異構(gòu)多核處理器提供了自主設(shè)備的完美平臺(tái)

　　自主設(shè)備的出現(xiàn)也許是這十年來(lái)最令人期待的發(fā)展之一。它在很大程度上正在探索的車(chē)輛的形式，可以表現(xiàn)出一定程度的自主駕駛；汽車(chē)，可以并行公園與有限的驅(qū)動(dòng)程序援助已經(jīng)在市場(chǎng)上，而谷歌的自駕車(chē)汽車(chē)項(xiàng)目已累積超過(guò)150萬(wàn)自治英里橫跨美國(guó)。

　　然而，自治設(shè)備有許多形狀。希思羅機(jī)場(chǎng)的終端5停車(chē)場(chǎng)‘吊艙’是自主車(chē)輛運(yùn)輸乘客從他們的汽車(chē)到候機(jī)室，雖然運(yùn)行在一個(gè)明確的路徑，而不妨礙其他道路使用者?，F(xiàn)在世界上有許多無(wú)人駕駛輕軌的例子。除了大眾運(yùn)輸之外，無(wú)人機(jī)正變得越來(lái)越自主，需要從操作員那里直接輸入更少的懸停，改變高度或方向；這里的基本趨勢(shì)是無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)成為完全自主，運(yùn)輸貨物從A點(diǎn)到B點(diǎn)沒(méi)有任何直接的人類(lèi)控制。

　　許多技術(shù)，使這種程度的自主性仍在發(fā)展中，是立法，將允許其廣泛的大規(guī)模部署。

　　Nothing new？

　　In many ways， embedded devices have always operated autonomously; the difference is that they have also been largely stationary. Nevertheless， the practices used to develop embedded applications in general， and embedded software in particular， reflect the nature of embedded devices. They （typically） exist to perform a specific function and have predictable conditions under which they must operate， with clearly identifiable stimuli. The ‘a(chǎn)rt’ of developing high quality embedded applications is the way in which the device handles non-identifiable stimuli， or unpredictable conditions.

　　In most cases， the software would include a robust and logical way to effectively ignore all those conditions that do not directly impact its primary function（s）。 That’s fine if the device is a printer， it’s not so good if the device has the ability to move under its own volition. It is this key difference that defines the main challenge developers face when designing an autonomous device. It’s no longer acceptable to ignore conditions or stimuli that have no relation to the primary function， because the primary function would not be able to reliably and safely navigate in a world where unpredictability is the main input.