Distributed computing and networking platforms support deterministic operation and software abstraction to enable system complexity reduction. A time-triggered architecture (TTA) is a system platform category which defines the generic computing and networking infrastructure for the implementation of safety-critical distributed applications.

In a time-triggered architecture all application tasks, distributed functions and system behavior are defined at design time and dependant only on the progression of time. Such an architecture represents a hard real-time platform for dependable and safety-critical applications whose behavior is easy to certificate, upgrade and modernize at manageable effort.

Time-triggered networks provide mechanisms for enforcement of unambiguous and well-defined system interfaces to partition large distributed functions of mixed criticality. Composability is one of the key properties and allows system changes and upgrades without influencing the function of other critical integrated systems in the same network. This is the key to fast system integration, upgradeability and incremental modernization.