Ada LovelaceUniversity of YorkAda Europe

The 16th International Real-Time Ada Workshop  - IRTAW 2013 in cooperation with Ada Europe

University of York,
Department of Computer Science

17-19 April 2013
Kings Manor, York, England


Call for Papers



Since the late Eighties the International Real-Time Ada Workshop series has provided a forum for identifying issues with real-time system support in Ada and for exploring possible approaches and solutions, and has attracted participation from key members of the research, user, and implementer communities worldwide. Recent IRTAW meetings have significantly contributed to the Ada 2005 and Ada 2012 standards, especially with respect to the tasking features, the real-time and high-integrity systems annexes, and the standardization of the Ravenscar profile.

In keeping with this tradition,  the goals of IRTAW-16 will be to:
  • review the current status of the Ada 2012 Issues that are related with the support of real-time systems;
  • examine experiences in using Ada for the development of real-time systems and applications, especially – but not exclusively – those using concrete implementation of the new Ada 2012 real-time features;
  • report on or illustrate implementation approaches for the real-time features of Ada 2012;
  • consider the added value of developing other real-time Ada profiles in addition to the Ravenscar profile;
  • examine the implications to Ada of the growing use of multiprocessors in the development of real-time systems, particularly with regard to predictability, robustness, and other extra-functional concerns;
  • examine and develop paradigms for using Ada for real-time distributed systems, with special emphasis on robustness as well as hard, flexible and application-defined scheduling;
  • consider the definition of specific patterns and libraries for real-time systems development in Ada;
  • identify how Ada relates to the certification of safety-critical and/or security-critical real-time systems;
  • examine the status of the Real-Time Specification for Java and other languages for real-time systems development, and consider user experience with current implementations and with issues of interoperability with Ada in embedded real-time systems;
  • consider the lessons learned from industrial experience with Ada and the Ravenscar Profile in actual real-time projects;
  • consider the language vulnerabilities of the Ravenscar and full language definitions.

Participation at IRTAW-16 is by invitation following the submission of a position paper addressing one or more of the above topics or related real-time Ada issues. Alternatively, anyone wishing to receive an invitation, but for one reason or another is unable to produce a position paper, may send in a one-page position statement indicating their interests. Priority will, however, be given to those submitting papers.

Submission Requirements


Position papers should not exceed ten pages in typical IEEE conference layout, excluding code inserts. All accepted papers will appear, in their final form, in the Workshop Proceedings, which will be published as a special issue of Ada Letters (ACM Press). Selected papers will also appear in the Ada User Journal.

Please submit position papers, in PDF format, to the Program Chair by e-mail: alan.burns@york.ac.uk

Important Dates


  • Paper Submission: 4 February, 2013
  • Notification of Acceptance: 1 March, 2013
  • Confirmation of Attendance: 14 March, 2013
  • Final Paper Due: 1 April, 2013
  • Workshop: April 17-19, 2013

Program Chair


  • Alan Burns, University of York

Workshop Chair


  • Andy Wellings, University of York

Program Committee Members


Mario Aldea Rivas, John Barnes, Ben Brosgol, Alan Burns, Michael Gonzàlez Harbour, José Javier Gutiérrez, Stephen Michell, Brad Moore, Luís Miguel Pinho, Juan Antonio de la Puente, Jorge Real, Jose F. Ruiz, Joyce Tokar, Tullio Vardanega, Andy Wellings and Rod White.