Towards Certifying Network Calculus

The Network Calculus (NC) [5] is an established theory for determining bounds on message delays and for dimensioning buffers in the design of networks for embedded systems. It is supported by academic and industrial tool sets and has been used, among many other applications, in the design and certification of the Airbus A380 AFDX backbone [1, 3, 4]. However, while the theory of NC is generally well understood, results produced by existing tools have to be trusted: some algorithms require subtle reasoning in order to ensure their applicability, and implementation errors could result in faulty network design, with unpredictable consequences.