Method and system for detecting message latency and faults within a computing system

A system for monitoring communications in a vehicle, the system comprising:

• a monitoring system comprising, onboard a vehicle, a processor and a memory with programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to:
• receiving, from a plurality of checkpoints along a communication path between one or more subsystems of the vehicle that are publishers and one or more subsystems of the vehicle that are subscribers, for each of a group of messages that are transmitted along the communication path, a message ID and a timestamp indicating when the checkpoint receives the message, publishes the message, or publishes a result derived from the message;
• using the message IDs and the timestamps to measure an amount of latency that occurred in the communication path before that message reached its corresponding subscriber;
• and
• upon determining that the measured latency does not satisfy a threshold, sending a signal to a system of the vehicle to take a remedial action.

A computer program product comprising a memory and programming instructions that are configured to cause a processor to, in a computing system via which messages are received from subsystems that are publishers and transferred along a communication path to subsystems that are subscribers, monitor communications by:

• receiving, from a plurality of checkpoints along a communication path between one or more of the subsystems that are publishers and one or more of the subsystems that are subscribers, for each of a group of messages that are transmitted along the communication path, a message ID and a timestamp indicating when the checkpoint receives the message, publishes the message, or publishes a result derived from the message;
• using the message IDs and the timestamps to measure an amount of latency that occurred in the communication path before that message reached its corresponding subscriber;
• and
• upon determining that the measured latency does not satisfy a threshold, causing the computing system to take a remedial action.