CODESYS Bachelor- / Master Thesis Projects

Problem definition

CODESYS is a hardware-independent programming system for programmable logic controllers. The IEC 61131-3-compliant programming languages used are translated into processor-specific code, transferred to a CODESYS runtime system, and executed.

C integration in CODESYS allows for the integration of components developed in the C programming language. These are not compiled by the internal CODESYS compiler, but by an existing C compiler and toolchain for the target system. As the runtime system is available for many different architectures and operating systems, you usually need a cross-compiler that, for example, creates modules in Windows for Linux on ARM.

Practical experience has shown that setting up a suitable environment for compiling code for external target systems on Windows can be very complicated. We are looking for solutions to simplify this process. In this thesis, the candidate will study the use of virtualization with the help of Docker.

Objective of the thesis

CODESYS shall support the capability of accessing a build environment within a VM for the compilation of C code. Docker is the ideal solution for implementing this kind of solution. A VM shall be set up for a selected testing platform. Then a suitable extension for CODESYS shall be implemented, which controls the compiling process within the VM and transparently executes the data exchange for the user.
In addition, it would be advantageous to be able to provide users with a convenient way of configuring and managing the VM within CODESYS.

Duration: according to study regulations
Remuneration: yes
Hours per week: 40
Application reference: Docker student

Information and application:
CODESYS Group
Human Resources, Ms. Sabine Panzer
jobs @codesys.com

Definition of problem

CODESYS is a hardware-independent programming system for programmable logic controllers. The IEC 61131-3-compliant programming languages used are translated into processor-specific code. There are currently code generator backends for more than 10 CPUs for CODESYS.

Today's CPUs have deep pipelines to load and process commands long before they are actually executed. In conditional jumps, these CPUs use simple heuristics to determine which path is the most likely to be processed.

Incorrect heuristics can lead to very poor performance because the pipeline may have to be completely purged and refilled.

An efficient compiler can exploit these properties of a CPU to generate faster code when the probability of a condition being met is known. It would be very helpful to implement a directive that allows the programmer to set the probability of a condition. For example, this kind of directive could look something like this:

IF (__UNLIKELY(x > 100000)) THEN
         LOG_Message(‘Variable too big’);
ELSIF (__LIKELY(x < 100)) THEN
          // do this
ELSE
         // do that
END_IF

In addition to IF-ELSIF statements, there are also conditional calls, conditional jumps, and conditional return statements in the graphical languages of IEC 61131-3. These should also be optimized with the __LIKELY directive.

Objective of the thesis

A directive as described above shall be implemented and integrated into the CODESYS compiler. Furthermore, the work shall investigate how this directive can be used on the different CPU architectures (Intel Pentium, ARM, PowerPC, possibly SH, MIPS, and others) and which performance enhancements can be achieved.

The bachelor thesis may be expanded into a master thesis by developing a runtime analysis that measures the rate at which a condition applies in order to optimize the code with __LIKELY / __UNLIKELY directives in a second compile run.

Duration: up to 6 months
Remuneration: yes
Hours per week: 40
Application reference: Compiler student