Concurrent error detection for distributed systems: a case study

Abstract

Error detection is defined as observation of system operation in order to ensure its consistency with expected system behavior. According to IEEE stadards, error detection is one of the means to achieve fault tolerance. Hence, error detection is a necessary part of safety-critical systems design. Concurrent error detec-tion for distributed systems is one of the problems researched in a scope of a joint project S3ARV (Small & Safe Space Autonomous Robotic Vehicles) of IfA, TU Dresden and iFR, Uni Stuttgart. In the presented article, we introduce a new safety monitoring framework, based on concurrent error detection. Our approach is fo-cused on monitoring of distributed real-time control software. A prototype of the framework is applied on a real flight vehicle (an Octocopter).