Fault-Detection Tactics for Optimized Embedded Systems Efficiency

Embedded systems operational environment poses tightened and usually conflicted design requirements. Software architects aim at introducing effective tradeoff methods to select the most appropriate design solutions to comply with the software specifications of an embedded system. When defining the software architecture for critical embedded systems it is mandatory to balance often conflicting goals to meet the different requirements in terms of resource consumption, schedulability, dependability, and security, among others. This is an engineering problem that can be addressed by employing Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods from the operational research domain. This paper combines two of these methods, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), to determine the most efficient fault detection design decisions according to relevant metrics. The paper employs two algorithm efficiency metrics: run-time complexity and memory-space complexity. Furthermore, the fault-detection strategy design decisions, Ping/Echo and Heartbeat, were the subjects of this study.