Performance implications of software fault mitigation techniques

Kurzfassung

This thesis evaluated the performance overhead and robustness of software-based faulttolerance techniques, applied to benchmark applications. The objective was to assess their suitability for embedded systems, against hardware-based fault-tolerance solutions. The results highlight distinct trade-offs among the evaluated techniques. TMR (Variable) and DUP provide a balanced compromise between performance and robustness, significantly reducing critical errors such as SDC and TRAP errors, with only moderate overhead. In contrast, EDAC delivers strong error correction capabilities but at a substantial performance cost. Meanwhile, DWC and TMR (Process) techniques introduce higher latency due to their process-level redundancy. For embedded systems, where memory and performance constraints are critical, DUP emerge as the most viable option. This technique offers lower memory overhead and a moderate performance impact. Although TMR (Variable) provides robust error mitigation, its triple memory usage may be prohibitive for embedded devices. EDAC is effective in error correction but less practical due to its high computational cost, unless strict error correction is mandatory In terms of cost comparison, software-based fault-tolerance techniques present a significant advantage over hardware-based solutions, as they incur no additional expenses for specialized components. However, they introduce additional development time for engineers to integrate and test these mechanisms. This includes the effort required for code instrumentation, validation, and debugging, which can extend project timelines and increase labor costs. Hardware solutions, such as EDAC memory or redundant processors, require specialized components which increase production costs. For budget-constrained projects, software-based techniques may offer an economical alternative to expensive hardware redundancy. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that software-based fault-tolerance techniques can achieve a good balance between robustness and performance for embedded systems, especially with techniques like Duplication and Checksum or TMR.