A software fault tolerance method for safety-critical systems: effectiveness and drawbacks

Author

Nicolescu, B. ; Velazco, R. ; Sonza-Reorda, M. ; Rebaudengo, M. ; Violante, M.

Author_Institution

TIMA Lab., Grenoble, France

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Firstpage

101

Lastpage

106

Abstract

An automatic software technique suitable for on-line detection of transient errors due to the effects of the environment (radiation, EMC,...) is presented. The proposed approach, particularly well suited for low-cost safety-critical microprocessor-based applications, has been validated through fault injection experiments and radiation testing campaigns. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in terms of fault detection capabilities. Undetected faults have been analyzed to point out the limitations of the method.

Keywords

circuit reliability; electromagnetic compatibility; electronic engineering computing; error detection; fault location; fault simulation; microcomputers; radiation effects; safety-critical software; software fault tolerance; EMC; automatic software techniques; detection method limitations; environmental effects; error detection; fault detection capabilities; fault injection experiments; fault tolerance method effectiveness/drawbacks; low-cost safety-critical microprocessor-based applications; radiation effects; radiation testing; safety-critical systems; single event effect; software fault tolerance methods; transient error on-line detection; undetected fault analysis; Aerospace electronics; CMOS technology; Electrical capacitance tomography; Electromagnetic compatibility; Fault tolerant systems; Integrated circuit technology; Microprocessors; Single event transient; Software safety; Space technology;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Integrated Circuits and Systems Design, 2002. Proceedings. 15th Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7695-1807-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SBCCI.2002.1137644

Filename

1137644