CAREER: A System for Resilient, Mission-Critical Embedded Computation

该项目首先假设软件和硬件故障不能完全预防，并寻求发现新的机制，通过这些新机制，计算系统可以从其组件中的故障中恢复并及时恢复可预测的操作。重点放在嵌入式计算系统上，比如那些控制我们的交通和电力系统的系统。这项工作的一个新方面是，即使是操作系统的低级别方面也被假设为潜在的故障，并被设计为在故障时恢复。“Superglue”组件连接语言和运行时支持系统为故障检测、隔离和恢复提供了统一的框架。这项研究包括对机制的调查，以跟踪在系统的给定部分发生故障时重建该状态所需的状态，以及在恢复过程对物理世界的影响可以容忍的情况下及时重建这种状态的政策。这项研究的成功将潜在地使社会的大部分人受益。我们生活的许多方面所依赖的物理基础设施越来越依赖于软件进行控制。在这些与物理世界交互的嵌入式系统中，软件的复杂性随着执行的任务和所需功能的复杂性而增加。随着复杂性的增加，故障的可能性也会增加，而我们对这些系统的依赖程度越来越高，使故障的后果变得更加严重。计算机系统的故障可能表现为服务的短暂中断--例如，控制面板的闪烁--或者是大规模的系统故障，在最坏的情况下会导致生命损失。因此，这些计算系统的弹性和健壮性至关重要。PI还将继续并扩大他的努力，将这项研究与研究生和本科教育联系起来，包括机器人课程，以及与华盛顿特区公立学校的接触。

This project starts with the assumption that software and hardware faults cannot be entirely prevented, and seeks to discover new mechanisms by which a computing system can recover from faults in its components and resume predictable operation in a timely manner. The focus is on embedded computing systems, such as those that control our transportation and power systems. One novel aspect of this work is that even low-level aspects of the operating system are assumed to be potentially faulty, and designed to recover upon fault. A "Superglue" component connection language and runtime support system provides a unified framework for fault detection, isolation, and recovery. The research includes investigations of mechanisms to track the state required to reconstruct a given part of a system if it should fail, and the policies to reconstruct this state in time that the impact of the recovery process on the physical world can be tolerated.Success of this research will potentially benefit large segments of society. The physical infrastructure upon which many aspects of our life depend is increasingly reliant on software for control. The complexity of the software in these embedded systems, which interact with the physical world, is increasing with the complexity of the tasks performed and features required. With this mounting complexity the probability of faults increases, while our increasing dependency on these systems makes the consequences of failure more severe. Faults in computing systems may manifest as brief interruptions of service -- for example, the flickering of control panels -- or as massive system failures, in the worst case leading to loss of life. Therefore, the resilience and robustness of these computing systems is of critical importance.The PI also will continue and expand his efforts in connecting this research with graduate and undergraduate education, including courses on robotics, and outreach to the Washington DC public schools.