Title :
Can we rely on COTS microkernels for building fault-tolerant systems?
Author :
Salles, Frédéric ; Arlat, Jean ; Fabre, Jean-Charles
Author_Institution :
Lab. d´´Autom. et d´´Anal. des Syst., CNRS, Toulouse, France
Abstract :
This paper addresses the use of COTS microkernels in fault-tolerant, and, to some extent, safety-critical systems. The main issue is to assess the behavior of such components, upon which application software relies, in the presence of faults. Using fault injection, it is possible to classify the behavior of the functional primitives. From the results obtained fault containment mechanisms can be provided as a new API to complement the basic detection mechanisms of the microkernel. Some preliminary experiments with the Chorus microkernel are also reported
Keywords :
application program interfaces; distributed processing; operating system kernels; program diagnostics; real-time systems; safety-critical software; software fault tolerance; API; COTS microkernels; Chorus microkernel; Commercial-Off-The-Shelf components; application software; commercial executives; dependability; detection mechanisms; embedded fault-tolerant systems; fault containment mechanisms; fault injection; fault-tolerant systems; functional primitives; safety-critical systems; Aerospace control; Aircraft; Application software; Certification; Control systems; Fault detection; Fault tolerance; Fault tolerant systems; Performance analysis; Rail transportation;
Conference_Titel :
Distributed Computing Systems, 1997., Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE Computer Society Workshop on Future Trends of
Conference_Location :
Tunis
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-8153-5
DOI :
10.1109/FTDCS.1997.644723
