Reducing trace size in multimedia applications endurance tests

Proper testing of applications over embedded systems such as set-top boxes requires endurance tests, i.e. running applications for extended periods of times, typically several days. In order to understand bugs or poor performances, execution traces have to be analyzed, however current trace analysis methods are not designed to handle several days of execution traces due to the huge quantity of data generated. Our proposal, designed for regular applications such as multimedia decoding/encoding, is to monitor execution by analyzing trace on the fly in order to record trace only in time periods where a suspicious activity is detected. Our experiments show a significant reduction in the trace size compared to recording the whole trace.