Objectives.The objective of the NEXT TTA project is to further improve the dependability and functionality of the time-triggered architecture (TTA). In particular the NEXT TTA project aims to: Enhance the dependability of the TTA by developing a new physical interconnection structure with intelligent star couplers. Integrate event-triggered and time-triggered communication within a single communication network while maintaining composability. Integrate the synchronous programming environment LUSTRE into the TTA. Develop highly automated WCET (worst case execution time) estimation algorithms. Explore the limits of a COTS implementation of the TTA in the gigabit range. Expected results. The NEXT TTA project will produce: A prototype star coupler containing algorithms to tolerate arbitrary node failures and to detect degradation of node parameters before causing a fault. Formal analysis of critical star coupler algorithms. A methodology for integration of event-triggered and time-triggered communication, demonstrated by a prototype and supported by software tools. A prototype implementation of the integration of LUSTRE into the TTA and tools for WCET analysis.