Fault-tolerant real-time communication in distributed computingsystems

The delivery delay in a point-to-point packet switching network is difficult to control due to the contention among randomly-arriving packets at each node and multihops a packet must travel between its source and destination. Despite this difficulty, there are an increasing number of applications that require packets to be delivered reliably within prespecified delay bounds. This paper shows how this can be achieved by using real-time channels which make “soft” reservation of network resources to ensure the timely delivery of real-time packets. We first present theoretical results and detailed procedures for the establishment of real-time channels and then show how the basic real-time channels can be enhanced to be fault-tolerant using the multiple disjoint paths between a pair of communicating nodes. The contribution of the former is a tighter schedulability condition which makes more efficient use of network resources than any other existing approaches, and that of the latter is a significant improvement in fault tolerance over the basic real-time channel, which is inherently susceptible to component failures     

Fault-tolerant communication algorithms in toroidal networks

Fault-tolerant communication algorithms for k-ary n-cubes are introduced. These include: One-to-all broadcasting, all-to-all broadcasting, one-to-all personalized communication, and all-to-all personalized communication. Each of these algorithms can tolerate up to (2n-2) node failures provided that k>(2n-2) and k>3. Extensions of these algorithms with up to 2n-1 node failures are also described. The communication complexities of the proposed algorithms are derived when wormhole or store and forward packet routing is used     

Hard real-time communication in multiple-access networks

With the increasing use of distributed hard real-time systems, the ability of computer networks to handle hard real-time message traffic is becoming more important. For traditional networks, maximizing the throughput or minimizing the average message delay is the most important performance criteria. In the hard real-time domain, however, concern focuses on satisfying the time constraints of individual messages. This paper examines recent developments in hard real-time communication in local area multiple-access networks. Two general strategies are used in hard real-time communication: the guarantee strategy and the best-effort strategy. In the former, messages are guaranteed to meet their deadlines during normal operation of the network. In the best-effort strategy, the network will attempt to send messages before their deadlines, but no guarantees are given. Real-time message traffic can be distinguished according to whether it is best suited for the guarantee strategy or the best-effort strategy. Although this paper concentrates on multiple-access networks, many of the concepts presented and lessons learned are also applicable to other types of networks.     

Fault-tolerant communication in embedded supercomputing

A framework consisting of reusable modules acting at different levels can provide fault tolerance mechanisms for synchronous and asynchronous communication to ensure coherence of parallel tasks     

Guaranteed real-time communication in packet-switched networks with FCFS queuing

In this paper, we propose a feasibility analysis of periodic hard real-time traffic in packet-switched networks using first come first served (FCFS) queuing but no traffic shapers. Our work constitutes a framework that can be adopted for real-time analysis of switched low-cost networks like Ethernet without modification of the standard network components. Our analysis is based on a flexible network and traffic model, e.g., variable-sized frames, arbitrary deadlines and multiple switches. The correctness of our real-time analysis and the tightness of it for network components in single-switch networks are given by theoretical proofs. The performance of the end-to-end real-time analysis is evaluated by simulations. Moreover, our conceptual and experimental comparison studies between our analysis and the commonly used Network Calculus (NC) shows that our analysis can achieve better performance than NC in many cases.     

Fault-tolerant stabilisation in double-integrator networks

This article considers a network of agents with double-integrator internal dynamics, which share pieces of information on their position states. For such a system, a fault-tolerant decentralised stabilisation problem is addressed. The goal consists in placing the closed-loop poles in the open left-half of the complex plane, even in the presence of faults of the transmitting and receiving apparatuses of one or more agents. By exploiting some previous results on fault-tolerant control, a necessary and sufficient condition for the problem to admit a solution is proved. Further, an explicit formula is given for the local regulators, which can be taken of the first-order, actually the least one. Finally, the theory is extended to networks of agents with multiple-integrator internal dynamics.     

Experimental evaluation of behavior-based failure-detection schemesin real-time communication networks

Effective detection of failures is essential for reliable communication services. Traditionally, non-real-time computer networks have relied on behavior-based techniques for detecting communication failures. That is, each node uses heartbeats to detect the failure of its neighbors and the end-to-end transport protocol (e.g., TCP) achieves reliable communication by acknowledgment/retransmission. Recently, there has been a growing demand for reliable “real-time” communication, but little research has been done on the failure detection problem. In this paper, we present two behavior-based failure-detection schemes-neighbor detection and end-to-end detection-for reliable real-time communication services and experimentally evaluate their effectiveness. Specifically, we measure and analyze the coverage and latency of these detection schemes through fault-injection experiments. The experimental results have shown that nearly all failures can be detected very quickly by the neighbor detection scheme, while the end-to-end detection scheme uncovers the remaining failures with larger detection latencies     

Fault-tolerant communication with partitioned dimension-orderrouters

The current fault-tolerant routing methods require extensive changes to practical routers such as the Cray T3D's dimension-order router to handle faults. In this paper, we propose methods to handle faults in multicomputers with dimension-order routers with simple changes to router structure and logic. Our techniques can be applied to current implementations in which the router is partitioned into multiple modules and no centralized crossbar is used. We consider arbitrarily located faulty blocks and assume only local knowledge of faults. We apply our techniques for torus networks and show that, with as few as four virtual channels per physical channel, deadlock- and livelock-free routing can be provided even with multiple faults and multimodule implementation of routers. Our simulations of the proposed technique for 2D tori and mesh indicate that the performance degradation is similar to that seen in the case of cross-bar based designs previously proposed     

Fault-tolerant adaptive scheduling for embedded real-time systems

Describes a fault-tolerant algorithm which uses a time-value scheduling approach to detect faults, sustain high processor utilization, and ensure timely execution of critical tasks     

Fault-tolerant and real-time scheduling for mixed-criticality systems

The design and analysis of real-time scheduling algorithms for safety-critical systems is a challenging problem due to the temporal dependencies among different design constraints. This paper considers scheduling sporadic tasks with three interrelated design constraints: (i) meeting the hard deadlines of application tasks, (ii) providing fault tolerance by executing backups, and (iii) respecting the criticality of each task to facilitate system’s certification. First, a new approach to model mixed-criticality systems from the perspective of fault tolerance is proposed. Second, a uniprocessor fixed-priority scheduling algorithm, called fault-tolerant mixed-criticality (FTMC) scheduling, is designed for the proposed model. The FTMC algorithm executes backups to recover from task errors caused by hardware or software faults. Third, a sufficient schedulability test is derived, when satisfied for a (mixed-criticality) task set, guarantees that all deadlines are met even if backups are executed to recover from errors. Finally, evaluations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed test.     

Fault-tolerant de Bruijn and shuffle-exchange networks

This paper addresses the problem of creating a fault-tolerant interconnection network for a parallel computer. Three topologies, namely, the base-2 de Bruijn graph, the base-m de Bruijn graph, and the shuffle-exchange, are studied. For each topology an N+k node fault-tolerant graph is defined. These fault-tolerant graphs have the property that given any set of k node faults, the remaining N nodes contain the desired topology as a subgraph. All of the constructions given are the best known in terms of the degree of the fault-tolerant graph. We also investigate the use of buses to reduce the degrees of the fault-tolerant graphs still further     

Fault-tolerant wormhole routing for hypercube networks

We present an adaptive fault-tolerant wormhole routing algorithm for hypercubes by using 3 virtual networks. The routing algorithm can tolerate at least n−1 faulty nodes and can route a message via a path of length no more than the shortest path plus four. Previous algorithms which achieve the same fault tolerant ability need 5 virtual networks. Simulation results are also given in this paper.     

一种传感器网络容错拓扑控制算法

基于对局部最小生成树拓扑控制算法的研究,提出了对该算法改进的容错拓扑控制算法。通过广播来收集节点的局部信息构造局部最小生成树,并通过深度优先搜索算法使得任意两节点间至少存在K（K=2,3）条内部节点互不相交的路径,保证网络的K连通和容错特性。仿真结果表明：该算法降低了网络的功耗,提高例了网络的容量,网络的容错性能和生存能力都有了较大的提高。     

Fault-tolerant analysis of a class of networks

In this paper, we explore the 2-extraconnectivity of a special class of graphs G(G₀,G₁;M) proposed by Chen et al. [Y.-C. Chen, J.J.M. Tan, L.-H. Hsu, S.-S. Kao, Super-connectivity and super edge-connectivity for some interconnection networks, Applied Mathematics and Computation 140 (2003) 245-254]. As applications of the results, we obtain that the 2-extraconnectivities of several well-known interconnection networks, such as hypercubes, twisted cubes, crossed cubes, Möbius cubes and locally twisted cubes, are all equal to 3n−5 when their dimension n is not less than 8. That is, when n?8, at least 3n−5 vertices must be removed to disconnect any one of these n-dimensional networks provided that the removal of these vertices does not isolate a vertex or an edge.     

异构分布式实时系统的容错优化调度算法

针对分布式实时系统,在分析了单处理调度算法的基础上,结合版本复制技术和首次适应方法,给出了一种容错调度算法。分析了算法的可调度性,给出任务的可调度性条件。在满足任务容错可调度的情况下,以提高处理器的利用率为目标,对基版本时限进行了优化,给出了基版本优化时限的求取算法。仿真结果表明,本文算法将可以得到比FTEDFFF和FTRMFF更高的处理器利用率。     

Fault-tolerant topology control algorithm for mobile robotic networks

In multi-agent systems, it is crucial to maintain a robust and fault-tolerant network topology while minimizes power consumption, especially for the multiple unmanned combat platforms based on mobile robotic networks. This work studies the problem of fault-tolerant topology control in mobile robotic networks. With the aim of constructing self-healing networks, a K-connected topology control algorithm that can cope with faults such as node failures and link disruptions is proposed. The robotic team stays connected in the dynamic interaction topology, even in the face of K-1 nodes departure. Our approach combines power transmission and motion control for constructing a K-connected network topology with approximately minimum power to prolong their working life. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution are presented.     

Fault-tolerant design for wide-area Mobile IPv6 networks

Mobile IPv6 provides the mobility management for IPv6 protocol. To establish a reliable Mobile IPv6 network, fault tolerance should be also considered in the network design. This paper presents an efficient fault-tolerant approach for Mobile IPv6 networks. In the proposed approach, if a failure is detected in the home agent (HA) of a mobile node, a preferable survival HA is selected to continuously serve the mobile node. The preferable survival HA is the HA that does not incur failure and is neighboring the current location of the mobile node. The proposed approach is based on the preference of each mobile node to achieve the fault tolerance of the HA. Finally, we perform simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.     

Fault-tolerant cluster-wise clock synchronization for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks have received a lot of attention recently due to their wide applications, such as target tracking, environment monitoring, and scientific exploration in dangerous environments. It is usually necessary to have a cluster of sensor nodes share a common view of a local clock time, so that all these nodes can coordinate in some important applications, such as time slotted MAC protocols, power-saving protocols with sleep/listen modes, etc. However, all the clock synchronization techniques proposed for sensor networks assume benign environments; they cannot survive malicious attacks in hostile environments. Fault-tolerant clock synchronization techniques are potential candidates to address this problem. However, existing approaches are all resource consuming and suffer from message collisions in most of cases. This paper presents a novel fault-tolerant clock synchronization scheme for clusters of nodes in sensor networks, where the nodes in each cluster can communicate through broadcast. The proposed scheme guarantees an upper bound of clock difference between any nonfaulty nodes in a cluster, provided that the malicious nodes are no more than one third of the cluster. Unlike the traditional fault-tolerant clock synchronization approaches, the proposed technique does not introduce collisions between synchronization messages, nor does it require costly digital signatures.     

Fault-tolerant expansion of system area networks in multiprocessor computer systems

A method for constructing a fault-tolerant system area network in the form of a flat network consisting of several copies of the original network is proposed. The flat network is constructed according to the theory of incomplete balanced block designs.     

Application-driven,energy-efficient communication in wireless sensor networks

Several sensor network applications based on data diffusion and data management can determine the communication transfer rate between two sensors beforehand. In this framework, we consider the problem of energy efficient communication among nodes of a wireless sensor network and propose an application-driven approach that minimizes radio activity intervals and prolongs network lifetime. On the basis of possible communication delays we estimate packet arrival intervals at any intermediate hop of a fixed-rate data path. We study a generic strategy of radio activity minimization wherein each node maintains the radio switched on just in the expected packet arrival intervals and guarantees low communication latency. We define a probabilistic model that allows the evaluation of the packet loss probability that results from the reduced radio activity. The model can be used to optimally choose the radio activity intervals that achieve a certain probability of successful packet delivery for a specific radio activity strategy. Relying on the probabilistic model we also define a cost model that estimates the energy consumption of the proposed strategies, under specific settings. We propose three specific strategies and numerically evaluate the associated costs. We finally validate our work with a simulation made with TOSSIM (the Berkeley motes’ simulator). The simulation results confirm the validity of the approach and the accuracy of the analytic models.