Re: [ECOS] Fault Injector about eCos

[Nick Garnett <nickg at ecoscentric dot com>]

<lylewang@yahoo.com.tw> writes:

> Hi all~
> 
> I do research on reliablity, but I got a problem. 
> 
> Are there any tool that I can test or do experiment
> and help me know the reliablity of eCos ?
> 
> Many paper related with reliablity use fault injector
> to insert fault in object code or source code and
> execute the system to see the reaction of the system.
> 
> However, those fault injector are UNIX series not
> eCos. Are there any useful tool like fault injector
> that could help me to evaluate the reliablity of eCos?
> (I use ARM processor)
> 
> The worst case is that I have to port some fault
> injector to eCos. Does someone have the experience
> about this difficult job?  
> 
> Thanks a lot for your help and suggestion.

I would not have thought that this was applicable to eCos.

The sorts of fault injectors with which I am familiar attempt to
provoke the system by executing random or invalid instructions, access
random or invalid addresses or make random or invalid system calls. It
then checks that these faults have not had any adverse effect on
either the kernel or other progams.

This is fine in an operating system which runs programs in separate
processes. The worst that should happen is that the faulting process
will be terminated.

eCos does not run programs in separate address spaces and does not run
them at reduced privilege. Therefore the sorts of things that these
fault injectors do is likely to crash the system fairly quickly.

-- 
Nick Garnett                                 eCos Kernel Architect
http://www.ecoscentric.com            The eCos and RedBoot experts


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