Programming a VIPER

The programming techniques used with a verifiable integrated processor for enhanced reliability (VIPER) are presented. A brief outline of VIPER's characteristics is followed by descriptions of three design studies of applications using VIPER. Two deal with aspects of the control of a main battle tank and the third with the metering of a high-value fluid in commerce. These studies have shown that, due to the lack of any interrupts, the polling of all the input signals with sufficient frequency becomes a major part of the system requirement. A formalism for priority polling is presented.<>