Exploring Cross-Layer, Integrated Approaches for Improving The Reliability of Heterogeneous Multicore Processors

随着微处理器设备的特征尺寸不断缩小，设备对硬件故障的敏感性也在增加。虽然弹性系统设计在高端业务应用程序（冗余硬件是一种可接受的解决方案）中对成本要求不高，但预计廉价的消费电子产品也将在很大程度上需要容错。对于手机、平板电脑和笔记本电脑等消费类电子产品来说，通过复制硬件实现双倍或三倍系统成本的方法可能过于昂贵。该项目将研究一种新的建模和支持硬件容错的方法，这种方法依赖于软件和硬件协同工作。关键思想是设计一个系统漏洞模型（SVM），该模型近似于应用程序对硬件错误的脆弱性。使用该模型，系统的每一层都提供了可以调整的旋钮，以控制整个系统的脆弱性。这使得系统设计能够以低廉的成本为给定的应用程序提供适当的容错能力。这个项目的结果可能会影响未来计算机系统提供容错的方式。最终，这种影响有助于维持对可靠计算设备的需求，从而使社会受益，而可靠计算设备是经济的重要推动力。在不久的将来，它将支持这一关键领域的研究生培训，并将支持加强北卡罗莱纳州立大学的本科和研究生课程，以包括容错主题。

As feature sizes in microprocessor devices continue to scale down, the devices' susceptibility to hardware faults is increasing. While resilient system design is less cost-critical in high-end business applications where redundant hardware is an acceptable solution, it is expected that inexpensive consumer electronics will largely need to be fault tolerant as well. Approaches that double or triple system costs by replicating hardware are likely too expensive for consumer electronics, such as phones, tablets, and laptops. This project will investigate a new way of modeling and supporting hardware fault tolerance that relies on software and hardware working together cooperatively. The key idea is the design of a System Vulnerability Model (SVM), which approximates the vulnerability of an application to a hardware error. Using the model, each layer of the system offers knobs which can be tuned to control overall system vulnerability. This allows the design of systems that inexpensively provide the right amount of fault tolerance for a given application. The results of this project could impact how future computer systems provide fault tolerance. Ultimately, such impact benefits society by helping sustain the demand for reliable computing devices, a significant driver in the economy. In the immediate future, it will support the training of graduate students in this critical area, and it will support enhancement of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum to include topics in fault tolerance at North Carolina State University.