A kernel for multi-level fault-tolerant multiprocessing

A run-time kernel is presented which permits one to choose the number of cold, warm, hot, and active backups for each task of a parallel program or different parallel program. In this way multiple processes with different levels of hardware fault-tolerance can run concurrently on the same multiprocessor, leading to cost-effective fault-tolerant multiprocessing. The kernel consists of two main modules. The network module realizes fault-tolerant internode routing. The node module offers the above-mentioned multilevel node fault-tolerance. It is kept simple by implementing the argument flow program organization, a combination of classical control flow and dynamic data flow. The kernel is implemented on a transputer system. Software fault-tolerance can easily be provided.<>