., 1997, pp. 571-576.

  8. E. M. Atkins, R. H. Miller, T. VanPelt, K. D. Shaw, W. B. Ribbens, P. D. Washabaugh, and D. S. Bernstein, “Solus: an autonomous aircraft for flight control and trajectory planning research,” in Proc. Am. Contr. Conf., vol. 2, 1998, pp. 689-693.

    Google Scholar 

  9. C. Boutilier, and R. Dearden, “Using abstractions for decision-theoretic planning with time constraints,” in Proc. Twelfth Nat. Conf. Artif. Intell., 1994, pp. 1016-1022.

  10. T. Dean, L. P. Kaelbling, J. Kirman, and A. Nicholson, “Planning with deadlines in stochastic domains, in Proc. Eleventh Nat. Conf. Artif. Intell., 1993, pp. 574-579.

  11. R. J. Firby, “An investigation into reactive planning in complex domains,” in Proc. Natl. Conf. Artif. Intell., 1987, pp. 202-206.

  12. A. J. Garvey and V. R. Lesser, “Design-to-time real-time scheduling,” IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybernet. vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1491-1502, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  13. M. L. Ginsberg, “Dynamic backtracking,” J. Artif. Intell. Res. vol. 1, pp. 25-46, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  14. L. Greenwald, and T. Dean, “Solving time-critical decision-making problems with predictable computational demands,” in Proc. Second Int. Conf. AI Planning Syst., 1994.

  15. F. F. Ingrand, and M. P. Georgeff, “Managing deliberation and reasoning in real-time AI systems,” in Proc. Workshop on Innovative Approaches to Planning, Scheduling, Control, 1990, pp. 284-291.

  16. J. E. Laird, A. Newell, and P. S. Rosenbloom, “SOAR: an architecture for general intelligence,” Artif. Intell., vol. 33, pp. 1-64, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  17. C. B. McVey, E. M. Atkins, E. H. Durfee, and K. G. Shin, “Development of iterative real-time scheduler to planner feedback,” in Proc. Fourteenth Int. Joint Conf. Artif. Intell., 1997, pp. 1267-1272.

  18. D. J. Musliner, “Scheduling issues arising from automated real-time system design,” University of Maryland Department of Computer Science Technical Report CS-TR 3364, UMIACS-TR-94-118, 1994.

  19. D. J. Musliner, E. H. Durfee, and K. G. Shin, “World modeling for the dynamic construction of real-time control plans,” Artif. Intell. vol. 74, pp. 83-127, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  20. B. Pell, E. Gat, R. Keesing, N. Muscettola, and Ben Smith, “Plan execution for autonomous spacecraft, “ in AAAI-96 Fall Symp. Plan Execution: Problems and Issues Technical Report, 1996, pp. 109-116.

  21. D.-T. Peng, and K. G. Shin, and T. F. Abdelzaher, “Assignment and scheduling of communicating periodic tasks in distributed real-time systems,” IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst. vol. 8, no. 12, 1997.

  22. D. E. Wilkins, K. L. Myers, and J. D. Lowrance, “Planning and reacting in uncertain and dynamic environments,” J. Exp. Theor. AI vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 197-227, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  23. J. Xu, “Multiprocessor scheduling of processes with release times, deadlines, precedence, and exclusion relations,” IEEE Trans. Software Eng. vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 139-154, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  24. J. Xu and D. L. Parnas, “Scheduling processes with release times, deadlines, precedence, and exclusion relations,” IEEE Trans. Software Eng. SE-vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 360-369, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, USA

    Ella M. Atkins

  2. University of Virginia, USA

    Tarek F. Abdelzaher

  3. University of Michigan, USA

    Kang G. Shin

  4. University of Michigan, USA

    Edmund H. Durfee

Authors
  1. Ella M. Atkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tarek F. Abdelzaher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kang G. Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Edmund H. Durfee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Atkins, E.M., Abdelzaher, T.F., Shin, K.G. et al. Planning and Resource Allocation for Hard Real-time, Fault-Tolerant Plan Execution. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 4, 57–78 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010066729351

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010066729351

Search

Navigation