I am a founder director of Rapita Systems Ltd, a company which provides software for analysis of real-time systems. Specifically, the software, called RapiTime, can provide worst-case execution time (WCET) analysis of complex software on modern embedded processors.
My Ph.D. in Real-time Systems was done at the Department of Computer Science, York. The title of the thesis is Flexibility in Dependable Real-time Communication. Other research publications can be found on the Real-time systems publications page.
My research interests include flexible scheduling, probabilistic aspects of real-time systems and real-time communication. In particular, my Ph.D. thesis considered reliability of embedded real-time communication in the CAN bus under probabilistic fault-models. This work has developed into a more general probabilistic scheduling framework including probabilistic execution times and random arrival models. This theme continues in the development of key products for Rapita Systems Ltd whose software can analyse and model complex behaviour in embedded systems.
The use of modern programming languages to achieve software reliability is an exciting topic. Usually, any development work I do is done using Ada 95, a modern language with very powerful compile-time checking. This compile-time checking and a modern compiler allows very reliable and efficient programs to be written.
Less academic, I seem to have some usual views on general purpose operating system and user interface design. I draw several ideas from an operating system called Plan 9, and consider that preferential use of the mouse on graphical terminals provides a very simple and powerful environment, especially with software like wily. You may note that my keyboard does not have any cursor-navigation keys.
My background is in Electronics and Computer Science, specialising in Real-time systems. My first degree is MEng Computer Systems and Software Engineering, York, (Class I Hons). My Ph.D. is Flexibility in Dependable Real-time Communication, York.
I am married to Karen, who is a Mathematics teacher, and we live in York. We are both Christians and are members of St Michael-le-Belfrey Church. I do far too much bell ringing and not enough cycling.