Concurrent Error Detection using Signature Monitoring and Encryption

This paper presents an efficient approach to concurrent detection of program execution errors that combines signature monitoring with program encryption. Sources of detectable errors include permanent and transient hardware faults, software and hardware design faults, and computer viruses. Errors are detected by a simple monitor that uses signatures embedded in a compatibly encrypted program. The monitor concurrently decrypts the program using the processor control-bit sequences that are included in the signatures. Computer virus attacks are difficult because details of the processor’s internal operation are needed to attach compatibly encrypted code. Encryption and a small signature cache added to the monitor allow the lowest memory overhead of any proposed signature-monitoring technique. Encryption and the program memory’s error correction/detection code are combined to reduce signature-error detection latency by more than 60 times, while maintaining memory error correction/detection.

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