Certification of computational results
Sullivan, G.F.; Wilson, D.S.; Masson, G.M.
Computers, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 44, Issue 7, Jul 1995 Page(s):833 - 847
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/12.392843
Summary:We describe a conceptually novel and powerful technique to achieve
fault detection and fault tolerance in hardware and software systems.
When used for software fault detection, this new technique uses time and
software redundancy and can be outlined as follows. In the initial
phase, a program is run to solve a problem and store the result. In
addition, this program leaves behind a trail of data which we call a
certification trail. In the second phase, another program is run which
solves the original problem again. This program however, has access to
the certification trail left by the first program. Because of the
availability of the certification trail, the second phase can be
performed by a less complex program and can execute more quickly. In the
final phase, the two results are compared and if they agree the results
are accepted as correct; otherwise an error is indicated. An essential
aspect of this approach is that the second program must always generate
either an error indication or a correct output even when the
certification trail it receives from the first program is incorrect. We
formalize the certification trail approach to fault tolerance and
illustrate realizations of it by considering algorithms for the
following problems: convex hull, sorting, and shortest path. We compare
the certification trail approach to other approaches to fault tolerance
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