Ensuring critical event sequences in high consequence computer based systems as inspired by path expressions

Abstract

The goal is to provide a high level of confidence that critical software driven event sequences are maintained in the face of hardware failures and harsh or unstable operating environments. The technical approach includes in-situ (embedded in the software) dynamic (run-time) fault management for ensuring critical event sequences in high consequence software. Our method is based on deriving a mathematical description of the critical software controlled event sequence, embedding checkpoints and update points around the critical events into the target code, and adding a module that implements the functionality of the underlying mathematical model. This methodology is inspired by previous work in path expressions. This paper discusses the perceived problems, a brief overview of path expressions, the proposed methods, and a discussion of the differences between the proposed methods and traditional path expression usage and implementation.