Joakim Aidemark

GOOFI: generic object-oriented fault injection tool

We present a new fault injection tool called GOOFI (Generic Object-Oriented Fault Injection). GOOFI is designed to be adaptable to various target systems and different fault injection techniques. The tool is highly portable between different host platforms since it relies on the Java programming language and an SQL compatible database. The current version of the tool supports pre-runtime software implemented fault injection and scan-chain implemented fault injection.

Reducing critical failures for control algorithms using executable assertions and best effort recovery

Systems that use f+1 computer nodes to tolerate f node failures ordinarily require that the computer nodes have strong failure semantics, i.e. a node should either produce correct results or no results at all. We show that this requirement can be relaxed for control applications, as control algorithms inherently compensate for a class of value failures. Value failures occur when an error escapes the error detection mechanisms in the computer node and an erroneous value is sent to the actuators of the control system. Fault injection experiments show that 89% of the value failures caused by bit flips in a CPU had no or minor impact on the controlled object. However, the experiments also show that 11% of the value failures had severe consequences. These failures were caused by bit flips affecting the state variables of the control algorithm. Another set of fault injection experiments showed that the percentage of value failures with severe consequences was reduced to 3% when the state variables were protected with executable assertions and best-effort recovery mechanisms.

Experimental evaluation of time-redundant execution for a brake-by-wire application

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a brake-by-wire application that tolerates transient faults by temporal error masking. A specially designed real-time kernel that masks errors by triple time-redundant execution and voting executes the application on a fail-stop computer node. The objective is to reduce the number of node failures by masking errors at the computer node level. The real-time kernel always executes the application twice to detect errors, and ensures that a fail-stop failure occurs if there is not enough CPU-time available for a third execution and voting. Fault injection experiments show that temporal error masking reduced the number of fail-stop failures by 42% compared to executing the brake-by-wire task without time redundancy.

Path-based error coverage prediction

We present an analytical technique that uses fault injection data for estimating the coverage of concurrent error detection mechanisms in microprocessors. A major problem in such estimations is that the coverage depends on the program executed by the microprocessor as well as the input sequence to the program. We propose a method that predicts the error coverage for a specified input sequence based on fault injection data obtained for another input sequence. Our results show that post-injection analysis is a promising approach for reducing the cost of coverage estimation.

On the probability of detecting data errors generated by permanent faults using time redundancy

Time redundant execution of tasks and comparison of results is a well-known technique for detecting transient faults in computer systems. However, time redundancy is also capable of detecting permanent faults that occur during or between the executions of two task replicas, provided the faults affect the results of the two tasks in different ways. In this paper, we derive an expression for estimating the probability of detecting data errors generated by permanent faults with time redundant execution. The expression is validated experimentally by injecting permanent stuck-at faults into a multiplier unit of a microprocessor. We use the derived expression to show how tasks can be scheduled to improve the detection probability of errors generated by permanent faults. We also show that the detection capability of permanent faults is low for the Temporal Error Masking (TEM) technique (i.e. triplicated execution and voting to mask transient faults) and may not be increased by scheduling. Thus, we propose complementing TEM with special test tasks.

MEFISTO: A Series of Prototype Tools for Fault Injection into VHDL Models

The early assessment of the fault tolerance mechanisms is an essential task in the design of dependable computing systems. Simulation languages offer the necessary support to carry out such a task. Due to its wide spectrum of application and hierarchical features, VHDL is a powerful simulation language. This chapter summarizes the main results of a pioneering effort aimed at developing and experimenting supporting tools for fault injection into VHDL models. The chapter first identifies the possible means to inject faults into a VHDL model. Then, we describe two prototype tools that were developed using each of the main injection strategies previously identified. Finally, some general insights and perspectives are briefly discussed.