A watchdog processor for concurrent error detection in multiple processor systems

Abstract

This paper presents a simple, effective and general watchdog processor for detecting transient, intermittent and permanent errors in multiple processor systems using on-line signature analysis. The signatures are stored in the local memory of the watchdog processor, which we call the Checker, and verified according to a new approach called on-line signature verification. In this new approach the storage requirements for control flow information about the application programs are reduced to less than 2% of the signature overhead and the design of the watchdog processor is greatly simplified. The design and implementation of a prototype of this watchdog processor is also presented.